The multidisciplinary research group PortCityFutures has recently been of great support in shaping my postdoctoral career and the beginning of my profession as Assistant Professor in the disciplinary field of architecture and urban design. Already in 2019, on the occasion of the publication of the volume produced from my doctoral thesis (conducted at the University of Genoa and partly at the Delft University of Technology in 2018), I was able to rely on the knowledge of Prof. Carola Hein, who wrote the book's afterword with the text “Designing Thresholds in the Port Cityscapes”. The volume was then published by the German publishing house JOVIS in 2020 under the title “Beyond the Port City. The Condition of Portuality and the Threshold Concept”.
At the turn of 2019 and 2020, I took part in several PCF monthly meetings interacting with members. I attended the PortCityFutures Social Event in September 2021 and gave a talk on my ongoing studies at the PortCityFutures Monthly Team Meeting in December 2021. On all these occasions I was able to get in touch with different individuals, especially in the field of human geography and urban development, who were valuable collaborators for subsequent research activities.
In 2020, together with PCF and Prof. Carola Hein as Supervisor, I applied under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships obtaining a Seal of Excellence for the project called “PortCLAN - The Port-CLuster LANdscape: Towards a Spatial-Planning Approach”. In 2022, this title allowed me to access and win a two-year grant in the Young Researchers Public Notice launched by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, as part of the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NNRP) - Mission 4 'Education and Research' - Component 2 'From Research to Business' - Investment 1.2 'Funding projects presented by young researchers', within the Next Generation EU Recovery Package. In this context, I submitted the project “PULSE - The Port-clUster LandScapE: Developing a Spatial and Design Approach to Port Clusters”, which I am currently implementing as Principal Investigator at the University of Genoa, Department of Architecture and Design. Also at this occasion, PCF is an active part of the research and is involved as an international partner in dissemination and communication activities.
PCF has contributed to my growth as a researcher and professor by strengthening, in my work on the spatialities of contemporary port cities, the importance to be given to the connection between immaterial phenomena and economic-commercial and social processes with the aspects of spatial and architectural application. Through direct confrontation with similar research and expert scholars, I was able to understand the importance of tools such as questionnaires – as data-collection instruments – maps – as devices for representation but above all for investigation and understanding of complex landscapes – and of outreach and sharing activities – as monthly meetings, social events, conferences and site visits.
I’m confident that the collaboration between PCF and my current research project PULSE is of great value to both and I aim to boost the channels and tools through which to cultivate it in the future.