Sofia Nobis and Stefano Penazzi is an architecture and design studio operating across different project scales, with a portfolio ranging from residential architecture to exhibition design, as well as office, hotel, and furniture design.
Philosophy
We believe that architecture must embody a profound sense of place. Our goal is to create projects endowed with their own soul, capable of providing a stimulating backdrop to everyday life: spaces that evoke emotions, positively transform the experience of those who inhabit them, and tangibly improve the quality of living.
We place people’s well-being at the heart of the project—their needs, their desires—with the conviction that architecture must support and enhance human behavior, accompanying and amplifying the actions of those who experience it.
Design Process
Our approach is holistic and interdisciplinary. Each project begins with listening to the physical and cultural context that hosts it, and is enriched by a particular sensitivity toward materials: elements that carry with them memory, perception, and atmosphere.
We rigorously pursue attention to detail and conceptual coherence, essential tools for addressing the intrinsic complexity of architecture and achieving, in every project, an authentic and recognizable identity.
Biography
Before founding their studio, Sofia and Stefano gained significant international experience collaborating with David Chipperfield Architects in Milan, where they worked on residential, commercial, and cultural projects of international scope. Their professional journey was further enriched through experiences in architecture studios in Paris, Cologne, and Geneva—cities that contributed to forming an open, curious design vision deeply rooted in European design culture.
The Studio
The studio has its headquarters in Cernobbio, a choice that is not accidental but deeply intentional by its founders. Overlooking the waters of Lake Como, Cernobbio is one of the most renowned and iconic locations in Italy on the international scene—a place that discreetly embodies that quality of living, that measured beauty, and that artisanal tradition which inspire the studio’s work daily. Rooted in this exceptional context, Sofia and Stefano have chosen the lake not only as an address, but as a state of mind: a point of balance between nature, culture, and internationality from which to observe the world and from which to depart. Because while the headquarters is one, the projects know no geographical boundaries—the studio follows commissions and collaborations throughout the world, bringing to every latitude the same care, the same vision, and the same identity that are born each day on the shores of Lake Como.
