FONDAMENTA, founded and run by Francesca Gagliardi and Federico Rossi, was born in 2016 and is based in Milan, Italy. Strong is the belief in research and experimentation applied to construction where building is the end to which architecture must strive to become itself and technology the tool used to reach this result.
Francesca Gagliardi was born in 1987 Milan, Italy. She studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland gaining her diploma in 2012. She worked for Aires Mateus in Lisbon - Portugal, Ensamble Studio - Anton Garcia Abril in Madrid - Spain, and Christian Kerez, Zurich - Switzerland. In 2016, together with Federico Rossi, she co-founded FONDAMENTA. In 2022 she was appointed as Academic Guest for two semesters at the ETH Zurich teaching the course The Economy of the Project. In 2023 and in 2024 she was workshop leader at the International Workshop Porto Academy visiting Mendrisio and Barcelona.
Federico Rossi was born in 1987 Como, Italy. He studied Architecture at the Accademia di Architettura di Mendrisio, Switzerland and at KTH Stockholm, Sweden gaining his diploma in 2012. In 2012 he co-founded OSA, Associazione Studenti Accademia Mendrisio and in 2013 he co-published the research ATLAS How we Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Tradition. From 2013 to 2015 he worked at Christian Kerez office, Zurich, as project leader for international projects. From 2015 to 2019 he was a teaching assistant at the ETH Zurich at Christian Kerez Chair. In 2016, together with Francesca Gagliardi, he co-founded FONDAMENTA. In 2018, together with H. Killer, he was responsible for the International Workshop Project Berlin: 200.000 Housing Units organized by ETH Zurich + TU Berlin, based in Berlin, Germany. In 2019, together with J. Kacani, H. Killer, G. Ledermann, he was responsible at the ETH Zurich of the design studio STUDIO PANORAMA: 14 Views on Contemporary Architecture. In 2022 he was appointed as Academic Guest for two semesters at the ETH Zurich teaching the design studio The Economy of the Project. In 2023 and in 2024 he was workshop leader at the International Workshop Porto Academy visiting Mendrisio and Barcelona.
