Tobia Scarpa

Tobia Scarpa (1935-), son of the great architect Carlo Scarpa, has managed during his career to be credited with a strong artistic personality and not to remain confined to his father's shadow. He shared his entire sentimental and professional life with his wife Afra Bianchin (1937-2011), whom he met during architecture lessons at the IUAV in Venice, who co-signed with him all of his most important projects. The couple designed their first important projects for the company of Dino Gavina, a great friend of their father, which was later sold to Knoll. At the same time, they were accredited among the very first designers of two young companies born a few years ago and both destined for a great future: B&B Italia and Flos. Over the years other selected collaborations followed with major brands such as Cassina, with which Tobia won the Compasso d'Oro in 1970 for the Soriana sofa, and Molteni & C. Their career as architects was instead strongly linked to the Benetton company, of which they designed the first fabric factory and several shops around the world.