Architecture has often been seen as an extremely male-dominated industry. But with the changing mindset, we are witnessing the emergence of talented female architects who are changing the industry and are also inspiring young female architects to dream and begin their own journeys in the field of architecture. Deborah Campana, Partner of Lapis Bureau is one of them.

Deborah is an Italian architect, born in Venice whose education is rooted in Italian culture and art. With exceptionally rich qualifications in architecture & interior design, she has led an extremely satisfying professional journey. Over the years, she has worked on projects for education, commercial, leisure, and workplaces in architecture and interior design as the Chief Architect for MEA in Haifa, Israel. Since 2012 she is based in Shenzhen, first developing retail design and project management in Mainland China, Italy, and the US for Italian luxury brands and then leading projects for office-showroom, residential and acoustic wellbeing in South East Asia collaborating with leading firms in the industry.

Deborah is also the Co-founder and President of the Italian Design Association participating in exhibition projects and as a speaker at different summits and forums in Guangdong province, South China. She has also collaborated with a European Architectural Magazine for the publication of informative articles and speeches on Architecture and Design topics.

Currently, as the Partner and Design Director of Lapis Bureau, Deborah is working at different scales providing services driven by creativity, innovation, and sharp aesthetics. Let’s hear it from her.

Introduce us to Lapis Bureau. Tell us about the venture and some of its most unique features.

Lapis Bureau is a creative design studio that has been designing on different scales and offering peculiar solutions from products and interior design, to architecture and larger landscape projects all over China. It has a very comprehensive portfolio of works executed and built for some of the major players in the market, especially in retail and office design, where we successfully collaborated with brands such as Luxottica, Cassina, Giorgetti, MOMA, and Tencent. The work we daily develop in our studio aims to offer solutions often as a cross-over result of different disciplines, know-how, and visions merging in unique strategies operating with creativity on different scales.

What is your mantra for successfully shouldering the responsibilities as a Partner at Lapis Bureau? What are the primary focus areas?

Working in architecture and managing an office means learning and constantly updating. From customer acquisition to personnel management to accounting, to planning, we must always be aware and informed to be able to make suitable and coherent choices. Furthermore, professional training must be continuously updated, especially in these years of great change in which the design process does not always follow linear logic but is intertwined with many external, new, and often sudden factors. It suffices to see how the pandemic has changed people’s way of living, working, and shopping. Or, on the other hand, how the Metaverse is becoming more and more present along with the digital convergence undertaken in the last decade. All of these factors must be known and mastered.

"Millennials have pushed brands, designers, and architects to redefine their vision/actions and to place the concept of sustainability at the basis of their creation"

How has been your journey so far amidst the challenges of being an architect & entrepreneur? Tell us how you overcome the roadblocks that you encounter every day.

I left Italy years ago, sure of being able to find job opportunities and a mentality, in the professional world, able to look at young people. Now, after more than 10 years, I can say that this choice has paid off and that not only have I been able to work as an architect on interesting projects but that, comparing myself with other colleagues in exciting challenges, there has been continuous growth. Certainly, the greatest challenge, a daily challenge, is to work and run Lapis Bureau but with the determination and commitment of me and my partners, awards and recognitions have arrived.

For each critical challenge, I try to apply a methodological approach to solve it. Analyze the problem, divide it into small problems that can be handled, and then solve each one of them. One of our motto in Lapis Bureau is that for finding the right answer, it is necessary to ask the right questions focusing first on 'how it works' rather than on 'how it looks'. This is how we put ideas into shape.

How do you foresee the Asian interior design industry evolving in the future?

As mentioned before, the pandemic and digitization have, and continue to, affect people's way of living. There is a lot of attention to well-being, and a return to social interactions but also a search for experiences increasingly linked to exclusivity evoked through perceptions of quality, comfort, and elegance. What we know as Millennials, is a generation of hyperconnected, keen on multimedia and technologically advanced, very attentive to speed, and sensitive to the global problems that afflict our planet and society. Millennials have pushed brands, designers, and architects to redefine their vision/actions and to place the concept of sustainability at the basis of their creation while ‘sharing’ and ‘customization’ are the two keywords to speak about future trends.

What would your advice be to young women who aspire to become business leaders in the future?

I would advise budding leaders to keep a positive attitude and keep learning. These are very important elements to building trust in yourself and being able to face daily challenges.

Deborah Campana, Partner, Lapis Bureau

Deborah possesses a Business Chinese Language Certification from Shenzhen University, a Specialization in Hospitality & Wellness Design from Poli Design Milan, and a Master’s degree in Building Architecture from Politecnico di Milano, Deborah is leveraging her exclusive 10 years of working experience in architecture and interior design to transform ideas into shape.

• Awards & Recognition: Lapis Bureau has received the Luxury Lifestyle Award, the Golden Ring Prize Award, and the WA Award.