Gulf Research Meeting
Dr Roberto Fabbri
Dr Roberto Fabbri is an Italian architect, researcher and current professor at the Department of Architecture, Arts and Design of UDEM - University of Monterrey. As a designer, he practised in Europe and the Middle East, mostly on adaptive reuse projects. In 2006, he participated to the 10th Venice Biennale. From 2010 to 2016 he worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the rehabilitation of the Kuwait National Museum and the re-installation of the exhibition galleries. In parallel, he completed the repurposing project of the American Missionary Hospital, the Amricani Cultural Centre, which resulted in the 2012 nomination for the Aga Kahn Award for Architecture. In the same years, he was head of design for the museum Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah also in Kuwait, coordinating a number of exhibitions on ancient and contemporary artefacts. Prior to joining UDEM he taught architecture studio and exhibition design at the University of Bologna and at the American University of Kuwait. In 2014 he was visiting researcher at the Center for Gulf Studies in Kuwait. His research lines focus on the modern heritage and its rehabilitation, on middle-east architecture and culture, on exhibition design and display methodologies. He contributed to several international conferences and seminars in Italy, UK, France, Lebanon, Mexico, the United States and Kuwait, and published extensively on academic journals and architectural magazines such as Domus, Faces-Journal d’Architecture and IJIA. He released two monographs on the architectural work of Max Bill (Mondadori 2011; inFolio 2017) and he co-authored the double volume “Modern Architecture Kuwait 1949-89” (Niggli 2016 and 2017).
