Norma Barbacci

Norma Barbacci is a Preservation Architect with over three decades of experience in developing and overseeing preservation projects across Latin America, Spain, and Portugal. In 2020, she held the position of Robert A.M. Stern Visiting Professor of Architecture at Yale University School of Architecture (YSOA), and since 2023 she teaches the Preservation in the 21st Century Seminar and the Civita di Bagnoregio Summer Program at YSOA. In 2017, she established Norma Barbacci Preservation Consultants LLC, a specialized private consulting firm focusing on the preservation of international cultural heritage.

From 2001 to 2017, Norma served as Program Director at the World Monuments Fund (WMF), where she managed a diverse portfolio of over 100 projects. Her responsibilities included conceptualizing and executing comprehensive conservation and training programs at renowned sites such as Easter Island in Chile, Teotihuacan and Monte Alban in Mexico, San Pedro de Andahuaylillas and Chankillo in Peru, and the Alhambra and Segovia Aqueduct in Spain. Before joining WMF, she spent 12 years at Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, where she held roles including senior project manager, associate, and studio director.

Norma earned her B.A. in Architecture from Carnegie Mellon University in 1983, receiving the AIA School Medal and the Adams Fund Certificate for Excellence in the Study of Architecture. She completed her M.S. in Historic Preservation at Columbia University in 1987, where she was awarded the Historic Preservation Thesis award for her master’s thesis on the adaptive re-use of a medieval residential complex in Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy.