Francesca MELINA

I combine my work as a researcher with my artistic practice. My research focuses on the Anthropocene and its epistemological implications, with particular attention to ethics and aesthetics. With a transdisciplinary approach – that unifies art, architecture, anthropology, and design – I study, from a political epistemological perspective, contemporary art practices as producers of the commons in relation to climate change, and how art interacts with subjects and societies as a form of knowledge that promotes new ethics based on proximity and care and new ways of dwelling. Since 2015, I have been working, collaborating and designing in public space as an independent creative and as part of Malomodo Studio, of which I'm a co-founder, with a focus on food as a lens of inquiry.

Education
2022–26 — PhD in Sustainable Development and Climate Change, IUSS Pavia / Ca' Foscari University of Venice, awarded through national public competition. Thesis: "Making Space: Art as a Common Practice for New Ecologies of Dwelling", supervised by Prof. Cristina Baldacci and Prof. Pietro Daniel Omodeo. A thesis examining the role of contemporary art practices as producers of the commons and as a technology of the self in relation to global warming. The theoretical analysis is entangled with three on-the-ground case studies.

2019–22 — Master's degree in Philosophy, University of Turin (UniTo). Thesis: "La creatività come pratica Etico-Estetica: una riflessione sulla continuità tra natura e cultura dopo Schelling", supervised by Prof. Emilio Carlo Corriero and Prof. Federico Vercellone. A thesis examining the trans-muralism art movement as embodying the definition of art proposed by Schelling.

2016–19 — Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, University of Turin (UniTo). Thesis: "Il graffiti writing come nuova mitologia: prospettive schellinghiane", supervised by Prof. Emilio Carlo Corriero and Prof. Federico Vercellone. A thesis examining the graffiti writing movement as a contemporary mythology.

Research Positions
02–20.06.2026 — Research Assistant and Co-curator, UMA School of Architecture. Assistant in the organisation of the EURAU International Congress of Architecture and in the installation of the exhibition by Rúri and Elena Mazzi, Galleri Verkligheten and Arctic Art Summit.

10.2024–02.2025 — Visiting Researcher, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena. Theoretical-epistemological research, supervised by Prof. Jürgen Renn.

03–06.2024 — Visiting Researcher, UMA School of Architecture, Sweden. On-field research in Umeå city centre within the research group "Designing the Contemporary City" and Studio 3, supervised by Prof. Maria Luna Nobile.

12.2023–02.2024 — Visiting Researcher, IFP, Pondicherry, India. Transdisciplinary, collaborative on-field research in Tirukadayur, Tamil Nadu, with IFP and a youth organisation, supervised by Senthil Babu Dandhapani.

Teaching
03–08.12.2024 — Guest Lecturer, UMA School of Architecture. Visiting Researcher and Lecturer, Studio 3 – The City as a Laboratory, research group Designing the Contemporary City.

Organisation of Scientific Meetings
10–13.06.2026 — EURAU 26 – Latitudes, Umeå, Sweden. Assistant in the organisation of the congress (UMA School of Architecture).

15–19.04.2024 — International Society of Ethnobiology Congress 2024, Marrakech. Coordinator of the panel "Edible Landscapes, Edible Bodies" at Um Mami cooking school.

Conference Presentations
10–13.06.2026 — EURAU 26 – Latitudes, Umeå, Sweden. Abstract: "Environmentally Rooted Commons. Situated Practices for Dwelling Otherwise Across Latitudes".

27–28.08.2025 — Ephemeral Epistemologies and Encounters, Tübingen, Germany. Abstract: "Ephemeral Encounters: Art as a Catalyst for Ethical and Ecological Transformation".

04–06.12.2024 — Hurricane and Scaffolding Symposium, UmArts Research Centre, Sweden. Show and tell of "Stente: Residual Zones".

19–22.06.2024 — EURAU 24, European Research on Architecture and Urbanism International Conference, Milan. Extended abstract: "A paradigm of the contemporary city: Temperature as embodied perception".

15–19.04.2024 — International Society of Ethnobiology Congress 2024, Marrakech. Poster: "The Work of Cooking Sections as Beyond-science: Perspectives for an Ecological Rethinking of Fields of Knowledge".

Publications
2026 (forthcoming) — Melina, Francesca. «L'opera d'arte come oggetto transizionale: appercezione creativa, tecnologie del sé e di appartenenza verso un'eco-logica del pensiero». In Vie della ricreazione, eds. Mattia Marexiano, Francesca Melina. Torino: Rosenberg & Sellier.

2025 — Melina, Francesca. «Arte». In Acque contese. Un glossario per le grave di Ciano, eds. Giovanni Fava, Francesca Melina, Matteo Savoldelli. Ancona: Ventura Edizioni.

2025 — Melina, Francesca. «A paradigm of the contemporary city: Temperature as embodied perception». UOU Scientific Journal, Alicante University, 09: 76–87 (Classe A).

2024 — Nobile, Maria Luna, Francesca Melina. «Radical devices. Rethinking Art and Architecture as Forms of Dissensus in Urban Environments». UOU Scientific Journal, Alicante University, 8: 116–129 (Classe A).

2024 — Melina, Francesca. «Transdisciplinare». In Chibencomincia: preliminari per un libro d'arte biodiverso, eds. Diego Mantoan, Elisabetta Di Stefano. Bisso Edizioni.

2023 — Melina, Francesca. «Prospettive teoriche: le opere di Olafur Eliasson per un'arte ecologica». Itinera. Rivista di Filosofia e delle Arti, 25: 687–715. Palermo: Edizioni Bisso.

Group Affiliations
Anthropocene Commons Group

NICHE – Centre for Environmental Humanities, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

UNESCO Chair, Water Heritage and Sustainable Development, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Auswege Research Group, University of Turin