“The best work published in 2022.”
This is how the international architectural journal Frontiers of Architectural Research described researcher Paolo Stracchi’s efforts as it awarded him yet another valuable professional award here in Australia.
The Italian researcher, who has been living in Sydney for years, sent the academic journal his study entitled ‘Not really an aftermath - The role of actual construction in the design process of the Sydney Opera House roof’.
It was precisely this article that was awarded the coveted 'FoAR Best Paper 2022' prize a few days ago by the specialist magazine, which is a point of reference for all architects and scholars at an international level.
Consider Italy and the world of construction ― there’s a bond between the two, made up of companies, architects, and engineers who, right here in Australia, have written important pages of history for the country, especially after the Second World War, when migration from the Bel Paese had a major upsurge.
And this award confirms this once again, as Stracchi has received recognition of the highest value. The Italian researcher was also awarded a scholarship by the State Library of NSW in 2021 for his project seeking to investigate the role of modern architecture in the development of the construction industry in New South Wales and Australia between 1950 and 1980.
A lover of research, Stracchi works at Sydney University as a researcher and director of the Master of Architecture program.
He is passionate about the history of construction, and one of his first projects here in Australia was an exhibition dedicated to Pier Luigi Nervi, the Italian engineer and architect who made his mark on the history of Australian architecture in Sydney by building some of the CBD's most popular skyscrapers, such as the Australia Square.
The exhibition opened in Sydney in 2019 and in Canberra in 2020, before the emergence of Covid-19 restrictions, and Stracchi’s curatorial work wasn’t just appreciated by architecture experts.
"The works realised by Nervi were all used by firms that had been founded by Italians who had emigrated between 1940 and 1950," explains the researcher, who qualified as a building engineer-architect with a doctorate in Architecture and construction, in Rome, his hometown.
Arriving in Australia in 2012, after a few years spent working as an architect, the now 40-year-old then embarked on a university career driven by a passion for research. One could say that it was Australia that changed his life and, in fact, he bluntly admits this:
“My wife and I are delighted with the choice we made,” Stracchi explains.
“We love Australia, but particularly Sydney, a city that has already given us so much satisfaction.”
