La Sapienza - Università di Roma

The idea to create a design laboratory to study the “forms” of contemporary dwelling grew out of the desire to continue the investigations, analyses and research developed continually over the course of fifteen years by professors and researchers at the DICEA - Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile Edile e Ambientale (Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering) linked to the disciplinary sector of Composizione Architettonica e Urbana / Architectural and Urban Design (ICAR/14).

The broader field of study, with architectural design at its core, explores environmental, social and normative issues. The research itself focuses on the means and dynamics of contemporary dwelling, specifically in the metropolitan areas of Rome and the wider territory of Lazio, where the group operates directly, and in urban and suburban contexts of the Southern hemisphere. This work has consistently been supported by field studies to establish direct relations with the social situations and environmental contexts analysed.

This multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary activity of theoretical-design research involves diverse professionals, from the DICEA and other faculties at the Sapienza University: architectural design, social policy, anthropology, hygiene-healthcare and architectural technology.

The constitution of LAPIS – Laboratorio sull’Abitare. Progetto Indagine Sperimentazione (Housing Lab. Design Investigation Experimentation) to disseminate and promote the research developed thus far, also serves to consolidate and amplify the interdisciplinary team, to implement a network of national and international scientific collaborations and propose new research agreements with other universities, public institutions and humanitarian associations.

The primary objective of the research group is to engage with a growing number of scholars interested in the manifold aspects of dwelling, and to permit the University to play a key role, also operative, by offering qualified and authoritative technical-scientific support to policies for housing and social inclusion pursued by local governments and non-institutional organisations.