Carmela Cucuzzella

Assistant Professor, Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University

• PhD (Environmental Design), Université de Montréal
• MAppSc (Design and Complexity), Université de Montréal
• BFA (Design Arts), Concordia University
• BCompSc (Systems Architecture), Concordia University

Carmela Cucuzzella’s research interests lie predominantly in responsible design practices with a particular interest in understanding the challenges of accommodating sustainability diagnostic or rating tools such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) alongside the creative conceptual exploration that takes place during the design process. She addresses the limits of current sustainability assessment tools as a means to gain a complex understanding of social, cultural and environmental repercussions of design practice. Prior to joining Concordia University, she was employed by Bell Northern Research (later Nortel Networks) for eleven years where she designed and developed software for the telecommunications industry. During her PhD studies, Carmela served as Research Project Manager for the Laboratoire d’étude d’architecture potentielle at UdeM. She has presented over twenty communications and published in books and international journals on environmental, social and cultural issues related to assessment and judgment for design projects, in the context of sustainability. She has already served as a guest lecturer in our department, including in DART 448, Ecology and 3D Design and has taught at Université de Québec a Montréal (UQAM).

research interests: Design for sustainability, design thinking, evaluation and judgment, precautionary principle, dichotomy between prevention and precaution for design for sustainability, complexity, systems design

areas of expertise: Environmental and social Life Cycle Analysis, LEED