Silvia Cipelletti at Tecnológico de Monterrey: her teaching mobility experience

In November 2025, Arch. Silvia Cipelletti took part in the Faculty Week organized by Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, one of USI's partner universities. In this interview, she shared her experience with us.

Arch. Cipelletti, could you briefly tell us about your academic and research background, and what you are currently working on?

I studied architecture at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio and I am currently completing a PhD at the Institute of Urban and Landscape Studies (ISUP) and the Institute of Media and Journalism (IMeG). My research explores the intersection between architecture, cinema, new media, and landscape. More specifically, my doctoral thesis applies the video essay as a research tool to investigate the border landscape between Italy and Switzerland.

During the International Faculty Week at Tecnológico de Monterrey, what activities and topics were you involved in?

I led a workshop on cinema and video essays as tools for architectural design and research, during which students created short films set on the university campus. I also took part in several architectural and landscape design studios, reviewing students’ projects both in one-to-one sessions and collective presentations. In addition, I met with fellow researchers from the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, as well as from the Center for the Future of Cities and C LAB. This gave me the opportunity to learn more about their ongoing research projects and about the university’s approach to collaborating with local stakeholders.

Was there anything that particularly impressed you or that you will bring back with you from this experience?

I was deeply impressed by the extraordinary generosity of Director Jorge Salinas and the faculty members of the Architecture Department. I greatly appreciated the openness and sensitivity of Tec students, who embraced new ways of thinking and working within a very short timeframe. It was inspiring to see how a school of architecture prepares its students to address the challenges posed by a rapidly changing urban environment and the related ecological issues. Being immersed in such a different context also strengthened my belief that border landscapes — a central theme in my research — should always be understood not only through their physical dimension, but also through their social and political dimensions.

Has this experience opened up new opportunities for collaboration or future projects with international colleagues?

We are considering the possibility of proposing similar film and architecture workshops again at Tec, and we are planning to connect our respective research institutes in order to foster future contacts and collaborations. Personally, I would be very interested in repeating this experience to further explore the interdisciplinary nature of education at Tec de Monterrey and to delve deeper into landscape-related issues in that region, which — due to its proximity to the United States border — also represents an area of interest for my research.

Would you recommend this experience? Why or why not?

I would absolutely recommend this experience, particularly within the Faculty of Architecture. I believe it is extremely valuable to explore teaching methods in such a unique and distant context as Tec de Monterrey, where specific landscape-related challenges are addressed directly by faculty and students through teaching activities carried out in close collaboration with local institutions and stakeholders, rather than in an abstract way. The campus staff and the organisers of the International Faculty Week were extremely supportive and did an excellent job throughout the programme.