Mario Novella was born in Guatemala and is likely to have begun his architectural studies at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, although no archival record confirms this. He enrolled on the Department of Development and Tropical Studies' (DTA) 'Housing Course' at the Architectural Association (AA) for the 1968–1969 academic year. During his time at the AA, Novella collaborated with German architect and DTA tutor Hartmut Schmetzer on a project titled "Mobile Learning Facilities, Guatemala". This was a conceptual and design exercise aimed at improving access to education in remote or underserved areas, likely influenced by the AA’s emphasis on low-cost, climate-responsive design and its alignment with global development goals. Photographic records from this project are preserved in the AA Archives. Following completion of his studies, Novella remained in the UK and became involved with the newly established Development Planning Unit (DPU) at University College London (UCL). He co-founded the DPU’s Training and Advisory Service (TAS) alongside Pat Wakely, Hartmut Schmetzer, and later Baba Mumtaz in 1972–1973, contributing to the development of planning methods and educational programmes for professionals from the Global South. However, after 1973, there is no further public record of Novella’s professional activity. According to internal DPU documentation, he stopped teaching that year, and no subsequent affiliations or publications have been traced to him. It is possible that he returned to Guatemala or continued working in an unrecorded capacity in the field of development and planning. Despite this limited record, Novella’s brief but active engagement with both the AA and DPU situates him among the early contributors to a shift in architectural education that placed greater emphasis on participatory planning and climate responsiveness, principles that remain central to development architecture today.
Sources:
- Architectural Association Student Register, 1968-69. AA Archives
- Development Planning Unit, University College London. “Hartmut Schmetzer 1941–2004.” DPU News, no. 47 (2004): 14–15. Accessed September 8, 2025. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sites/bartlett/files/migrated-files/47_0.pdf
- Levy, Caren. Sixty Years of Urban Development: A Short History of the Development Planning Unit. London: University College London, 2014. Accessed August 12, 2025. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bartlett/sites/bartlett/files/dpu60_booklet_final_web2.pdf
- Doucet, Isabelle. “Architecture Wrestling the Social: The ‘Live’ Project as Site of Contestation.” Candide: Journal for Architectural Knowledge 10 (2016): 13–40. Accessed June 30, 2025.https://candidejournal.com/article/architecture-wrestling-the-social-the-live-project-as-site-of-contestation/
- Pacheco, Monica. “Otto’s Flying Circus across the Indian Ocean Rim: An Account of the Housing Extension Service.” Paper presented at Migrant Labour & Material Transfer: Politics of Construction in the Indian Ocean Rim, Adelaide, 2021. Accessed July 21, 2025. https://ciencia.iscte-iul.pt/publications/ottos-flying-circus-across-the-indian-ocean-rim-an-account-of-the-housing-extension-service/86904
