Dr Alberto Pugnale is an Architect and Senior Lecturer in Architectural Design at the ‘Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning’ of the University of Melbourne. He is the Academic Convenor of the Hallmark Research Initiative (HRI) on Bioinspiration, and the Pathway Coordinator of the Architecture Major – Bachelor of Design.

In 2003, he graduated in “Architecture Sciences” (Bachelor level) at Politecnico di Torino. In 2006 he graduated with Honours in “Architecture and Construction” (Master of Science level) at the same university, and in 2010 he got a PhD in “Architecture and Building Design”, with a thesis entitled: “Engineering Architecture. Advances of a technological practice“ (also available on ResearchGate).

In 2007, he won the IASS HANGAI Prize, an international contest of research papers that are related to the field of shell and spatial structures for young researchers under 30. In 2008 he won a research scholarship granted by the ISI Foundation, Lagrange Project (Turin, Italy), related to the study of complex architectural and structural bodies. During the same year, he won the 3rd prize at the IABSE Photo Contest of Structures, an international competition of photos that exhibit the achievement/art of structural engineering, with the picture of the ‘Jorge Manrique’ footbridge, in Murcia, Spain. From 2010 to 2012 he was Assistant Professor at Aalborg University, Denmark. He has been teaching as invited lecturer in Italy, France and China.

At present, he is member of the ‘International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures’ (IASS), of the ‘Architecture Science Association’ (ASA) and of the ‘Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand’ (SAHANZ). He is also reviewer of international journals, and is member of the Editorial Board of the Nexus Network Journal and the International Journal of Space Structures.