Paolo Vitti is a practicing architect and historian of architecture: He is an expert in ancient and modern architecture, restoration of cultural heritage sites, sustainable architecture, construction history and museum design. Prof. Vitti is particularly interested in the use of traditional building techniques and their relationship with sustainable architecture.
His professional experience includes the documentation, study and conservation of several sites in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Cyprus, Palestine and Morocco. He has worked in such monuments as the Colosseum, the Domus Tiberiana on the Palatine Hill, the archeological sites of Paestum and Sybaris and Maqam en Nabi Musa in Jericho. His restoration of the Armenian Church and Monastery in Nicosia (Cyprus) has received the "European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award" in 2015.
His book "Building Roman Greece. Innovation in Vaulted Construction in the Peloponnese" received Grand Prix "European Union Cultural Heritage Award / Europa Nostra" 2014 and "The Erma di Bretschneider Award in archeology for the research" 2014.
He is Board Member of Europa Nostra, the pan European association for Cultural Heritage, and part of the expert group for several activities, including the action addressed to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
From 2002 to 2015 tutor at the Course of Restoration of Monuments at the Sapienza University of Rome. From 2010 to 2016 adjunct professor at the University of Rochester “Italian Studies in Tuscany” program in Arezzo. Visiting Associate Professor of Ancient Architecture at University of Rome Tre from 2014 to 2020. In 2015, instructor of Cultural Heritage Management for the Specialization in Archeology at the University of Padua. and in 2018 Visiting professor at the Specialization in Archeology of the University of Salerno. In 2017/22 he held several courses on Architectural Conservation in Morocco.
Paolo Vitti was born and lives in Rome, where he graduated in Architecture (1990) and Specialized in Restoration of Built Heritage (1996). He holds a PHD from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2013).
Areas of Expertise
- Architectural History and Theory
- Architectural Illustration
- Classical Antiquity
- Classical Architecture
- Historic Preservation
- Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism
Recently Taught Courses
ARCH 34312: Architectural History III
ARCH 34322: Architctural History IV
ARCH 34122: Design IV
ARCH 61012: Arch Representation for Historic Preservation
ARCH 74211: Architecture & Urban History of Rome
ARCH 74312: Italian Architedcture & Urban Theory
ARCH 84331: Historic Preservation Studio
Select Publications
P. Vitti, Building Roman Greece. Innovation in Vaulted Construction in the Peloponnese", L'Erma di Bretschneider, Studia Archeologica 206, Rome 2016 (432, 80 ill. B/W, 120 ill. Col.)
P. Vitti, The Armenian Church restoration Project, United Nations Development Programme- ACT, Nicosia 2014.
P.Vitti, Lime and Gypsum Structural Mortars in Historic Construction, Reference Module in Social Sciences, Elsevier, 2023, ISBN 9780443157851, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-90799-6.00064-1.
P. Vitti, Lessons from the past, architecture for the future. Coupling historic preservation with sustainable architecture. In “Heritage 2022”, Proceedings of the International Conference on Vernacular Heritage: Culture, People and Sustainability. VERSUS+Heritage for People - 15-17 of September 2022 Valencia – SPAIN.
P. Vitti, Le mausolée, la ville et l’empereur : une nouvelle interprétation architecturale de la tombe d’Hadrien. In, Topographie et urbanisme de la Rome antique Actes du colloque organisé à Caen (11-13 décembre 2019) publiés sous la direction de Philippe Fleury et de Sophie Madeleine, Presses universitaires de Caen, 2022, 347-362.
P. Vitti, Mortars and masonry - structural lime and gypsum mortars in Antiquity and Middle Ages, in Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 164 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01408-y
P. Vitti, Brick vaulting without centering in the Mediterranean from antiquity to the Middle Ages. in "History of Construction Cultures", Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress on Construction History, Lisbon, Portugal, July 12-16, 2021, I, 119-125.
P. Vitti, The National Theatre of Tirana. Remarks on Urban Development and Built Heritage in Albania, in N. Valentin (ed.) “Territori, città e architettura, l’Albania nel terzo millennio. Rome 2021,67-70
P. Vitti, Brick construction in Almoravid Marrakech: the qubbat al-Barudiyyin, Proceedings of the International Conference "Demolire, Riciclare, Reinventare. La lunga vita e l’eredità del laterizio romano nella storia dell’architettura" Rome, 6-8 marzo 2019, 363-379.
P. Vitti, An Archaic Vault in Tomb 3 of Salamis: Architecture, Function and Symbolism, in S. Regge - C. Ioannou - T. Mavrojannis (eds.), Salamis of Cyprus. History and Archaeology from the Earliest Times to Late Antiquity, Münster, 2019, 143-176.
P. Vitti, M. Vitti, Experimental Innovations in Vaulting Construction Under Trajan and Hadrian, in Archeologia dell'architettura, XXIII, 2018, 183-196.
P. Vitti, Il ninfeo adrianeo di Argo, in Annuario Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, 96, 2018, 275-299 .
P. Vitti, Gigantic and structurally sound: the lighthouse on the island of Pharos and the minarets of Western Islam, in V. Vardoyannis C.S. Zerefos, Hellenistic Alexandria. Celebrating 24 centuries. Proceedings of the International Conference, Atene 13-15 December 2017, Archeopress 2018, 222-232.
P. Vitti, Survey of historical heritage in the era of computers: a matter of aims and methodology, in "AΡΧΙΤΕΚΤΩΝ: studies on Ancient Greek Architecture dedicated to Manolis Korres", Athens 2016, 693-698.
P. Vitti, Il restauro delle mura di Paestum, in "Le fortificazioni di Paestum, valorizzare un monumento straordinario", Paestum 2015, 131-166.
P. Vitti, Facing structural problems in ancient times. A structural assessment during the construction of the Mausoleum of Hadrian, Anejos de AEspA, LXXVIII, 2016, 231-247
P. Vitti, Il Mausoleo di Adriano. Costruzione e architettura, in L. Abbondanza, E. Lo Sardo, F. Coarelli (eds.), "Apoteosi, da uomini a dei. Il mausoleo di Adriano", catalogue of the exhibition at the Museo Nazionale di Castel Sant'Angelo, December 21, 2013- April 27, 2014, Rome 2015, 243-267.
P. Vitti, Materia o forma del manufatto antico: cosa si trasmetterà alle nostre progenie?, in “La Villa restaurata e i nuovi studi sull’edilizia residenziale tardoantica” Proceedings of the International conference of the Centro Interuniversitario di Studi sull’edilizia abitativa tardoantica nel Mediterraneo (CISEM), Piazza Armerina, November 7-10, 2012, Bari 2014, 633-637.
P. Vitti, Il minimo intervento nel restauro archeologico: appunti di pratica/etica professionale, in Annuario della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, LXXXVII, serie III, 9, 2010 (2009), 737-747.
P. Vitti, Restauri moderni su archi e volte antichi: annotazioni di cantiere in occasione dei recenti restauri in Domus Tiberiana e nel Colosseo (1997-2002), in Palladio, NS 37 , 71-84.
P. Vitti, M. Vitti, A proposito della musealizzazione di partiti architettonici, in Palladio, ns. 36, 2005, 117-124.
Gallery of Professional Work
Paolo Vitti
