Curriculum
Renata Samperi, Associate Professor of History of Architecture at the University of Ferrara since 2018, teaches courses in the History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture and History of Modern Architecture (Master Degree in Architecture) and in the History of Architectural Criticism and Literature (Post-graduate School of Specialization in Architectural and Landscape Heritage).
In 2021, she was awarded the national scientific qualification for the position of full professor in SSD ICAR 18 - History of Architecture.
She earned her Master Degree in Architecture in 1985 and her PhD in History of Architecture in 1992 (Sapienza University, Rome). At the Sapienza she obtained two scholarships (1995-97, 2003-2005), was Assistant Professor from 2006 to 2017, and from 2000 to 2017 led the courses in Garden and Landscape History, Building Technique History, History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture, History of Modern Architecture, and Tools and Methods for Historical Research.
She received her professional license in Rome in 1986 and has gained professional experience as an architect especially in plans for historical centers.
She has worked with cultural institutions, such as the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, the Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura “Andrea Palladio” in Vicenza, and the “Roma nel Rinascimento” association.
She has spoken at national and international conferences and seminars and contributed to exhibition catalogues.
She is the author of monographs and essays including:
L’architettura di S. Agostino a Roma (1296-1483). Una chiesa mendicante tra Medioevo e Rinascimento, Roma, Librerie Dedalo, 1999;
“il tutto comprendere et in disegno ridurlo”. Gli angoli di Palladio, Roma, Campisano, 2019.
She has coordinated and participated in research projects, most recently including:
Il gusto della varietas nell’architettura del primo Rinascimento ferrarese: indagini e confronti con il panorama italiano. Fondo per l’incentivazione alla ricerca dipartimentale (FIRD), University of Ferrara, Department of Architecture (2022-2024, responsible);
PRIN “BATH (Being Architects, Teaching History) Architetti che insegnano storia. Il contributo italiano a una nuova storia dell'architettura: Zevi, Bruschi e Tafuri”, funded by the European Union under the NextGenerationEU programme, in collaboration with the IUAV University of Venice and the Department of Architecture of the Milan Polytechnic (2023-2025, head of the Ferrara unit).
She is a member of the teaching board of the PhD programme in “History, Design and Restoration of Architecture” at the Sapienza University of Rome and of the scientific council of the PhD programme in “History of Architecture” at the IUAV University of Venice.
She is the editor, together with Paola Zampa, the publishing series “Angoli e Demoni”, Campisano Editore.
She is a member of the scientific committee of the 3ARC Ancient Art Architecture Reception Centre.
Her research activity spans the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, centering on selected topics of Roman architecture and on the work of architects such as Leon Battista Alberti, Giuliano da Sangallo, Baldassarre Peruzzi, Andrea Palladio, and Francesco Borromini. The central focus of her research on buildings, gardens, and urban areas has been the reconstruction of the complex architectural processes based on the cross-analysis of data from archival documents, surveys and direct observation. This research has brought to light significant passages in the construction development of the studied works, establishing new and precise dating and clarifying the contribution of patrons, architects and craftsmen. Her current research concerns the papal residence of Castel Sant’Angelo from Alexander VI to Paul III, the Palladian architecture, the architectural language in Ferrara between the fifteenth and the sixteenth century, and the historiography of architecture in the 20th century.
