Luca Orlandi is an architectural historian specializing in Ottoman and Turkish architectural heritage. He graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Genoa and earned his PhD in 2005 from the Polytechnic University of Turin in the “History and Criticism of Architectural and Environmental Heritage” program. Based in Istanbul for over two decades, he was awarded the title of Associate Professor by Turkey’s Inter-University Council (UAK) in November 2022. At Özyeğin University, he teaches History of Architecture and Architectural Design Studio courses within the Faculty of Architecture and Design. Dr. Orlandi actively collaborates with international organizations such as ICOMOS Italy, the Alte Vie Foundation, and PIMo (People in Motion). Since 2012, he has served as a Senior Tutor for the Premio Piranesi - Prix de Rome, an international student competition organized by the Accademia Adrianea. He has also held academic appointments as a visiting professor at the Polytechnic University of Milan during the Spring Semesters of 2018 and 2019. At Özyeğin University, he established the Erasmus exchange program and oversees bilateral agreements with international universities. Dr. Orlandi is the author of The Landscape of Sinan’s Architecture: The Case Study of Thrace, published in both Italian and Turkish. His scholarship also includes numerous essays and articles featured in prestigious publications such as Routledge, Springer, Bruno Mondadori, and leading international scientific journals. He regularly participates in conferences, seminars, and workshops worldwide, while also organizing exhibitions and events related to his research interests which span a wide array of topics, including:

• The architectural legacy of Mimar Sinan and Ottoman heritage.

• Turkish architecture and its evolution.

• Galata and Genoese colonies in the Eastern Mediterranean.

• Italian architects in the late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic.

• Travel literature and the cultural heritage of the Levantine world.

“I arrived in Rhodes by chance, following the traces of a little-known Italian engineer who had worked there during the Fascist era. Over the years, my research led me to reconstruct the life and numerous works of Hermes Balducci—engineer, archaeologist, and university professor—who, through his studies and fieldwork, significantly contributed to the knowledge of the archaeology, restoration, history, and culture of the Dodecanese: from its classical past to the era of the Knights in the Middle Ages, through the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, the Italian presence, and finally the annexation to Greece. In a similar way, Tarık Tüten has likely come across my research on Balducci, which I have scattered over these years of study and travel. I hope that this collection of conversations—once completed—will add a new cultural fragment to that marvellous corner of knowledge that is the Hafiz Ahmed Agha Library in Rhodes.”

Luca Orlandi