Technical Foundations
Her first years in practice were shaped by MEP engineering and exhibition design, where complex installations had to be imagined, managed and delivered under intense timelines.
Italian architect and hospitality designer creating meaningful spaces across cultures, destinations and experiences.
Marilia La Marca is an Italian architect and the founder of La Marca Design Studio. With Sicilian roots, she lived near Milan before moving to Rome, where she studied at Università La Sapienza, surrounded by centuries of architecture, outstanding art and beautifully manufactured craft.
She graduated in 2004 with a thesis on the requalification of Piazza Augusto Imperatore and qualified as a registered architect the following year with Architetti di Roma.
“I believe the most powerful design is achieved when beauty meets function and purpose.”
Her first years in practice were shaped by MEP engineering and exhibition design, where complex installations had to be imagined, managed and delivered under intense timelines.
At Studio LG&P in Rome, Marilia spent one transformative year on site in Mauritius overseeing the construction of Le Flamboyant Hotel and Resort, discovering hospitality design as cultural storytelling.
Since 2013, Bahrain has been her second home. The Gulf shaped her understanding of design at a different scale of ambition, leading multicultural teams and bridging Italian design with regional vision.
In 2025, Marilia founded La Marca Design Studio, a collective of passionate specialists creating hospitality spaces that are contemporary, rooted, meaningful and commercially powerful.
“We build systems where space, service and communication work together to create value.”
Our goal is to transform hospitality into a distinctive, efficient experience that delivers concrete results — for those who host and for those who travel.
“After years working across continents — from Rome to Mauritius to the Middle East — I founded La Marca Design Studio around three core values: a deep obsession with design and heritage, a commitment to sustainability, and a passion for bridging Italy and the Gulf.”— Marilia La Marca, OHLALA Magazine Read the interview →
