Cofounder of UrbanistAI a GenAI platform to reimagine the future of our cities; and SPIN Unit an urban research practice. Product devlopment for Parkly and Embassador at BAITT. Currently running academic projects at Tampere University and EKA. Complementary photograpy.


 I see our ecologies as the dynamic interplay of networked agents that have past the hybridisation of biological-synthetic intelligence and have already become a new hole - contributing to the shaping of space and time in ways that transcend traditional human values.The interpretation of collective intelligences - including biological and synthetic forms of storage or computation - layes the foundation for an urban planning discipline that is defined and infinite as the number of agents we are willing to understand and provide values for.Our practice is evolving from a linear, mechanistic exercise - soon to be replaces by artificial intelligence programs - into a multidimensional exploration of the interwoven experiences that define the urban landscape - establishing new design strategies that retain a meaninful human participationPlanning as an iterative process of dialogue and negotiation with computational tools, enabling us to engage with and shape the city as a complex, living system. Meaningful urban design will produce value for the whole, that is, providing opportunities for biological and synthetic agents to express their agency.


Damiano is an urbanist, researcher and educator.
He cofounded SPIN Unit, an urban research and innovation practice; and UrbanistAI, a participatory design platform to reimagine the future of our cities. His practice focuses on urban research and policy design with a focus on transformative governance. Cerrone is also affiliated with and teaches at several academic institutions in Finland and abroad.
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Cerrone has held various positions, including consultant at Demos Helsinki, Principal Researcher at TERREFOM UR, and visiting researcher and professor at several institutions such as Chalmers University, Beijing University of Technology, Nokia Bell Labs, and Sapienza University of Rome. He has been recognized as an ESRI Scholar of the year and has served as a jury member for the European Capital of Innovation Award.
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Cerrone has worked with numerous clients and partners, including the United Nations Development Program, the European Commission, the United Arab Emirates Prime Minister's Office, the Architects' Council of Europe, various ministries and municipalities in the Nordics, and consultanted for private companies engaged with urban planning and governament innovation such as Ernst & Young, FYMA, Akkadian, the Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin.

Previous positions
Consultant, full-time @ Demos Helsinki
Consultant, independent @ Akkadian
Chief Urban Transformation @ Zeamly
Principal Researcher @ TERREFOM UR
Expert, part-time @ TalTech

Visiting Researcher @ Chalmers University
Visiting Professor @ Beijing University of Technology
Visiting Researcher @ Nokia Bell Labs
Visiting Researcher @ Sapienza University of Rome

Associate @ Spatial Ethnography Lab
Associate @ Postopia

OTHER COMMITMENTSAdvisory board @ City Destination Alliance
Jury member @ European Capital of Innovation
Fellow @ LINA (European Architecture Platform)
Reviewer @ Territorio and Swiss National Science Foundation.

CONTACTS
damianocerrone@gmail.com
+358 44 238 1084



Curriculum Vitae
Headshots




WORKING FOR AND WITH


CITIES
REGIONAL - NATIONALPRIVATE - THIRD sectorsACADEMIA
Dubai
Warsaw
Singapore

Helsinki
Turku
Jyväskylä
Lahti
Vantaa
Pori
Sipoo

Tallinn
Tartu
Narva
Pärnu
European Commission
LINA Network
United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister Office

Finnish Ministry of Environment

Estonian Ministry of Climate
Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communication
Estonian Ministry of Finance

Estonian Museum of Architecture
Estonian Centre for Architecture
Estonian Museum of Natural History
Estonian Police and Border Guard Board.

United Nation Development Program
Architects' Council of Europe
GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit
Mohammed Bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation
Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO
Forum Virium Helsinki
Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin

Kosovo Architecture Foundation
Estonian Museum of Natural History

Sweco - ALA Architects - Femma Planning - Karress+Brands
Group NAO - Strelka KB - Fyma - Kaupunkitilat
Ernst & Young - Miltton - Ramboll - Demos Helsinki
Tallinn Airport - Mainor Ülemiste  - Bolt

University of Twente
Luleå University
Aarhus University
Sciences Po
HafenCity University Hamburg
London School of Economics
IHS Erasmus University Rotterdam
Kyev School of Economics
University of Salford Manchester
Princetown University
Philipps University Marburg
TalTech, Tallinn Technical University
Estonian Academy of Arts
University of Helsinki
Princeton University
University of Turku
Universidad de Alicante.


