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Thomas Greene Rankin (born 1961 in Boston, USA) is an American architect, educator and entrepreneur. Since 1991 he has lived in Rome, Italy where he focuses his design, research, and teaching on sustainable urbanism and public space.

Rankin has collaborated with architects from Massimiliano Fuksas to Cino Zucchi and since 2009 has been a registered architect in Rome and director of the studio TRA_20.

Travel design is essential to Rankin’s architectural practice and he continues to organize workshops and walks to unveil Rome’s rich architectural heritage. He was founder of the non-profit cultural travel association Scala Reale and continues to support culturally and environmentally sustainable travel as a partner in Context Travel which acquired Rankin’s travel business in 2004. Over the years Rankin has been mentioned in publications from Conde Nast Traveler, the New York Times, and involved in documentaries by History Channel and Rick Steves, who has called him “one of the most inspirational guides I’ve ever worked with”.

Early life and education
Rankin grew up in Milton, Massachusetts and attended Milton High School before studying architecture at Princeton University where he earned a BA in 1983. While at Princeton he spent a summer studying under architect Paolo Soleri at Arcosanti, research used in his thesis on Ecological Urbanism of the American Southwest. He received his Master's in Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design with a design thesis with Professor Jorge Silvetti. In Boston he worked professionally with professional architecture firms including “The Architectural Team” D.W. Arthur and Tise Design Associates. In 1991 he was awarded a Fulbright grant to study post-war housing and cinema in Rome. After moving to Italy he integrated his academic credentials to receive a "Laurea" in Architecture at Università di Roma ‘La Sapienza’. Rankin is married to Lucia Principato and has two sons.

Teaching and Non-profit Consulting
Rankin teaches a course in Ecological Urbanism at the Università di Roma “La Sapienza” (School of Engineering). For the California Polytechnic Rome Program in Architecture he is the principal instructor for architectural and urban design, theory, history and also teaches a course called Sustainable Cities which considers Rome as a laboratory. Rankin also co-teaches a course for the Iowa State Rome Program, examining Rome’s neighborhoods through architecture, urbanism and film.

He is a founding member of ISAR, the International Society for Archaeology, Art and Architecture of Rome, an Italian non-profit dedicated to the study, promotion and preservation of the heritage of Italy. ISAR oversees the Borgo Abruzzo project that Rankin launched with archaeologist Dora Cirone and students from the architecture programs at Cal Poly, Northeastern, and other Rome-based study-abroad programs in the town of Castelvecchio Calvisio. In 2016 ISAR began a multi-year excavation, entitled Signum Vortumni, at the base of the Palatine Hill in the Roman Forum.

Between 2013 and 2016 Rankin served as Director of the association Tevereterno Onlus, overseeing the organization’s strategic development as it prepared for the major urban art initiative Triumphs and Laments by South African artist William Kentridge. He stepped down as Director in 2016 while remaining an active member and curating the annual Tevere Pulito river cleanup.

He has actively participated in projects for Rome from the 2010 Festa dell’Architettura, the Biennale Spazio Pubblico, Ecoweek 2013 to 100 Resilient Cities and Roma 2025, working closely with Rome’s municipal administrations to advise them on ecological, cultural and issues, especially regarding international outreach.

In 2014 Rankin began an ongoing collaboration with Italian engineer Antonio Tamburrino on projects regarding the revitalization of Rome’s Tiber river and new mobility strategies.

In 2004 he co-founded the US 501c3 organization American Institute for Roman Culture for which he served as President until 2008.

Vision
Rankin promotes a progressive vision for Rome with pragmatic solutions to infrastructural issues aimed at creating a more equitable and livable city. He envisions a revitalized historic center, free of private motor vehicles, open to people of all ages, abilities, cultures, backgrounds, moving through an efficient intermodal offering of rail, automated self-driving shared mobility, soft mobility (bicycles, walking) and river transit.

Writings, Documentaries and Drawings
Rankin is the author of Rome Works: An Architect Explores the World’s Most Sustainable City and has written numerous articles on sustainable urbanism and presented frequently at conferences. His blog on the Still SustainableCity was chosen by Guardian Cities in 2014 as the best Italian city blog and is a reference point for sustainable urbanism in Rome.

He has collaborated on international documentary productions including Rick Steves’ "Rome through the Ages” series, aired on PBS, the History Channel’s Engineering and Empire and “Cities of the Underworld”, the Travel Channel production “Intimate Escapes” and Porte d’Attaches "Waterfront Cities” series. Rankin has also produced a series of short videos on Roman architecture and urbanism.

He has presented papers at numerous conferences on cultural heritage and urbanism and frequently been an invited guest on panels regarding urban design and policy.

An avid urban sketcher, Rankin’s drawings and watercolors have been exhibited, published and shared widely.

Links https://www.amazon.com/Rome-Works-Architect-Explores-Resilient/dp/0692559418 Rome Works: An Architect Explores the World’s Most Sustainable City https://tomrankinarchitect.com/about/ https://www.gustolab.com/ https://it.linkedin.com/in/tom-rankin-7a583110 https://www.ing.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/tgr_cv2017.pdf https://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_new/PAW01-02/01-0912/classnotes.html