Adriana DE MIRANDA

Ca’ Foscari University Venice, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage

Adriana de Miranda is an architect and art historian, with a special interest in the history of Mediterranean architecture. She earned her PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and was appointed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received Master degrees in History of Medieval and Modern Art (Catholic University of Milan), in Quaternary Prehistory and Archaeology (University of Ferrara), Art History (University of Padova) and a laurea in Architecture (Polytechnic of Milan)

She has received awards and fellowships from several institutions, including the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Durham, the Barakat Trust, University of Oxford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Wessex Institute of Technology, the Office of Naval Research Global, the Dutch University Institute for Art History, the Institut Français d’Etudes Arabes of Damascus, the European Steel Association and Venice International University.

Her research focuses on Cultural heritage preservation, Environmental design, Indigenous building and design traditions, pre-modern Mediterranean and Islamic landscape and architecture, historical water typologies and hydraulic devices. She has delivered numerous lectures at international conferences and workshops.

She teaches Museology at Ca’ Foscari University, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage. Her teaching experience includes: History of Medieval Art and Restoration at Ca' Foscari University, History of Restoration, School of Technologies and Diagnostic for the Conservation and Restoration of the Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna; Theory and Methodology of Painting restoration, Department of Conservation of Historical Heritage, Modena University; History of Architectural Techniques, Department of Architectural Engineering, University of Bergamo; Drawing and Art history in secondary State schools of the Artistic grade.

Dr. de Miranda has been a Member of the Academic Committee for the Doctorate Program in Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Polytechnic of Milan; the International Baccalaureate at the Italian School in Art History in New York and Istanbul, for the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

She is member of the Italian Architect Association, College Art Association, Association of Art Historians, British Society for Middle East Studies, British Council for Research in the Levant, Historians of Islamic Art Association, Middle East Studies Association of North America, The Renaissance Society of America, International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture and Urbanism.

Publications

A. de Miranda (2024). "Water, Engineering and Landscape in Syria”, Architecture in Syria, Volume 3/From the Early Islamic to the Modern Times, ed. by A. Moaz, Brepols Publishers, Turnhout, forthcoming.

A. de Miranda (2024). "Maquette in Iconography: Symbol, Emotion and Realistic Depiction", Iconografia 2022, Antenor Quaderni, Padova University Press, forthcoming.

A. de Miranda (2024). “Challenges of Technology in early Italian Renaissance Drawings”, History of Architecture. Thematic Perspectives. Architectural Drawing, ed. by M. J. Moreira da Rocha, CITCEM/FLUP, Porto, forthcoming.

A. de Miranda (2023). “Lost Architecture Remodeling. An Iconographic reading”, AM Journal of Art and Media Studies 31, 1-9. ISSN 2217-9666.

A. de Miranda (2022). "Play of Water and Function in the Mediterranean", Islamic Heritage Architecture IV, ed. by S. Hernández, WIT Press, Southampton, Boston, 141-149. ISBN: 978-1-78466-475-6.

A. de Miranda (2022). "Intrinsic resilience in Levant water-based infrastructures", Environmental Sciences Proceedings 21 (1), 1-5. ISSN: 2673-4931.

A. de Miranda (2022). "Early Renaissance Fountains of Siena", The Renaissance Society of America, New York.

A. de Miranda (2020). Architettura idraulica medievale nel Senese, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, Roma. ISBN: 978-88-913-1943-2.

A.de Miranda (2018). Fontane a sorpresa nelle fonti antiche, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, Roma. ISBN: 978-88-913-1692-9.

A. de Miranda (2016). “Una necropoli dimenticata”, in R. Marrone, Necropoli di San Magno, Roma, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, 8-9. ISBN: 978-88-913-1201-3.

A. de Miranda (2015). “Discovering forms and function of historical water architecture”, Mediterranean Forum on Water Resources, ARPA Basilicata, Regione Basilicata, Università degli Studi della Basilicata, 34.

A. de Miranda (2015). “Technical Knowledge and Ingenious Devices from the Quattrocento Architectural Books”, The Renaissance Society of America, Berlin, 203.

A. de Miranda (2014). “Heritage and sustainable development”, Waterideas2014 conference Proceedings, 1-6.

A. de Miranda (2014). “Surprising fountains in 15th century Sienese treatises”, Journal of Arts & Sciences n. 7 (02), 133-154. ISSN 1944-6934.

A. de Miranda (2014). “Water-Harvesting tradition in Syrian steppe”, Procedia Engineering, Elsevier, 1522-1528. ISSN 1877-7058.

A. de Miranda (2014). “Hydraulic automata in the Italian golden age”, The Renaissance Society of America, New York, 610.

A. de Miranda (2014). “Review of Anke Scharrahs, Damascene ‘ajami Rooms: Forgotten Jewels of Interior Design (London: Archetype Publications Ltd, 2013)”, International Journal of Islamic Architecture, vol. 3, issue 2, 509-511. ISSN:2045-5895.