PROJECTS  /  COMMISSIONS 

2024ReviewerProjectIndipendent
Swiss National Science Foundation
🇨🇭
2024Climate change scenariosProjectUrbanistAI
HafenCity University Hamburg
🇩🇪
2024Capacity building - Youth engagementProjectUrbanistAI
HafenCity University Hamburg
🇩🇪
2024Codesign workshop for reconstructionWorkshopUrbanistAI
Kyiv School of Economics
🇺🇦
2024UrbanistAI for The Mayors for Economic GrowthProjectUrbanistAI
United Nation Development Program
🌏
2024Urbanist DubAI - governance innovation programProjectUrbanistAI
Prime Minister Office of the United Arab Emirates
🇦🇪
2024Codesign Nusantara capital cityWorkshopUrbanistAI
University of Turku / Business Finland
🇮🇩
2024Expert Advisory BoardAdvisoryIndipendent
The Economist, Economist Impact
🇬🇧

2023Smartland interactive storytelling.ProjectSPIN Unit
Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin
🇮🇹
2023Tartu parking study and policy scenariosProjectSPIN Unit
City of Tartu
🇪🇪
2023Reimagining Pristina Block 1ProjectSPIN Unit/UAI
UNDP Kosovo
🇽🇰
2023Reimagining PristinaWorkshopIndipendent
Kosovo Architecture Foundation
🇽🇰
2023Lebanon UnsettledProjectSPIN Unit
London School of Economics
🇬🇧
2023Lahti land use analysisProjectSPIN Unit
Helsinki University
🇫🇮
2023Codesign design guideline for Nusantara capital cityWorkshopUrbanistAI
UNDP Accelerator Labs
🇮🇩
2023Tallinn accessibility analysis - KPIs for policy design.Project   SPIN Unit
City of Tallinn
🇪🇪
2023World Government SummitExhibitionUrbanistAI
Dubai Prime Minister Office
🇦🇪
2023Developing Generative AI for childrenGrantUrbanistAI
Architects' Council of Europe (ACE)
🇪🇺
2023Denk zueri neuProjectUrbanistAI
Dinnomo
🇨🇭
2023BiodiversityCity?ExhibitionUrbanistAI
Estonian Museum of Natural History
🇪🇪
2023Reimagining Helsinki market squaresWorkshopUrbanistAI
Kaupunkitilat / Femma planning
🇫🇮
2023Tallinn Avalinn - Building AI proficiencyWorkshopUrbanistAI
Estonian Ministry of Climate
🇪🇪
2023Helsinki summer street - codesining 2 pedestrian streets.WorkshopUrbanistAI
City of Helsinki
🇫🇮
2023The Mayors for Economic Growth: Home - M4EGWorkshopUrbanistAI
UNDP
🇬🇪
2023AI for Destination Management OrganisationsWorkshopUrbanistAI
Group NAO
🇪🇸

2022A vision for a planetary cityExhibitionSPIN Unit
Tallinn Architecture Biennale
🇫🇮
2022Shrinking cities: a national study.ProjectSPIN Unit
Estonian Ministry of Economy and Communication.
🇪🇪
2022Jyväskylä city center visionProjectUrbanistAI
City of Jyväskylä
🇫🇮
2022Wellbeing IndexProjectTalTech
TalTech
🇪🇪
2022Experimentation evaluation toolkitProjectSPIN Unit
Millton / Forum Virium Helsinki
🇪🇪
2022Stockmann - footfall/mobility analysisProjectSPIN Unit
Viru Keemia Grupp
🇱🇻
2022Tallinn Green FactorProjectSPIN Unit
City of Tallinn
🇪🇪
2022Land use analysis Kilimangiario AreaProjectSPIN Unit
Marburg University
🇩🇪
2022Business consultingProjectIndipendent
Akkadian
🇪🇪
2022Business consulting and researchProjectIndipendent
Akkadian
🇪🇪

2021The new modal. Policies for equitable public transit.ProjectDemos Helsinki
Harju County
🇪🇪
2021Nordic Smart City roadmapProjectDemos Helsinki2021Building vitality - regenerative constructionProjectDemos Helsinki2021Anticipatory public budgetingProjectDemos Helsinki2021Recenter JyväskyläProjectUrbanistAI
City of Jyväskylä
2021Land use emission calculationsProjectIndipendent
TalTech
2021Participatory mobility analyses            ProjectSPIN Unit
Harju County
2021Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Mobility study            ProjectSPIN Unit
FYMA
2021Business development and scenario planning            ProjectIndipendent
Floorin
2021Taxonomy for climate resilient cities            ProjectDemos Helsinki
EIT Climate-KIC
2022Business consulting and researchProjectIndipendent
Akkadian
🇪🇪

