Francesca MelisI love to create connections: I am always searching for the subtle patterns that affect change and growth.

Since joining Architects in 2022, I have been dedicated to exploring and understanding how small, tangible elements – a well-crafted or loosely sketched content map, the strategic arrangement of whiteboards and artwork, the shape of a table, or even background music and the composition of a group – can influence people’s behaviors and interactions within a social environment. As I observe shifts in group dynamics, I am constantly asking: what’s influencing them?

I explore through my senses, reflecting on what I can see, hear, sense down to the tiniest details. I am equally attentive to the environment itself and to the people who inhabit it,
whether it is a physical object or the expression on the face of a participant. I am fascinated by the way all the different elements that compose the experience come together, each seeking harmony with the others, like pieces of a puzzle forming a larger picture. And as I form my own interpretation of a space – physical, intellectual, emotional – I aim to create a place where people can connect to each other, to their thoughts and emotions.

I studied Languages and Communication: from English, German and Arabic to cinema and literature, I see language as a multi-layered tool that connects people, a means through which we express ourselves as much as the social and cultural contexts that mold our identities.
Born and raised in Sardinia, I love natural open spaces. I often draw and craft. I translate emotions and moods into colors.

 

Giordana Vilardi

I have been working at Architects of Group Genius since 2016, where I now serve as program co-designer, content creator, consultant and producer.

These years of practice and research have shown me the power of collaboration, of people coming together to find new answers to old challenges, to imagine alternative paths and co-create something that can only exist through a collective effort. Understanding the conditions that allow this kind of magic to happen is what fuels my curiosity and stimulates my inquiry.

Throughout my involvement in diverse projects, I have observed that unlocking a truly meaningful creative process often involves two different acts: stirring people’s imaginations and rousing open, candid conversations. With these two goals in mind, my work swiftly shifts between co-designing the flow and the activities of our immersive experiences, crafting questions for the assignments, introducing fresh perspectives from diverse authors and scholars, and carefully choosing the music that serves as a soundtrack for participants’ work.
Depending on the nature of the project, I contribute to every phase of its unfolding: from listening to the client’s requests and needs, to creating a narrative that helps shape participants’ immersive experience, all the way through to the final stages of documenting the work that has been done and, when needed, organizing the follow-up process to keep the work of participants going.

At its essence, I see my practice as “creating spaces” – primarily intellectual and emotional – where people can make meaning together. Building these kinds of environments requires the same capacities that it takes to inhabit them: courage, care, collaboration and presence. This is what my efforts are made of, too.

My passion for literature and my love for music weave through every act I take in my work and beyond.

 

Mario Marseglia

Since May 2016 I am in charge of finances and operations for Architects of Group Genius.

Our projects sometimes require our presence in many different places around the world over a very short period of time (and even simultaneously), with teams made up of collaborators from different continents, often managing extremely complex activities to carry out within tight deadlines. 
This is why it is essential that one of us work not “from within” but “on” the Laboratories. Someone that makes sure that all aspects which are not directly linked to content flow in the best possible way – for the team to be able to focus exclusively on the work, confident that “the machine” is under control. 
It is with this intention that I perform my role in Architects.

Precisely because we are a team: everyone brings their own contribution and plays their own part within the whole.

I was always fascinated by the order, perfection and truthful character of numbers. This is how I was conquered by all that is financial planning, management, programming, and control, within businesses. On the other hand, my objective has always been to be able to consider the people I work with, and be considered, trustworthy. That’s where my natural tendency to treasure human relationships comes from.

In other words, I love to transmit confidence and empathy, precision and reliability at once. In Architects I have found a space where I can fully express these qualities precisely because of the particular way we manage our activities: we are immersed in a perpetual lab where exchange and feedback, sharing, interactions and dialogue are indispensable components of the work.

Before landing in Architects I was in charge of trade and business development for an organization representing entrepreneurs (Confartigianato), I worked for the most important franchising network in the service industry (Mail Boxes Etc.), I developed a new clients network for a cosmetics and pharmaceutical company (Alès Group), and I managed networks for direct and indirect sales in the consumer goods and real estate markets. 
Finally, I took part in the launch of a startup offering endurance sports products and services to companies and individuals (almostthere.eu).

During my free time (not much…) I practice endurance sports, which I am passionate about: I am an amateur runner and triathlete, and I have crossed the finish line of many dozens of races over –almost– all distances.

 

Michelangelo Rossi

Born and raised in Naples, I hold a degree in Psychosocial Sciences of Communication and, since 2024, I’ve been working at Architects Of Group Genius.
Here, I am learning how to support the team in producing, designing, facilitating, and documenting immersive experiences for our clients. I draw on my interests — from social psychology and human learning to neuroscience — as we delve into the constant interplay between individuals and their environment, how they shape and are shaped by one another, and how this relationship influences the ways we think, connect, and adapt.
I view my efforts as striving to listen to the “music of the people” — learning to contribute my own note while attuning to the team’s dynamics, and fostering that same harmonious flow within the individuals and groups we support with our work.

I enjoy practicing and watching both team and solo sports. I love nature and all its living beings, as well as healthy, well-crafted food. I write poetry, read comics, and find endless fascination in the magic of visual arts and music.

 

Natalie Tedards

I believe we are all storytellers interpreting and constructing the worlds around us. I seek out moments where our stories – everything we experience, know, feel, and believe – can meet, exchange, and transform one another.

I entered Architects in 2022 as an English language editor. Since then, I’ve become immersed in learning the language of our work and developing my ability to create in Architects’ unique voice, in the form of both our written materials and the design of our Labs. I also flow between other corners of our work – wherever I can lend a hand, an eye, a brain, a heart.

Whether I’m observing participants at work, digging into the purpose behind a client communication, or listening deeply to my peers, I first try to receive things as they are before adding my own interpretation and offering them back as something people may need. This effort brings me closer to the edge of my own story and the beginning of someone else’s – within that gap is where I find I can both transform and be transformed.

For me, learning often feels more like a process of unlearning. As I steadily reach outward toward stories different from my own, I become better acquainted with the assumptions I hold, and allow myself to deconstruct and reconstruct them. Our Labs are my favorite part of the work because this is the kind of (un)learning we facilitate for our participants. When we’ve done our job well, I can sense that someone has felt, even if just for a minute, more human and connected to the others in the room. (And, usually, so have I.)

Before joining Architects I studied languages and across the social sciences, and I worked for several years with secondary school students in the U.S. and southern Italy. My current role has me frequently on the move between Chicago, Milan, and wherever our clients are. Whenever I can, I simply enjoy long, uninterrupted stretches of reading, dancing, talking, singing, eating…