Elena Todella

Projecting Decisions. The Role of Architectural Design Practice in the Folds of Decision-making Processes

Tutor: Alessandro Armando
Co-tutor: Isabella Lami (Politecnico di Torino)

The research concerns the decision-making processes of complex urban transformations – followed from the inside – in their decisions, negotiations, practices, with a focus both on architectural design and on decision making process, through a multidisciplinary approach influenced by ethnography and “ecology of practices”. The work follows, over the course of two years, the ongoing process of the “Masterplan” for the transformation of Politecnico di Torino’s urban campuses, and analyzes how a variety of actors and practices influence it, with a focus on projects as negotiation tools.


Bio

Elena Todella received her MSc degree in ‘Architecture Construction City’ at Politecnico di Torino. Since 2014 she is the co-organizer of the ‘Synthesis Seminar’ about Master theses in progress, focused on architectural design theory. In 2018 she has been visiting research fellow for two months at Manchester Architecture Research Group (University of Manchester). Moreover, she was part of the Masterplan Team (2016-2018) at Politecnico, that is also her actual research topic.

CV

2018 / Visiting Research Fellow, University of Manchester (Manchester Architecture Research Group)
2013-2015 / MSc in ‘Architecture Construction City’, Politecnico di Torino
2010-2013 / BSc in ‘Architecture’, Politecnico di Torino

2016- / Co-ordination on Synthesis Seminar about Master theses in progress in architecture, Politecnico di Torino
2016-2018 / Project Team member in Masterplan per la definizione di strategie e politiche di sviluppo di sedi e spazi del Politecnico di Torino, project on campus development strategies, Politecnico di Torino
2017-2018 / Teaching assistant in bachelor program about Budapest and ungarian architecture, Politecnico di Torino
2017 / Facilitation on a didactic workshop on Problem Structuring Methods application in Project economic evaluation class on Borsa Valori building in Turin, Politecnico di Torino
2016 / Teaching assistant in Master program and facilitation on a Strategic Choice Approach didactic workshop, Politecnico di Torino
2016 / Collaboration on research contract Reuse and enhancement scenarios about Olympic bobsleigh’s area in Cesana Torinese, Politecnico di Torino/Fondazione 20 Marzo
2015 / Facilitation on a didactic workshop on Problem Structuring Methods application in Project economic evaluation class on Palazzo Gramsci building in Turin

Selected publications

Todella, Elena, Isabella M. Lami, and Alessandro Armando. 2018. “Experimental Use of Strategic Choice Approach (SCA) by Individuals as an Architectural Design Tool”. Group Decision and Negotiation 27 (2018): 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-018-9567-9 (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10726-018-9567-9)

Todella, Elena. 2018. “The Divine Machine”. In Incontri con la macchina. Scritti meta-scientifici, edited by Vittorio Marchis and Marco Pozzi, 161-164. Milano: Mimesis.

Todella, Elena, Isabella M. Lami, and Alessandro Armando. 2017. “Architectural design and planning talk to each other: a dialogue via Strategic Choice Approach (SCA)”. 17th International Conference on Group Decision and Negotiation: 429-437.