A. de Miranda (2013). “Historical Water Constructions in the Mediterranean”, Identity & Connectivity, ed. by L. Bombardieri, A. D’Agostino, G. Guarducci, V. Orsi and S. Valentini, British Archaeological Reports (B.A.R.) International Series 2581, vol. 1, Archaeopress, Oxford, 577-581. ISBN: 978-1-4073-1204-0.

A. de Miranda (2012). “Thermal Bath Architecture in medieval Spain. A case study of Gerona”, Lonaard Magazine vol. 2, 34-44. ISSN: 2045-8150.

A. de Miranda (2011). “The space of the Ritual”, Orientalia Parthenopea XII, Orientalia Parthenopea Edizioni, Napoli, 99-108. ISSN: 1972-3598.

A. de Miranda (2011). “Water in Islamic Architecture”, Blue in Architecture 09. Water, Climate Change and Architecture, ed. by B. Albrecht and A. Magrin, IUAV Digital Library, Venezia, ISBN: 987-88-87697-650.

A. de Miranda (2010). L’hammam nell’Islam occidentale fra l’VIII e il XIV secolo, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, Rome, ISBN: 978-88-8265-545-7.

A. de Miranda (2009). Design and Nature. Exhibition of photographs of Chinese and Syrian water-wheels, London, Brunei Gallery, 9th October - 12th December 2009.

http://www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/designandnature/.

A. de Miranda (2009). “Islamic architecture in Medieval Palermo: a case study of Cefalà Diana”, The Mediterranean Medina, ed by L. Micara, A. Petruccioli, E. Ladini, Gangemi, Roma, 325-330. ISBN: 978-88492-1605-9.

A. de Miranda (2008). “Architecture and Riverscape”. Oasis historical landscapes of irrigation, Cultura Oasis – Zaragoza 2008.

A. de Miranda (2008). Riverscapes. An exhibition of photos of historical water landscapes, Rotch Library Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 25th November - 16th December 2008.

http://libraries.mit.edu/sites/news/photography-exhibit/1225/
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/water-wheel-1119.html.

A. de Miranda (2007). Water Architecture in the lands of Syria: the Water-Wheels, L’«Erma» di Bretschneider, Rome, 2007. ISBN: 88-8265-433-8.

A. de Miranda (2007). “Traditional Syrian water management”, Human and Nature – Working Together for Sustainable Development of Drylands, ed by A. El-Beltagy, Mohan C. Saxena and Tao Wang, ICARDA, Aleppo, 589-593. ISBN: 92-9127-193-6.

A. de Miranda (2006). “Sustainable irrigation in South China: a case-study of the Chengyang valley”, Sustainable irrigation, Management, Technologies and Policies, ed. by G. Lorenzini & C. A. Brebbia, WIT Press, Southampton, Boston, 25-29. ISBN: 1-84564-043-8.

A. de Miranda (2005). “Dalle terme all’hammam”, Architectural Heritage and Sustainable Development of Small and Medium Cities in South Mediterranean Regions. Results and strategies of research and cooperation, ETS, Pisa, 343-354. ISBN: 88-467-1199-8.

A. de Miranda (2005). “Clean technology for alternative irrigation systems”, Ecosystems and Sustainable Development V, ed. by E. Tiezzi, C.A. Brebbia, S. E. Jørgensen, D. Almorza Gomar, WIT Press, Southampton, Boston, 681-688. ISBN: 1-84564-013-6.

A. de Miranda (2005). “Alcune considerazioni sulle norie nella tradizione siciliana”, Sicilia Archeologica 103, 137-143. ISSN: 0037-4571.

A. de Miranda (2004). “Aesthetic tradition and ancient technology: a case study of the water-wheel”, Design and Nature II. Comparing Design and Nature with Science and Engineering, ed. by M.W. Collins & C.A. Brebbia, WIT Press, Southampton, Boston, 105-114. ISBN: 1-85312-721-3.

A. de Miranda (2004). “Social Spaces from Medieval Islam”, Open Space People Space, OPENspace Research Centre, Edinburgh, 62. ISBN: 1-904443-02-8.

A. de Miranda (2004). “Traditional craftsmanships in Mediterranean lands”, Mediterranean Architecture, Misr International University, Cairo, 81-89.

A. de Miranda (2003). “Le terme arabe siciliane. Il caso di Cefalà Diana”, Sicilia Archeologica 101, 99-114. ISSN: 0037-4571.

A. de Miranda (2002). “An historical precedent of water architecture: the hammam”, Landscapes of Water: history, innovation and sustainable design, ed. by U. Fratino, A. Petrillo, A. Petruccioli, M. Stella, Uniongrafica Corcelli, Bari, 57-60. ISBN: 88-7329-030-2.