Adriano Ribolzi was born in Lugano in 1937. His father had been running an interior decoration business on Via Peri since 1920 and introduced him to the world of interior architecture from an early age.

For his training, Adriano Ribolzi moved to Zurich to work for Pochet, which operated a branch of its Paris headquarters there. This gave him the opportunity to work alongside experienced French interior architects and to develop his skills in design, perspective drawing and model-making.

From 1948 to 1954, he studied interior architecture at the Zurich School of Arts and Crafts, where his teachers included Willy Guhl and Johannes Itten. Through Itten, he was introduced to the ideas of the Bauhaus. Itten also instilled in him an approach to design that brought together fine and applied arts, as well as creativity and craftsmanship.

After graduating, Ribolzi initially felt drawn towards an artistic career. However, his father’s illness prompted him to return to Lugano and take over the family business. He expanded it and moved it to Via Magatti 3.

Alongside this work, he began dealing in antiques, specialising in French furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries as well as Old Master paintings. From 1974 onwards, he continued this activity in the Principality of Monaco. As an antiques dealer, he successfully exhibited at the Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato di Firenze and at TEFAF in Maastricht. He also served on the board of the Dutch fair for ten years.

In the 1960s, Ribolzi took on another field of activity. At the invitation of Pietro Salati, founder and director of the Centro Scolastico Industrie Artistiche (CSIA) in Lugano, he developed the concept for what was then an innovative programme in interior architecture and design. As a lecturer, he taught and tested the first courses himself, developing extensive teaching materials that were later made available to his successors.

Adriano Ribolzi opens his own interior architecture practice in Lugano in 1960, which he runs until 1999. His work encompasses the entire spectrum of interior architecture: from conversions and renovations to the design of private residences and public institutions, hotels and shops. Among his most important projects are the façade, interiors and exhibition spaces of the Galleria di Villa Favorita in Castagnola near Lugano, which he designs in 1983.

Alongside his work as an interior architect, Ribolzi also designs his own furniture. He marks his designs with the stamp «ADRI».

From 1973 onwards, Italo Montanari works alongside him and shares responsibility for detailed planning and construction site management. The practice carries out projects primarily in Switzerland, France and the Principality of Monaco, as well as in other European countries and the United States.

In Ticino, Ribolzi collaborates with the architects Gian Carlo Dürich and Paolo Fumagalli. The latter describes him as the most important interior architect in Ticino and particularly praises his skill as a draughtsman, his openness to new ideas, his profound knowledge of historic furniture and his exceptional sensitivity to colour.

Together with Dürich, Ribolzi takes on the challenging task of adding a modern structure to the 17th- and 18th-century Palazzo Riva, home of the Banca della Svizzera Italiana. Ribolzi is responsible for the design of the interiors. His colleague Fumagalli writes: «The magnificent banking hall remained a focal point of the city for many years.»

Ribolzi has been a member of the Association of Swiss Interior Architects VSI.ASAI. since 1973. In 2023, the association appoints him an honorary member in recognition of his career as an interior architect and his work in the field of art.

For his work in the Principality of Monaco, Ribolzi receives various honours. The French Republic also appoints him «Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres».