Tobia Scarpa

Tobia Scarpa was born in Venice, Italy in 1935. Scarpa graduated from the Instituto Universitario di Architettura in Venice in the late 1950′s, where he met his wife, Afra Blanchin. Together, they launched their career working for Venini glassworks upon graduation. In 1960 they went on to open their own design office in Montebelluna. Scarpa has collaborated with his wife on designs for nearly every major international company, including Flos, Cassina, Knoll and B&B. In their career, the duo have developed a vocabulary for accessible luxury design based on expanding technology and a wide variety of materials. The Scarpas have also worked in commercial architecture and interior design, especially later in their career. Some of their best-known work was for the Benetton clothing company. Along with Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Scarpa was commissioned to design the first models for the lighting company Flos. His Papillion lamp for Flos (1973) was one of the first designs to use the new halogen technology. Scarpa has also been a lecturer at the School of Industrial Design in Venice. Throughout his career he worked with the motto that design “is a profession without a rule book...that which remains (and is worth talking about) is that final and concrete result: the object.