Laia is an architect and PhD Candidate at Università degli Studi di Ferrara. The main topic of her research relates to innovation in building materials, with a special focus on the balance between tradition and innovation, while promoting adaptation to climate change through the use of local materials.
Since 2016 she has been involved in several development projects in Tanzania, and together with a local NGO she has co-led the participatory design and construction of a health centre and a women meeting centre in a rural Maasai village.
Currently she is taking part in the MSc programme “Building and Urban Design in Development” at UCL.