Gianfranco Fini was born in Rome in 1936. From a very young age, he developed a great passion for fine arts, also fueled by his father painter. He attended the art school in Rome and, at the age of eighteen, he spent a year in Paris to pursue his artistic studies. He returned to Italy to join a group of young artists of his generation, who were then gathering around the avant-garde movement that will later be known as the School of Piazza del Popolo. Among them, the successful painters and sculptors Kounellis, Ceroli, Festa, Schifano, and Franco Angeli. A few years later Fini decided to enroll in the Faculty of Architecture at Rome’s La Sapienza University, although he never really abandoned his artistic ambitions. In 1975, in association with another famous professional studio, Gianfranco Fini took part in various important European competitions such as the Italian Pavilion at the Osaka fair, then for the European Investment Bank, Brussels, and the Luxemburg Musical Academy. In 1976, in association with another architect, he won the competition for Damascus Academy of Fine Arts in Syria and later for the building of the Consiglio Regionale d'Abruzzo, former Palace of the Region of L'Aquila, in Italy.

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At the same time, he pursued his creative vein by participating in exhibitions and happenings that have marked the history of post-modern art in Italy, and designed a series of lamps/sculptures for the brand New Lamp - pieces that are now valued tens of thousands of euros in the auctions of modern antiques. Furthermore, together with his sculptor friend Mario Ceroli, in 1975 he participated in the Venice Biennale with an installation and performative project. In the 1980s, together with the artists Renato Mambor and Cesare Tacchi, he organized a series of crucial art events in Rome, at the Teatro dell’Orologio and at the outdoor theater in via Sabotino. With the sculptor Mario Ceroli he has also signed numerous innovative scenographic projects for cinema and theatre.

 

In 1976 he independently founded Studio Fini Architettura. After many residential planning projects, theatre and movie set designs, industrial design, and interior decorations, he began specializing in tourism development, resorts, and marinas design. Among these projects is Portorotondo Marina, in Sardinia, where Fini also designed the San Marco Church and the Ceroli Theatre. Then he planned Gouvia Marina in Corfu Island, Greece, for an international competition, and Costa Verde Tabatinga Resort, in Brazil, which kept Studio Fini Architettura busy for five years.

 

A few years later, Gianfranco Fin had the opportunity of designing numerous villas and residences in Casa de Campo, in the Dominican Republic, when in 1991 he moved Studio Fini Architettura. Since then, the Studio has carried out many projects for villas, luxury residences, and tourist planning. In 1996, in association with his daughter Nicola who also has graduated from Rome, he started the project of Casa de Campo Marina. The entire operation is a pioneering project that introduces a new lifestyle to the country. The Marina extends over more than 90,000 m². Its colorful residential architecture includes 105 units between villas and townhouse-type apartments, many with a private pier. Unlike standard marinas, which are just boat parking, Fini designed Casa de Campo Marina as the typical southern European Marina growing around a fishing village, with Mediterranean colors and architectural typologies. In the following years, the Studio completed other noticeable projects, such as Hotel Casa Hemingway, Minitas Beach Club and Restaurant, Minitas Swimming Pools, the Puerto Bahia Marina, with the Bannister Hotel, and a residential complex in Samanà Bay.

 

Recently, he founded Studio Fini Design, a recent branch of Studio Fini Architettura. An authentic family-run interior design firm with a showroom in Casa de Campo Marina. The Studio carries out interior design projects and also produces its original decor tailor-made for the customer.

 

And he never stopped painting.