Afra Bianchin Scarpa was born in Montebelluna, Italy, in 1937. She studied architecture at the Università Iuav di Venezia, where she met architect and designer Tobia Scarpa. The couple began working together in the late 1950s and established their design office in Montebelluna in 1960. Their partnership united architectural discipline with an intimate understanding of materials, construction, and industrial production.
Afra and Tobia Scarpa created furniture, lighting, interiors, architecture, and objects for leading manufacturers including Cassina, B&B Italia, Flos, Molteni&C, Gavina, Knoll, and Maxalto. Celebrated works such as the Soriana seating system, Coronado sofa, Monk chair, and Artona collection reveal their ability to balance generous comfort with refined structural expression. Their broader architectural practice included a decades-long relationship with Benetton, encompassing factories, offices, stores, and restoration projects. Afra Scarpa died in Trevignano, Italy, in 2011, leaving an important legacy within twentieth-century Italian design.
