Research Group
Research Group
Research Group
Francesca Vita
Integrated Researcher
research interests
Architecture and urbanism in the former Portuguese territories, dwelling culture, environmental perception and social use of space, informal settlements, vernacular architecture and rural environment.
Short Bio
Francesca Vita (Bologna, 1988). Designer and researcher, with an ongoing PhD research in architectural heritage at FAUP (Porto) sponsored by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia PhD grant. Her PhD thesis focuses on colonial and post-colonial studies in former Portuguese territories and deepens into the topic of dwelling culture, house production and social use of space. In 2015, she spent one year in Guinea-Bissau laying the base for her future researches and collaborating on the project “Coast to Coast – Late Portuguese Infrastructural Development in Continental África (Angola and Mozambique): Critical and Historical Analysis and Postcolonial Assessment” coordinated by Ana Vaz Milheiro and hosted by ISCTE-IUL. She also has been part of a research project about architectural heritage conservation in the city centre of Porto coordinated by Helena Soares and sponsored by the Porto City Hall, and, currently, she is integrating the project "COST Action CA18137 – European Middle Class Mass Housing", coordinated by Ana Vaz Milheiro.
Current projects
Architecture, Colonialism and Labour. The role and legacy of mass labour in the design, planning and construction of Public Works in former African territories under Portuguese colonial rule