Guendalina Salimei: Italy's Leading Female Architect

Guendalina Salimei, founder of TStudio, is celebrated as one of Italy's top architects despite a limited built portfolio. In 2008, Edilizia e Territorio del Sole 24 Ore named her best architect of the year, calling her a pioneer among female designers. Her firm has won numerous competitions, but most projects—including a new city for Dao Viet Eco City in Vietnam, and plans in Bratislava and Thessaloniki—were canceled or postponed. Salimei gained national attention in 2014 when a commission for national habilitation denied her associate professor status, sparking controversy over academia's exclusion of practicing architects. She has worked on waterfront projects in Naples and Taranto, and on the redevelopment of Corviale, a massive housing complex in Rome designed by Mario Fiorentino. Her work inspired the 2010 film Scusate se esisto! by Riccardo Milani, starring Paola Cortellesi and Raul Bova, where she is credited as a source. Salimei is also a cultural activist, active in InArch and the Order of Architects of Rome. Her architectural style, often mislabeled as deconstruction, uses open configurations on non-orthogonal axes, emphasizing landscape, ecology, and sustainability without sacrificing form.