Paolo Vitti is a practicing architect and historian of architecture, an international expert in ancient and modern construction techniques, conservation of cultural heritage sites, and sustainable architecture. Prof. Vitti is particularly interested in the use of traditional materials and building techniques and their relationship with sustainable architecture. He also notes the increasing role of the community in historic preservation: “"Heritage preservation is about the community and the way experts meet their expectations."
His professional experience includes the documentation, study, and conservation of several sites in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia, Cyprus, Palestine and Morocco. He has worked on 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 received the "European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award" in 2015. He is currently engaged in research on the Mausoleum of Hadrian, or as it is commonly known, the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome.
His book Building Roman Greece: Innovation in Vaulted Construction in the Peloponnese received the Grand Prix "European Union Cultural Heritage Award / Europa Nostra" and "The Erma di Bretschneider Award in archeology for research," both in 2014. He is Board Member of Europa Nostra, the pan European association for Cultural Heritage, and part of the expert group on issues related to climate change.
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). This fall semester, he will be leading the graduate studio in historic preservation in Rome.