Paola Sola studied architecture at the Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, graduating in 1997 with the highest distinction —110/110 with honours—. After a brief period in Milan at Goring&Straja Architects, she returned to Naples in 2004 to establish her independent practice, working for private clients on interior architecture and restoration projects across Italy: Naples, Rome, Milan, and Abruzzo.

Her work moves naturally between interventions on the built heritage and new-build projects, two modes that Sola understands as part of the same commitment: reading space through the needs of those who will inhabit it. In restoration, the strategy consists of bringing the memory of the building into dialogue with contemporary uses. The existing structure —a recovered wooden beam, a fresco beneath a suspended ceiling, the scale of a historic palazzo— becomes active material within the project, not a constraint to be resolved.

Geometry as an instrument for organising space is one of the most consistent traits of her work. Sola works with simple, precise forms, where the plan follows criteria of efficiency without sacrificing the perceptual quality of each room. Natural light structures the circulation and defines atmospheres; white surfaces and pure geometric lines produce an aesthetic that is at once contemporary and enduring. Direct coordination with craftspeople is a structural part of her methodology: every finish, every carpentry or cladding detail goes through a personal process of oversight that ensures coherence between project and built outcome.

In 2009 she received first prize at the Concorso Nazionale “80 Voglia di Casa”, organised by La Repubblica Casa&Design and the Order of Architects of Rome and Province. The following year she was a finalist at the Concorso Internazionale per Interior Designer “Welcome in Hotel”, organised by AIPI.