In –InterVIEW/LISTEN 1–Benno Albrecht, the director of the School of Doctorate Studies at the Università IUAV di Venezia since 2015, introduced the history of the oldest Architectural PhD program in Italy, founded in 1983, and its tracks, which had been created by Aldo Rossi (Design), Manfredo Tafuri (History) and Bernardo Secchi (Urbanism). The program, with its over one-hundred PhD students at any one time, is unique in being the only one in Italy exclusively dedicated to questioning the project of architecture at all scales. PhD students contribute to architectural theory following a disciplinary approach to research. Some of the tracks are currently testing a problem-oriented research approach to deal with complex issues in research teams.

Albrecht was invited to discuss the role of Urbicide HUB and its influence on the doctoral research in the PhD program. He affirmed that Urbicide HUB contributes to a growing body of knowledge on the process of destruction and reconstruction in cities where there is conflict and commented on the importance to share that knowledge to counter war strategies that inflict destruction and loss of life in urban centers. He commented on the international community’s responsibility to establish and define Human Rights to land ownership and reconstruction in conflict situations to allow refugees to go back to their cities and villages after a conflict, noting the lack of and the need for clear international laws to regulate such rights. Currently, the IUAV is working on a pilot reconstruction project in Syria to test theoretical ideas on the ground.