About Breath Design

(  What is your context and background? )

Breath Design. Formerly UNICA Architects, was founded in 2017 by Riccardo Robustini and a partner, with an initial focus on architecture and urban planning. During the past decade, we have been developing an approach that embraces a deeper vision: one of designing homes that resonate with energy and rhythm, meet life gently, and linger as presence rather than product. We are based primarily in Dubai and the wider MENA region, where we have developed a distinct and curated vision of architecture and design, one that places human experience at its core.

( What does architecture mean to you? )

For me architecture is a way to elevate the perception of everyday life, it is a powerful tool to create conditions for clarity and resonance. In our projects we speak of breath, of transitions, not only between rooms, but between emotions, moments, and phases of life. Our designs remain simple because they hold depth; they may feel quiet, yet they are entirely alive; they are essential, yet precise, with walls that feel whole in any presence.

Every project becomes a new expression of the same language: a search for balance between structure and softness, clarity and comfort, form and feeling. To me, architecture is a way to connect and to express emotions, far from the old concept of luxury based on excess. Subtraction, silence, and invisibility are often what allow architecture to endure over time: not ostentation, but presence.

( What is the role of an architect today? )

For me, an architect should be a translator of the above conditions in human experience. A creator of possibilities.

( What are your thoughts on modern housing & interior design? )

That is “the question,” and I think the answer deserves a more articulated discussion. But you can study the history of architecture over and over and discover that the human need to dwell has not changed with time. If you forget the superficial (the aesthetics of the spaces), probably there is no such thing as “modern housing.” We are still enjoying living in homes built hundreds of years ago.

A home is not about fashion; it is about permanence. Permanence may take different forms: for some it is the silence of a church, for others a more traditional or more essential way of living. Yet beneath all variations, the essential need remains the same: the need to dwell and to connect ourselves, even if only temporarily, with a place on this planet that belongs to us, and to which we belong. To some degree, the most authentic perception of home has not changed since its original archetype: the cave, the primordial refuge.

Even today, a home must give us that sense of security and safety. A security that brings lightness, that invites us to think, to express ourselves, to socialize, and, ultimately, to be happy.

A home is a return to clarity, to self, and to presence. It is this magic limbo between who you are and who you thought you had to be. It is one of the few places where you can remember how it feels to be fully, quietly present and how beautiful this sensation is to be the best part of yourself. It is a place for happiness.

A home is where everything falls into place, and life feels clear again. It is where you return to your own center, and the world feels aligned once more. It is a quiet clarity, almost meditative, where the essence of life becomes visible again. Ultimately, a home should be all of this: a catalyst for happiness.

( What do you appreciate and what would you change? )

I appreciate the fact that there is a partial shift in how the home is perceived and in the concept of luxury itself. The home is returning to be a crucial center of our lives, something that has been partly lost in recent decades. The surreal experience of Covid, together with the rise of increasingly dominant technologies, has brought into our lives a deeper sense of appreciation for the human value of things. I am disturbed by decorative design for its own sake, and by design used as a classist symbol of social belonging rather than cultural expression.

( Could you share the story of how the brand was created and its purpose? )

In recent years, through observing my clients and my own journey, I have come to understand that luxury is not material wealth, but well-being. My travels to Asia have been a pivotal point, where I absorbed that true luxury resides in a sense of freedom and inner balance.

LUXURY for me IS CURATED PRESENCE. A form of meditation in motion that gives life its ultimate meaning: happiness. This is what we want to achieve and embody in our work and life: to be the architecture of happiness and well-being.

I have realized that the direction of our projects has been profoundly shifting, increasingly embracing a focus on the sense of experience and the vision of the home as a refuge, a nest, a place to recharge, to rediscover oneself and reconnect with the most intimate part of the self.

Over the years, our focus has increasingly turned toward the worlds of living and hospitality, with a sharper emphasis on the high-end sector in Dubai, the Middle East and Europe. In these fields, we have refined a precise language, shaped by carefully crafted details, a constant dialogue between light and matter, and a deep connection with nature.

( What is your ultimate goal and objective? )

Most of the architects are interested in creating an aesthetic for the project they undertake. I am interested in designing a new way of living and convincing the way we wake up, take back the control of our time and our lives. We came across this idea of the Energetic Home: a home should be a place that gives you back, that nurtures your soul and body,

We design curated experiences, not styles. Our work is not defined by time or fashion but guided by permanence and presence. Each project is a tailor-made journey, shaped around personal needs, habits, and rituals: yet always rooted in a consistent vision. The curation of the entire process, from conception to living, defines our difference.

No one has yet translated the principles of design thinking into the realm of private luxury residences as we want to do. For us, a project is never finished with drawings or construction. It continues to evolve, becoming a living design that grows with you.

We envision our brand as more than an architecture office. It is a design philosophy and a spatial experience born from the desire to return, an invitation to clarity, presence, and the essential.

In a market that produces houses as products, we create profoundly human living narratives.

( What does Breath Design care about? )

Breath cares about people, not products. We care about how you feel when you wake up in the morning, and how your home evolves with you during the day. We care about the rituals that give meaning to life, and how space can nurture them. We care about materials: what do they evoke, their meaning, their story, and their tactile experience. We care about integrity, of design, of vision, of process.

We protect the coherence of an idea from sketch to construction, so that nothing essential is lost along the way. We care about uniqueness: every client, every home, every story is different, and our purpose is to reveal that uniqueness rather than impose a formula. We care about transformation. Architecture, for us, is not profit or image; it is the ability to create spaces that change how people live, feel, and belong. Above all the care about creating spaces that give you back, and make you feel happy.

( What makes your brand unique? )

Breath Design stands out in the luxury market not for aesthetics alone, but for the depth of meaning and the transformative experience of living. Its strength lies in a holistic approach that unites design, wellbeing, human experience, and sense of belonging.

The true goal is to bring to life a brand that, in its fullest expression, can be recognized not only for its aesthetic and formal language, but above all for the values that drive it, the approach that guides it, and the process through which it takes shape.

A brand that seeks to speak to a community of people who genuinely share the same vision of life, one rooted in awareness, respect, presence, art, and experiences. An “energetic” architecture, in its deepest sense: one that gives energy, nourishes, and supports.