Designing homes,
with care and intention.
A Miami Beach–based design studio. One team from the first sketch to the final detail: design, interiors, permits and construction oversight.
Start a Project
Chapter 01
Philosophy
Integrity in our lives, in our work, in our buildings.
Integrity guides how we live and how we work, and it is the ground we share with our clients. We hold ourselves to it from the first conversation to the last detail. We believe a home should improve the way people live, not through excess but through intention, beauty and connection, in places that support a meaningful life.
Every project begins by listening: to the place, its light, climate and landscape, and to our clients and the way they wake, gather and rest. Then we bring our own experience to the work and integrate everything into one design, so the home supports their wellbeing today and for years to come. Wellbeing is not an add-on; it shapes the plan from the start.
We are also investors and developers, so we know a home is an asset as well as a place to live. Design is an investment, and the decisions made early are the ones that count most. We design for both: a home that is lived in well and holds its value.
A home is not only seen. It is lived through the body, every day, over years: how light enters in the morning, how stone feels underfoot, how the house falls quiet at night. That is why we take a holistic approach to architecture and design, and plan light, air, materials, landscape and quiet together, not after the fact.
“We do it
Gaia Sonzogni
because we care.”
What we value, in every project as it applies
- Beauty
- Craftsmanship
- Mindfulness
- Passive design
- Low-emission materials
- Natural light and air
- Movement
- A close relationship with nature
Integrity in every phase
The home you approve is the home that gets built.
- 01
Design
We ask how the home will feel: its light, quiet, scale and movement.
- 02
Documents
We ask how it will perform: structure, systems, envelope and materials, resolved on paper before they are built.
- 03
Construction
We ask how it will be delivered: coordination, sequence and oversight, so what is built matches what was approved.
“A home is remembered by the body, not only by the eye.”
Gaia Sonzogni
Chapter 02
Our Approach
Homes designed to be felt, and built the way they were drawn.
Felt, not only seen.
Light, texture, quiet and movement are designed as carefully as the plan.
Integrity, start to finish.
The home you approve is the home that gets built.
Wellbeing, built in.
Natural light, movement and low-emission materials.
Made to last.
Honest materials that age with beauty. Passive design, high efficiency.
How we work
- 01
Concept & design
One point of view, from the first sketch to the permit set.
- 02
Permits
Experts in City permitting: we manage every approval and coordinate it in house.
- 03
Bidding
JO/GA Homes joins when permits are pulled and the set is ready to bid.
With JO/GA Homes - 04
Construction & delivery
Contractor management and construction oversight, through delivery.
With JO/GA Homes
100+
Projects across residential, hospitality and commercial, from ground-up homes to complete interiors.
14+
In 2012 Gaia moves to Miami Beach — 14+ years building relationships with builders, consultants, inspectors and reviewers.
2019
GAIA/S STUDIO founded.
“A meaningful home should continue to reveal itself over time.”
Chapter 03
The Studio
A laboratorio for intention, curiosity, and love.
Core
Team
GAIA/S STUDIO was founded in 2019 by Gaia Sonzogni, after about ten years working for other firms and as co-founder of a construction company in Miami. A graduate of the with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Architecture and a master’s degree in Residential Architecture and Urban Design.
Gaia grew up in a small town of about 500 people, Castel Gabbiano, in a home designed by her mother, a fashion icon, an engineer and residential developer who introduced her to the construction site at a very early age. Her mother used arched openings, arched entry doors, circular windows and elemental colors, and that first home still shapes how Gaia designs. So does growing up in Italy, surrounded by architectural heritage and beauty.
She started the studio alone, and it has grown into a team of talented professionals from different backgrounds and cultures. Gaia is its founder, but the studio is not one person: it is a laboratorio, a place to experiment with intention, curiosity, and a love for building and designing.
Today the studio works through a core team of designers who collaborate closely across all projects. Concept, architectural design, and interiors are developed in-studio, in a process that is continuous, coordinated, and precise from concept through construction.
Beyond design, Gaia leads JO/GA Homes, the development and owner’s representation firm that takes projects from permit approval through delivery. Open since 2015 under another name, it operated as a construction company until 2020 and has developed under the JO/GA Homes name since. Both firms work under Gaia’s lead.
Chapter 04
Selected Work
A handful of the places we've had the privilege to shape — a family's morning ritual, a chef's kitchen, a courtyard where someone finally exhaled. These are the backgrounds of real memories, still being written.
La Gemma
3,500 SF · 2028
The Grove
4,300 SF · 2028
La Marina
5,000 SF · 2027
La Corte
4,200 SF · 2024
Casa GMB
3,000 SF · 2012
La Casa Rosa
2,800 SF · 2026
Eddie & Carly Residence
4,500 SF · 2020
PH 11:11
2,500 SF · 2024
Milano Boutique
Luxury Condo · 2024
Armani Casa Residences
Common Areas · 2015–2020
Lyra
200 Units · 2024
Racine Residence
5,000 SF · 2024
The Standard Residences Studio Model Unit
Model Unit · 2024
Midtown Park PH Model Unit
Model Unit · 2024
The Continuum Companies
Office · 2023
Baoli
Restaurant & Club · 2023
Mika
3,000 SF · 2022
Marquis
3,000 SF · 2025
Sharon
3,000 SF · 2021
Jess
2,500 SF · 2023
“A project is only as good as the people willing to make it happen. Taste, courage, trust, patience… those things don't come from us. They come from our clients. I’m grateful every time I’m invited to be part of their story.”
Gaia Sonzogni
Chapter 05
Parole Disegnate
Drawn words. I design with lines and I draw with sentences, and this is where the two meet: words about design, the places we make, and the life that happens inside them, written from time to time.
22 Oct 2026
The Italy I Left Behind. And the One I Would Still Like to Return To.
What happened to the Italy of the 1990s?
9 Feb 2026
Why Miami Is Not Miami Without Latin Culture
Miami would not possess this form, nor this energy, without Latin culture. It might still have buildings. It might still attract capital. But it would lack character.
15 Jul 2025
Who Am I Copying From?
A story about identity, inspiration, and what it really means to create.
26 Sep 2024
Can We Make Affordable Housing Beautiful?
Surrounded by luxurious homes, boutique condos, and multi-million-dollar penthouses, I was recently presented with a vision and a challenge: Can you make affordable housing beautiful?
29 May 2025
Is It Worth Renovating an Older Home in a Flood Zone?
Renovating an older home in a flood zone can be incredibly rewarding—but only if you fully understand the limitations, requirements, and opportunities that come with it.
26 Sep 2024
“La Corte”: The Story
When we first approached this project, Miami Beach, we were enchanted by the livelihood and calmness of the area, by the majestic, centenary mahogany tree in front of the house, that seems to dance in the breeze.
14 Apr 2026
Milan Design Week 2026
Milan Design Week is not a checklist. It is a way of moving through the city.
9 Feb 2026
The Three Colors of Mindfulness
What we see. What we feel. What we choose to allow.
Chapter 06
Start a Project
We take on a limited number of projects each year to ensure full involvement, precise execution, and work that is built to last.
Studio
1111 Lincoln Road, Ste 500Miami Beach, FL 33139
References
Our clients are our best marketing. Anyone considering working with us is welcome to speak directly with our past and current clients — to hear, honestly and firsthand, what the experience is really like.