Giuseppina Forte

Giuseppina Forte serves as Assistant Professor of Architecture and Environmental Studies at Williams College, bringing extensive expertise in urban and architectural history and theory with a focus on environmental justice. She earned her PhD from UC Berkeley in Architecture within the History, Theory, and Society program with a designated emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies and a certificate in Global Urban Humanities. Forte also holds a B.Arch. from La Sapienza University, Rome, and an M.S. from UC Berkeley.

Her research examines the intersections of built environments, techno-politics, and social justice, with specialization in architecture and urbanization in the Global South. Forte has conducted fieldwork with historically underrepresented populations across three continents, including São Paulo, Mexico City, Ouagadougou, Paris, and San Francisco. Her work critically analyzes how environmental design projects may unintentionally reinforce the inequalities they aim to address, particularly in contexts of peripheral urbanization.

Dr. Forte's scholarly contributions include the multidisciplinary volume 'Embodying Peripheries' (2023) and numerous publications examining urban justice, environmental challenges, and architectural theory in the Global South. Her recent work explores themes of climate adaptation, spatial exclusion, and innovative design pedagogies that center marginalized communities.

• 2022-25 Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley, 'Ecologies of Difference' Working Group
• 2023 Oakley Center for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Williams College, 'Beyond Biophilia' Working Group
• 2021-22 Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley, 'Intersectional Ecologies' Working Group
• 2021 Doreen B. Townsend Center for Humanities, 'Decolonizing Ecological Imagination' Working Group
• 2020 Global Urban Humanities Fellowship, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• 2019 Fulbright-Hays DDRA, Doctoral Dissertation Research Award
• 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Finalist project
• 2010 XXII Architecture International Biennale of Venice, Exhibited project

As a registered architect in both the United States and Italy, Forte actively bridges academic research with professional practice. She serves on the executive board of AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development) and co-organizes working groups addressing intersectional approaches to ecological challenges. Her involvement in the Pluriverse Pavilion at Williams College demonstrates her commitment to creating inclusive spaces grounded in Arturo Escobar's concept of the 'pluriverse,' which embraces multiple ways of being in the world and encourages critical reflection on design decisions.