Silvia Balzan (Dr. Phil.) is an architect, researcher, and educator. Her research focuses on instances of colonial modernities with relational dimensions and their legacies, postcolonial construction materials, artifacts, technologies, and the exchange of knowledge as they traverse global networks encompassing professional organizations, international building regulations, corporations, and educational establishments.
Balzan studied architecture at IUAV Venice (MArch) and visual communication at The Basel School of Design (MA) and completed her doctorate in Social Anthropology at the University of Basel. She has been an adjunct lecturer at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, an SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation) postdoctoral researcher at ZHAW Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften, and a graduate researcher at ETH Zurich, D-Arch, Chair of Architecture and Urban Design. Starting in January 2025, Balzan will be a lecturer in Architectural Studies at the University of Manchester.
Balzan is completing her first monograph, titled “Relational Spaces: Pancho Guedes’ Social Architecture for the Swiss Mission in Colonial Mozambique,” based on her doctoral research, which will be published in Zurich’s Park Books’ “Resettlement Archives” series in early 2025.
