Light is perhaps the most essential material an architect can shape—not something we build, but something we invite, guide, and reveal. From our earliest projects, we have been drawn to the relationship between architecture and natural light, driven by a fundamental belief: human well-being is deeply connected to light. We feel better, we live better, when we are surrounded by it.
The act of creating shelter is not just about enclosing space; it is about shaping light. Light must be modulated, filtered, and controlled, always in service of the people who inhabit our buildings. The needs for light vary widely—a museum, a hospital, a courthouse, an office, a school—all demand different responses. Yet our approach remains the same: to craft environments that enhance experience. We bring light into museums while protecting the artworks. We bring light into hospitals with a quiet, restorative presence. We bring light into courtrooms while ensuring security and dignity. We bring light into workplaces for clarity and comfort. Even in the densest of cities, we find ways to draw light deep into existing spaces, uncovering new possibilities where darkness once prevailed.
Light and lightness are inseparable, just as transparency and openness go hand in hand. From our workshop in Genoa, we look out to the sea—a vast expanse reflections, light and movement and ships floating weightless above the water . It reminds us that architecture, too, can embody this sense of lightness.
The pursuit of lightness is the pursuit of the essential. It is the challenge of gravity, the desire to create structures that feel weightless, that seem to hover, that dissolve boundaries between inside and outside. Lightness is not just about materiality but about atmosphere—about designing with the immaterial: light and its vibrations, shadows and their depth, sound and its resonance. Together, these elements define space as much as walls and volumes do.
To build with light is to build with a sense of wonder. To seek lightness is to seek clarity, refinement, and grace. In every project, we strip away the unnecessary to reveal what truly matters.
