Mario Cucinella was born in Palermo in 1960 and graduated in Architecture at the University of Genoa in 1986.

In 1992, in Paris, he founded MCA – Mario Cucinella Architects, an architecture and design firm that has now headquarters in Bologna and Milan, and of which he is also the creative director.
In 2015 he founded SOS - School of Sustainability, a school for young professionals and recent graduates that focuses on the application of sustainable architecture and design to give future decisions makers the tools necessary to tackle the environmental issues that are emerging globally with an open-minded, holistic, research-driven, and human-centred approach.

The importance of his work and continued commitment as an architect and educator on environmental and social issues have been recognized with the International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2016) and with the Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects (2017).
In 2018 he was curator of the Italian Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale with the exhibition “Arcipelago Italia”.

In 2023 he was apponted curator of the Italia Pavillion at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Mario Cucinella has taught at the universities of Ferrara, Naples, Munich, and Nottingham.
He is the author of many publications including: The future is a journey to the past. Ten stories about architecture (2021, published by Quodlibet), Architecture of Education (2021, published by Maggioli), Building Green Futures (2020, published by Forma).