Rinio BRUTTOMESSO

Architect and Urban designer. Former Professor at the Iuav University of Venice. Founding Editor of PORTUS. Venice, Italy.

Architect and Urban Designer, Professor at the Iuav University of Venice for 35 years. Director of the International Centre Cities on Water, Venice (1989 - 2013), promoted by the City of Venice, the two Venetian universities, and the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, to document and study the issues of cities in close contact with water. In 2001, he founded and directed the Association for the Collaboration Between Ports and Cities - RETE, dedicated to improving relations between urban and port environments, and served as director until 2017. He was the founder and editor of three journals—"Aquapolis", "PORTUS" and "PORTUSplus", which studied issues pertaining to the fields of interest of the associations he directed. He has organized conferences, seminars, and exhibitions in Venice and abroad – predominantly in Latin American countries – on urban planning and environmental topics concerning the development of waterfronts. In 2004, he was the Curator at the Venice Architecture Biennale for the section dedicated to the redevelopment of urban waterfronts (Floating Pavilion, Arsenale di Venezia) and in 2006 for the “Città-Porto” (Port-City) section in Palermo. Curator of the exhibition “New Urban Waterfronts” at the X Buenos Aires Architecture Biennale (2005) and Scientific Director of the “Cities on Water” thematic plaza at Expo 2008 Zaragoza. Over the course of approximately 40 years of activity, he has participated in numerous international conferences, and edited several publications on the themes of urban waterfront redevelopment and the revitalization of urban-port areas. Since 2024, he has been a member of ACSSA-Associazione Cultori Storia Salesiana (Salesian History Association), Rome. In 2025 he published "The Salesians at the End of the World – Vol. I (Aracne Editrice), a volume which – on the occasion of the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Salesian missions in Argentina and Patagonia – was presented in high-profile contexts.