Molinari received his PhD in Theory and History of Architecture at TU Delft (NL). He was a longtime Architecture editor for the publisher Skira, and now works with the Marsilio Group.

He has written and writes for numerous Italian and international newspapers including Il Corriere della Sera, La Stampa, L’Espresso, Domus, Lotus, Abitare, Archis, L’architecture d’aujourd’hui and A+U.

From 2001 to 2004, he was the Scientific Director for the Architecture and Urban Planning sector at the Milan Triennale, and member of the Scientific Committee. In 2010, he curated the Italian Pavilion at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, with the exhibition “Ailati. Reflections from the Future.” From 2008 to 2016, he was Scientific Director of FMG Gallery for Contemporary Architecture in Milan, and from 2012 to 2018 he was a member of the Superior Council of Cultural and Landscape Heritage.

In October 2020, he was appointed Scientific Director of M9 Museo del ‘900 in Mestre.

He has curated exhibitions at Italian and foreign institutions and recently joined the scientific curatorship of new museums such as the Transport Education Centre in Doha, Qatar, the Istanbul City Museum, the ADI Design Museum in Milan, the Musei Civici in Reggio Emilia, Museo della Gastronomia at the Complesso di San Paolo in Parma, the Master of the Net Garden in Guangzhou, the Reggia di Caserta, the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, and the Fondazione Cini in Venice.

Throughout his extensive publishing career, he has analyzed urban planning and the development of architecture, and is the author of many books. For Skira, he edited monographs on Santiago Calatrava (1998), Massimiliano Fuksas (2005; translated into several languages) and Tadao Ando (2009). His most recent publications include: Stanze. Abitare il desiderio [Rooms. Inhabiting desire] (Nottetempo, 2024), La meraviglia è di tutti. Corpi, città, architetture [Everyone’s Wonder: Bodies, Cities, Architectures] (Einaudi, 2023), Dismisura. La teoria e il progetto dell’architettura in Italia [Unmeasuring: The Theory and Design of Italian Architecture] (Skira, 2019) and Le case che siamo [The Houses that Define Us] (Nottetempo, 2016).

His research, criticism and promotion of architecture has been recognized with numerous awards, including: the Ernesto Nathan Rogers Prize (2006, 10th International Architecture Exhibition), the Jean Tschumi Prize (UIA Congress, 2008), the title of “Academic of Merit” conferred by the Academy of Fine Arts of Perugia (2016) and “Corresponding Academic” conferred by the Accademia del Disegno of Florence (2022).