Kokaistudios is an award winning architecture and interior design firm founded in 2000 in Venice by Italian architects Filippo Gabbiani & Andrea Destefanis. Headquartered in Shanghai since 2002 we have grown into multi-cultural firm of 50 people working on a global scale with projects in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. Kokaistudios partners with our clients to collaboratively develop innovative & ground breaking projects in diverse fields of design. Primarily focused on developing cultural, corporate, commercial, hospitality & retail projects we have also worked extensively on urban regeneration projects involving the requalification of heritage locations. Kokaistudios aims to develop projects that add positively to the built environment and social fabric of the cities and countries in which they are located.
Born in Venice, Italy, from a famous family of artists and glass makers, Filippo Gabbiani developed very early a multidisciplinary interest for art and design. Starting to cooperate with his family in designing and producing artistic glass he completed his studies at University of Architecture of Venice where he graduated with an innovative research sponsored by the European Community on usage of alternative energies in architecture. Following his instinctive curiosity for different disciplines and other cultures he worked in several European countries and in the U.S.A. cooperating with prestigious firms of architecture, interior and industrial design prior to the founding of Kokaistudios.
Born in Turin, Italy from a family of theater artists, Andrea Destefanis developed very early a strong interest for visual arts and scenography. Growing up in a refined cultural environment he moved to live in Venice where completing his education at University of Architecture of Venice he started to cooperate with several architectural firms and developed award winning projects in architecture and city planning. Moved by his personal interest in different fields of design he founded a co-operative studio focused on research and developing early innovative architectural computer graphic design tools prior to the founding of Kokaistudios.
In 2000, he met Filippo Gabbiani, with a common architectural philosophy and a strong interest in heritage restoration and environmental design, they began collaborating closely and eventually co-founded Kokaistudios. He currently divides his time between Spain and China, overseeing Kokaistudios’ projects in the Middle East and Europe.
