The Board of the Université de Montréal recently appointed Carmela Cucuzzella as dean of the Faculty of Environmental Design (Faculté de l’aménagement), for a term beginning Aug. 1 and ending May 31, 2028.
Cucuzzella is currently a professor in the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University and holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Integrated Design and Sustainability for the Built Environment.
Initially trained in computer science at Concordia University, Cucuzzella also obtained a bachelor’s degree in design there in 2005, before undertaking a master’s degree in applied science in planning at the Université de Montréal (Design and complexity option) at the School of Design, then a doctorate in planning.
Since then, she has conducted research on sustainable design and environmental rating systems, collaborating among others with the United Nations Environment Program’s Life Cycle Initiative as a social life cycle expert.
The design of public places and the analysis of urban morphology in order to improve the experience of public transport are also part of her work. Most recently, she has focused on assessing the quality of urban space from the point of view of health and aging populations. In 2021, Cucuzzella co-founded the New Generation Cities Institute, a center of excellence with international reach.
She is a member of the management committee of the Laboratory for the Study of Potential Architecture, a group of researchers from four Montréal universities. Since 2022, she has been a member of the steering committee of a partnership on the quality of the built environment supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and led by the University of Montréal.
“We are happy to welcome Carmela Cucuzzella to a faculty where she herself studied extensively,” said UdeM rector Daniel Jutras.
“As a researcher, Cucuzzella is recognized for the strength of her leadership and her entrepreneurial spirit, inspiring qualities that will contribute to the innovation of planning practices and the influence of the profession.”
Paula Negron-Poblete will assume the interim leadership of the faculty from June 1, until Cucuzzella takes office.
The Faculty of Environmental Design is made up of three schools – the School of Architecture, the School of Design and the School of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture – which bring together 250 faculty members and around 20 research units. It welcomes nearly 1,400 students each year in 23 training programs, all devoted to the study of interactions between humans and their environment.