2020Narva youth visionProjectSPIN Unit
City of Narva
🇪🇪
2020Shrinking cities pilot: developing methods to map shrinkageProjectSPIN Unit
Estonian Ministry of Finance
🇪🇪
2020Yerevan Urban Analyses for city centre development   ProjectSPIN Unit
UNDP
🇪🇪
2020Residential housing colour analyses   ProjectSPIN Unit
City of Sipoo
2020Estonian Shrinking cities - research pilot ProjectSPIN Unit
Estonian Ministry of Finance
2020Porvo square benchmark analysisProjectSPIN Unit
ALA Architects
2020Tallinn Airport and Ulemiste city mobility studyProjectSPIN Unit
Tallinn Airport, Mainor, City of Tallinn
2020Smart Lands for Multimodal corss-border transitProjectDemos Helsinki
Tunnel Euralpin Lyon Turin
2020Riga Mobility MetricsProjectDemos Helsinki
City of Riga

2019City UnfinishedExhibitionIndipendent
Estonian Academy of Arts


ARTICLES - WRITING - OPINIONS


2024Rethinking the architecture of choiceColumnBAITT2023Territorial and Consumption-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions Assessments: Implications for Spatial Planning PoliciesAcademicMDPI2022Quantitative Greenhouse Gas Impact Assessment Method for Spatial Planning PolicyAcademicESPON report
2021From smart to people-first cities
ColumnForum for the future
2021Land Cover of Early-Life Environment Modulates the Risk of Type 1 DiabetesAcademicDiabetes Care2021Next Stop: Make transportation work for people
White paperDemos Helsinki
2021Implementing Gehl’s Theory to Study Urban Space. The Case of Monotowns
AcademicMDPI

2019Drivers of Global Urbanization: Exploring the emerging Urban Society
AcademicThe Routledge handbook of Henri Lefebvre
2018Integrative Urbanism: Using Social Media to Map Activity Patterns for Decision-Making Assessment
Conference IFKAD 2018
2018Simulating Pedestrian Movement
Academic Springer. Humanazing digital realities
2017Comparing two methods for urban complexity calculation using the Shannon-Wiener Index
Academic WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment



TEACHING / TRAINING


GRADUATE COURSESGRADUATE WORKSHOPS / SUMMER SCHOOLSINVITED LECTURER
URBAN PROTOTYPING
Estonian Academy of Arts, Architecture
2023

This graduate for master students in Architecture is focused on developing spatial scenarios for urban and regional planning.


ADVANCED URBAN ANALYSES

Tampere University,  Architecture
2020 > 2021 > 2022

This graduate course was designed for an interdisciplinary master program. It introduces advanced methodologies for mapping and analysing city form, focusing on innovative techniques to understand and address urban complexities using GIS and open data.



URBAN PLANNING
Tampere University,  Architecture
2020 > 2021 > 2022

This graduate course was designed for an interdisciplinary master program. It introduces advanced methodologies for mapping and analysing city form, focusing on innovative techniques to understand and address urban complexities using GIS and open data.


URBAN PLANNING, RESIDENTIAL LAYOUT
Beijing University of Technology
2018 > 2019

Two graduate courses on Urban Planning and Residential Layout.



URBAN META-MORPHOLOGY

Tallinn Technical University,  Landscape architecture
2017

A master course for landscape architects exploring theories and methods to study the relationships between the morphology and accessibility of green urban area and behavioural patterns. The lectures and the practical learning in GIS are focused on the collection and analyses of open social media data to reveal to the spatial patterns of human activities in the city.



URBAN MORPHOLOGY

Estonian Academy of Arts,  Architecture
2013 > 2014 > 2015

A master course exploring theories and methods to study the relationships between city form and behavioural patterns. The lectures and the practical learning in GIS are based on the work of the Italian Typomorphological school of Caniggia, Maffei, Muratori and Rossi; and the Space Syntax theory developed by Hillier and Hanson.


PrishtinAI
Kosovo Architedture Foundation | 2023

What if? 
Estonian Museum of Architecture | 2023

Urban goodcamp
Aalto University | 2023

metaNAR
Narva Art Residency | 2019

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB
Tallinn Technical University | 2018

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB
Institute of Housing and Urban Management, Erasmus University of Rotterdam | 2017

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB
University of Turku and Åbo Akedemi University | 2017

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB 
Tampere University of Technology | 2017

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB
CoDirected with Prof. Lev Manovich
St. Petersburg, European University of St. Petersburg | 2016

Open Gaza workshop
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, CCNY, | 2016

Open Gaza workshop
Tampere Technical University, Architecture | 2016

metaMORPHOLOGY LAB
Urban Design London | 2015

The Royal Danish Academy
Aalto University > Seasonal since 2016
Sciences Po
TalTech
University of Hawaii at Manoa
The Burnes Center For Social Change
University of Groningen
CUNY Graduate center
CUNY The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture
University of Alicante
ITMO University
Luelå University
BINUS University
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Westminster University



ARCH STUDIO REVIEWER
University of Insbruk | 2020
UCL, Urban Morphogenesis Lab | 2018
Westminster University, MA architecture studio | 2018
Westminster University, MA architecture studio | 2017