Architect Francesco Garofalo dies at 61

Francesco Garofalo, a prominent Italian architect and professor, died prematurely in August 2016 at age 61. Born in Formia in 1955, he earned his architecture degree from La Sapienza in Rome in 1982 and a PhD from IUAV Venice in 1991. Garofalo was a professor of architectural design at Pescara and taught at IUAV Venice and several Canadian and American universities. He was known for bridging Italian architecture with international scenes, especially British, North American, Swiss, and Japanese. He organized major events like the research 'Learning from Cities' (Postmedia Books, 2008) at the 2006 Venice Biennale and the Italian pavilion 'L'Italia cerca casa' (Electa, 2008). He contributed to institutional reforms, including the competition for the future MAXXI museum. With his wife Sharon Miura, he designed two impactful churches in Rome: Santa Maria Josefa and Santa Maria delle Grazie at Casal Boccone, and worked on the restoration of the British School at Rome. He wrote important books, including a Zanichelli monograph on Adalberto Libera (with Luca Veresani, 1989) and 'Architettura scritta' (Allemandi, 2008); another collection of his writings was forthcoming. His death leaves a deep void in Rome's architectural community.