Alessandra Zanelli is a Full Professor at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. She is a member of the SPACE (experimental process for architecture and life cycle of building products) Research Unit in the same Department. She obtained a Master of Architecture (MArch) and Ph.D. in Technology for Architecture and Environment from Politecnico di Milano, in 1993 and 1997, respectively. Her main interests deal with the role of technological innovation in architecture and industrial design. In particular, she has focused her attention on: temporary systems (tents, minimal units for emergency, mobile homes, etc.); adaptive systems (smart, extensible, foldable, pivots systems, etc.); and the application of lightweight systems and demountable buildings for dwellings.