Founded in Valencia in 2016 by Maria Donnini and Maria Grifo—both born in 1988, architects trained at ETSA València with further studies in Lisbon and Genoa—Piano Piano is a studio that understands architecture as a patient journey. A sequence of interlinked decisions that, layer by layer, build the internal logic of each project, always from an analytical, conceptual perspective that remains deeply attentive to what is essential.
Their name, which evokes a gentle and deliberate progression, faithfully reflects the way both architects conceive their practice: a conscious process in which the foundations of the project are clearly established from the outset, allowing later complexities to be added without compromising the coherence of the whole. For Donnini and Grifo, architecture is a narrative fabric in which every element—geometry, light, texture, colour—finds its place within a shared discourse.
Their time in Italy and Portugal left a visible imprint: a taste for detail, the precision of the millimetre, the restrained elegance of things well made. There they also learned respect for what already exists, for that architecture which—whether shaped by expert hands or by popular wisdom—always holds a quiet lesson. They embraced, too, a rigorous vision of the profession that combines practical sense with solid theoretical grounding; an attitude especially necessary at a time when architecture must justify its decisions with clarity and responsibility.
Piano Piano works primarily in the residential sphere, both in new construction and refurbishment, while also developing interventions in landscape, public facilities and urban projects. Their approach is always the same, regardless of scale: from an everyday object to a complete building, they seek a geometric clarity that does not become rigid, a materiality capable of engaging in dialogue with its environment, and a spatial quality that allows each project to evolve with its own life.
Teamwork is, for them, an essential principle. They know that architecture requires specialists and collaborations that broaden the project’s horizon; this is why they surround themselves with professionals with specific expertise—structures, environmental control, craft trades—who enrich the process and complete the narrative. This attitude has allowed them to develop a shared, almost symbiotic method in which both design with four hands until one takes over and then reconnects with the other to verify the path, ensuring the coherence that has become a hallmark of the studio.
In parallel, they have begun their first exploration in product design with Mínima, a ceramic collection created to evoke emotion from the millimetre: pieces that stand between everyday objects and architectural components, conceived to coexist with other materials and expand the studio’s language.
Their projects engage in constant dialogue with new materiality. They reject artificiality in order to find contemporary answers in the vernacular, studying the place and its history to reinterpret traditions, dismantle them and reassemble them with renewed freshness. They aim for those who inhabit these spaces to recognise themselves within them, to perceive memory, human scale and a sense of belonging.
Their architecture also strives to be healthy, attentive to wellbeing and daily life. They work with efficient building envelopes, evolving layouts—capable of adapting to the passage of time without major transformations—and a sensitivity that looks with care and closeness at those who will occupy each space. For them, sustainability is born from empathy, from the precise choice of materials and from an honest relationship with the territory.
As a young studio, they have faced common challenges—low fees, uneven competition, the disappearance of ideas competitions—and others of a more structural nature, linked to gender or professional recognition. Yet they have remained true to their way of working: rigorous, human, collaborative and free of artifice.
Among their references are Italian architects of the 20th century such as Mario Ridolfi, Gio Ponti, Lucio Caccia Dominioni, Carlo Scarpa or Luigi Moretti; the domestic sensitivities of Le Corbusier or Aldo van Eyck; the expressive strength of Lina Bo Bardi; and some of the most recent Central European architecture, including the work of Belgian practice De Vylder Vinck Taillieu. A constellation of influences that reveals their inclination towards architectures where intention is present from the beginning, where the drawing already contains the work.
Piano Piano advances step by step, loyal to a process that does not seek grand gestures, but rather clear decisions, honest materials and a spatiality capable of accompanying life. Their architecture pulses with a blend of delicacy, rigour and craftsmanship, creating places that age gracefully, settle naturally into their surroundings and, in time, find their own voice.