USI Alumni Award to Giacomo Brenna

During the 29th Dies academicus of Università della Svizzera italiana, the USI Alumni Award 2025 was conferred on Giacomo Brenna, promoted by the Careers and Alumni Service in collaboration with the Pro-rectorate of Education and Students' Experience. The award celebrates the career and professional impact of former USI students who have distinguished themselves in their respective fields.

The 2025 edition was marked by a participatory and transparent process, which saw the involvement of the representatives of students (OSA) and the Academy's Alumni Association.

The Laudatio for Giacomo Brenna was delivered by Prof. Walter Angonese
Director of the Academy of Architecture.

"Giacomo Brenna, born in 1979, graduated from the USI Academy of Architecture in 2003 with Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus, with whom he subsequently collaborated in Lisbon.

In 2011, together with Cristiana Lopes, he founded Studio Lopes Brenna, which was based first in Como, Italy, and later in Chiasso, Switzerland. The studio has showcased its work in Como, Venice, Trapani, Bari, Rome, Munich and Nice, and has been published in various international magazines. In 2017 and 2019, the studio won the "Leonardo" prize at the Architecture Biennale in Minsk, Belarus. In 2016, it was selected to participate in the exhibition "Stanze. Altre filosofie dell'abitare' at the XXI Triennale di Milano. The studio received the Maestri Comacini award in both 2016 and 2023 and was nominated for the Swiss Architectural Award in 2022. Alongside their design work, Giacomo Brenna and Cristiana Lopes have been guest lecturers at the USI Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, Politecnico di Milano and the University of Genoa.

The work of Giacomo Brenna and Cristiana Lopes is rigorous and precise, resulting in a conscious and solid architecture. Their designs are robust and sustainable, remaining unaffected by the fleeting trends of contemporary media, which increasingly influence the field of architecture. Their production, notable for its consistent quality, operates on multiple scales, always prioritising spatial clarity and the experience of space.

In the domestic sphere of the Umbau, as it was defined by Hermann Czech, through a few clear and measured gestures, they implement typological inventions capable of redefining living logics, as in the case of the vm flats in Cantù or the guesthouse in Porto.

The same aptitude for rigour and precision emerges in the urban projects, where the interpretation of the context and the creation of atmospheres are elevated to central aspects of the design process. For example, the project for the Port of Genoa captures the essence of the port by incorporating its characteristic ropes in a static manner. Additionally, the recently completed Federal Asylum Centre in Balerna reflects an understanding of the territory, following the high tradition of the Ticino school. This project goes beyond mere observation; it intervenes with remarkable operational clarity, providing a genuine cultural response, aligned with the principles of the Academy of Architecture, to a programme that is inherently constrained.

The cultural legacy and critical thinking of Giacomo Brenna and Cristiana Lopes, formed between Portuguese rigour and the Ticino/Como tradition, are integrated into an architectural genealogy of exchanges, mutual influences, and professional ethics.

It is no coincidence that their work reflects a conception of space as a civilised and life-conscious construction. This vision is not only about the outcome but is also based on a strong education that merges architectural concepts with their practical application; an ambition that has shaped the discipline of architecture for centuries.