Caecilia Pieri

Dr. Caecilia Pieri is an Associate Researcher at the French Institute of the Near East (IFPO), Beirut, and former Head of the Urban Observatory (2011–2015). Her research focuses on modern urban history and urban anthropology in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions, particularly cities in conflict and the role of heritage as a social and political tool. She holds a PhD from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (Paris) on Baghdad’s modernization, with fieldwork since 2003. She leads the 'Heritage at War in the Mediterranean Region' research program (2015–2017), involving partnerships in Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Bosnia, and Italy. She is a member of ICOMOS-International, DOCOMOMO-Lebanon, and a UNESCO expert for modern heritage safeguarding in the Arab World.

Her work includes books like Baghdad. La construction d’une capitale moderne, 1914–1960 (2015) and co-authored studies on Le Corbusier’s Baghdad Gymnasium. She organizes international conferences, such as the 2022 colloquium on Urban Iraq and the 2016 ACHS session on contested heritage. Her research spans urban conflict, post-conflict reconstruction, and heritage preservation, with a focus on Iraq and Lebanon.

Professional roles include coordinating IFPO’s AGIR-HIFAZ program for Iraqi universities and advising on urban policies. She actively participates in UNESCO initiatives and serves on academic steering committees for modern heritage. Her interdisciplinary approach combines anthropology, history, and urban studies to analyze heritage’s socio-political dimensions in conflict zones.