Riccardo was born in Pistoia, Tuscany, he is aware that this ‘place’ and its culture shaped a lot of who he is. He was reminded by his father when he graduated from the Mackintosh School of Architecture (Glasgow) that he had, since a child, always wanted to be either: a priest, a policeman or an architect and that he was happy he had chosen the creative path. After working for many years as a senior city officer he worked as a Director at Gehl Architects in Copenhagen with whom he still collaborates. He founded Marini Urbanismo in 2017. In 2019 he was involved in the setting up of URBAN LIVING, a place-making consultancy in Kazakhstan.