Founder of MIT Senseable City Lab, CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati
Carlo Ratti is a prominent architect, engineer, and educator whose career bridges the gap between digital innovation and the physical urban environment. After earning his PhD from the University of Cambridge, Ratti transitioned to MIT as a Fulbright Scholar, where he founded the MIT Senseable City Lab in 2004 to research the impact of big data and sensors on urban life. Parallel to his academic work, he established the international firm CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati, leading high-profile projects such as the Digital Water Pavilion and the Copenhagen Wheel, both of which earned TIME Magazine’s “Best Invention of the Year” honors. His career reached a new peak in 2025 and 2026 as he served as the Curator of the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale and designed the “Essential” Olympic and Paralympic Torches for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games. Recognized as one of the world’s most-cited scholars in urban planning, Ratti continues to advocate for “human-centric” smart cities through his roles as a professor at MIT and the Politecnico di Milano, and as co-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cities.
