Francesca Torello

Francesca Torello is a Special Faculty Lecturer in Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), affiliated with the College of Fine Arts since 2007. She holds a PhD in Architectural History from Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and a master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Culture from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya. Her research explores the intersection of architectural history, digital humanities, and cultural studies, with a focus on how historical methodologies inform contemporary design practices. Key projects include the augmented reality initiative ReCast (2018), which reimagines historic plaster casts, and the Virtual Fresco project for CMU’s Great Hall.

Her academic work examines architectural pedagogy, the impact of disciplinary specialization on professional culture, and the cultural shifts brought by digital technologies. She has been a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at the Newberry Library (2016) and in Washington DC (2019), researching Mediterranean travel geographies and museum culture. Torello teaches courses like Material Histories and Rediscovering Antiquity: Archaeology for Architects, integrating historical research with design ethics and digital innovation.

Her scholarship bridges historical analysis and modern applications, such as using robotic plastering techniques to reinterpret classical methods. Collaborations with institutions like the Carnegie Museum of Art and ETH Zürich highlight her commitment to interdisciplinary projects that blend historical preservation with emerging technologies.