Ilaria Mazzoleni holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the Polytechnic of Milano, Italy, and a Master of Building Science from the University of Southern California, School of Architecture in Los Angeles. Since 2004 she has been a full-time faculty member in Design and Applied Studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles. She teaches seminars and design studios in the undergraduate and graduate programs and serves as a graduate thesis advisor. Ilaria Mazzoleni co-founded and coordinates the annual Milano study- abroad program, Design Is One, for SCI-Arc students.

Issues related to sustainable architecture and building technologies at all design scales are topics that she has explored over the past 15 years in her professional and academic career. In the past 5 years, the focus of her research office, im studio mi/la (www.imstudio.us), has centered on Biomimicry, innovation in architecture inspired by nature, she has participated to many international conference presenting her professional and academic work. The work of her students on Biomimetic Envelopes has been published in the February issue of DOMUS.

Her work has been shown in Europe, Asia, and the United States and recently exhibited at La Triennale Museo del Design in Milano. Additionally, Ilaria has written extensively on the interrelationships between the built environment and nature. She is a regular contributor to Abitare magazine online with her column "out in the city."