About the studio

A multidisciplinary firm helping improve global spaces by delivering elegant designs and functional solutions.

The eponymous company was founded in 1986 and is managed to this day by Duccio Grassi. The team’s abilities are elastic, covering architecture, design, art and planning — providing architectural and interior design services in the retail, residential, hospitality and workspace sectors.

At its core, DGA aims to create innovative, site-specific, refined architecture that positively contributes to people’s lives. Often contradicting the scale spectrum, the firm’s achievements include landmark institutions and one-of-a-kind retail spaces.

A testament to the firm’s work is an over three-decade relationship with the Max Mara Group, which stretches the boundaries of how flagship stores are developed.

DGA’s crafts derive from passion, expertise, and rigour and have unequivocally raised the bar for modern-day retail design.

Duccio

Duccio Grassi was born in an artistic home in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Growing up alongside a Father, sculptor, and Mother, art teacher, he inherited a unique appreciation for the arts and an eye for detail central to his developed style.

After completing a degree in civil construction engineering and broadening his technical abilities, his path led him to develop Italy’s first retail franchising concept for Max Mara alongside an innovative for-the-time concept store. This cemented a relationship and, to this day, the design collaboration of the group’s flagship stores in major cities around the world.

He has since worked with projects at a global level, implementing new and unique typological solutions without losing sight of his personal touch. His portfolio goes beyond scale constraints, including landmark buildings and small retail settings. Brands he has worked with include Zara, Ray-Ban, Canali, Max&Co, Guess by Marciano, Penny Black, and Street One.

Grassi’s sense of materiality, his ongoing pursuit of modern knowledge and his understanding of Italian tradition have established him as one of the most outstanding architects in retail.