The talk will explore the relationship between birds and cities through different perspectives: urbanistic, scientific, and naturalistic. The three speakers, scientist and microbiologist Andrea Crisanti, architect Jeanne Gang, and ornithologist Francesca Manzini, will come together for a wide-ranging conversation on birds. Together with curator Ilaria Puri Purini, they will explore their complex presence in cities, landscapes, and human imagination. Crossing science, design, and cultural observation, the discussion explores what birds can teach us about adaptation, coexistence, and the future of shared environments.

Andrea Crisanti
Andrea Crisanti (Italian, born 1954). Microbiologist and virologist Andrea Crisanti is a professor of microbiology at the University of Padua and a leading researcher in infectious disease and vector biology. His work on malaria and other infectious diseases has been recognized internationally, and he became widely known in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic for leading testing and containment efforts in Vo’ Euganeo. In addition to his scientific research, Andrea entered politics and was elected Senator of the Italian Republic in 2022 with the Democratic Party. He has held academic positions at Imperial College London and the University of Padua, directing major research programs in virology and molecular biology. 

Jeanne Gang 
Jeanne Gang (American, born 1964). Architect Jeanne Gang is the founding partner of Studio Gang, an international architecture and urban design practice based in Chicago with offices in New York City, San Francisco, and Paris. Drawing insight from ecological systems, Jeanne is recognized for a research-based design process that connects individuals, communities, and the natural environment. Her most recent award-winning architectural projects include the Gilder Center at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock, and the University of Chicago John W. Boyer Center in Paris. In addition to leading design at Studio Gang, Jeanne teaches and conducts research at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design as Kajima Professor in Practice of Architecture. In 2017 she was the William A. Bernoudy Architect in Residence at the American Academy in Rome. Published and exhibited widely, her work is in the permanent collection of the Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo (MAXXI), the Centre Pompidou, the Centre Canadien d’Architecture, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.  

Francesca Manzia
Francesca Manzia (Italian, born 1971). Ornithologist and wildlife conservation scientist Francesca Manzia is a specialist in bird ecology and rehabilitation, serving as Head Keeper of the Bird Department at the Bioparco di Roma and a longtime leader of the Lipu Wildlife Rescue Center in Rome. She has worked for over thirty years in wildlife rehabilitation and management, published scientific articles, and participated in national field research on bird populations and recovery. Francesca is also a science communicator who has contributed to television programming and educational training for students in natural sciences, biology, and veterinary medicine, and in 2025 joined the board of the conservation organization Rewilding Apennines.