Chiara Tomassi is an architect and designer based between Milan and Rome. Her career spans some of Europe’s most ambitious cultural and fashion projects, from MVRDV, AL_A, and MCA Architects to the Victoria & Albert Museum, Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and Nike EMEA Campus. Today, at 2050+, she focuses on transformation over new construction, creating meaning through restraint, awareness, and time.

What if balance isn’t found in doing more, but in learning to do less, with care and intention? Chiara’s story is one of rebuilding and redefining ambition. She shares how she learned to slow down, to stop proving herself to others, and to treat time as a material in itself, something to shape rather than chase. Her perspective turns architecture into a reflection of life: a discipline where awareness, empathy, and adaptability matter as much as vision.

In this episode, Chiara speaks about the pressures of performance, the role of presence in design, and the art of finding rhythm between work and recovery. We talk about leaving cities, returning home, and the power of being gentle with yourself, your collaborators, and your process.