Building Identity: How conversation and collaboration drive meaningful design at Ippolito Fleitz

Global reach, human-scale

For German architect Peter Ippolito, co-founder of the multidisciplinary studio Ippolito Fleitz, design doesn't just happen when pen hits paper. Design happens when life is lived with curiosity, when minds open to diverse cultural input, in the course of conversations and collaborations across different fields. It happens in the in-between: the moments that surround briefings, drafting and specifying.

This outlook has served him well. A graduate of the University of Stuttgart and the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Ippolito founded his Stuttgart-based practice with Gunter Fleitz in 2002. They are now a team of 130, working across architecture, interiors, product design, communication and brand identity. With two studios in Germany and one in Shanghai, they have projects spanning 30 countries and multiple awards to their name.

Architects of identity

Distinguished by a concept-driven, custom approach that draws on expertise across multiple design disciplines, the studio creates frameworks that transcend aesthetics to become value systems — stages for clients to perform within. Sometimes referred to as identity architecture, it is in play across the studio’s portfolio of hospitality and retail venues, corporate offices, cultural institutions and private homes, defining spaces as distinct as The Palace of International Forums in Tashkent and the Ritter Sport headquarters in Waldenbuch. The first required finding a new architectural language for a nation — a contemporary expression of Uzbekistan culture beyond traditional Islamic and Soviet motifs. The second transformed corporate offices through thoughtful, colour-blocked zoning in palettes and textures drawn from the company's chocolate bars.

Celebrating process

For Ippolito, the design process is as valuable as the eventual outcome. As the studio grows, so too does its systems for operating efficiently while preserving space for essential conversation and collaboration. The breadth of materials encountered across projects has led to an in-house material lab where three permanent employees collect, source and develop materials—a playground for clients to explore the fabric of their project. In the digital sphere, the Architonic platform provides structure and support for the studio’s creative processes, bringing efficiency to research and operations while preserving the collaborative spirit that defines its work.