We had the pleasure of having Roberto Einaudi as our first architecture guest lecturer last Thursday. Born in New York, and having worked extensively in the Middle East, Einaudi has obtained numerous respectable titles; one of them being the founder and director of the Cornell University of Architecture, Art and Planning program in Rome. It felt incredible to meet and learn about the man that gave us the opportunity to be here in Italy today.
Einaudi’s legacy to Cornell University stretched all the way to World War II when his father Mario taught at Cornell to U.S offices who were going to the campaign in Italy. When his father taught government, Einaudi joined Cornell as an architecture student in 1956 following his passion for art and mathematics. From there on Einaudi’s career as an architect sky rocketed. He received his first job in an architecture firm in 1957, working with Louis I.Kahn, a renowned architect I studied at school. Today he is a partner and architect in Studio Einaudi in Rome, specializing in design and supervision of museums and exhibits, restoration of historic buildings and urban projects in archaeological centers. Hearing him talk about his work, I was inspired by how he sought to preserve the past as well his own family history.
Since my experience so far studying in an ancient city has allowed me to further appreciate old traditions. I am therefore even more grateful for the goals Einaudi’s worked towards in the past to achieve what we have today. Overall it was a very inspirational lecture to understand the history of the program in a larger context.
(All photos credit to Maddy Eggers)