Italian architect-designers Afra and Tobia Scarpa, fellow architecture graduates in Venice, collaborated on many designs that have subsequently become ‘classics’, produced by a variety of leading international manufacturers of furniture and lighting. Both were influenced by Tobia's father Carlo Scarpa, particularly his interest in the technical properties and aesthetic possibilities of materials, an outlook that Tobia shared through his own work for the Venini glassworks in the late 1950s. In 1959 he designed the Nibei table for Gavina, a prominent company for whom both worked subsequently on many commissions. Other leading enterprises for whom the couple worked included Cassina, their Soriana armchair of 1968 being awarded a Compasso d'Oro in 1970. They also worked on commissions for Flos, such as Tobia's Biagio table lamp and numerous joint designs including the Papillona halogen lamp (1977) and Pierrot desk lamp (1990). They also worked on many designs for B&B Italia, including the Poligon table (1984) and Artona chair (1985) and for furniture manufacturer Poggi and office furniture manufacturer Unifor.

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