[3][4] His outlook is considered broad and humanistic, and his work is characterized by an inventive use of color and materials, asserting connections between the individual and society, through art, architecture, and design to reappraise mid-twentieth-century modern life.

[5][6][7][8] Pesce, born on 8 November 1939 in La Spezia, Italy,[9] studied architecture at the University of Venice, with such notable teachers as Carlo Scarpa and Ernesto Rogers.

[13] Among Pesce's architecture achievements are Les Halles ACIH (1979) and Parc de la Villette (1985), Paris, France, a complex of forms shaped like a running child.

[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] From the 1960s on, Pesce researched the function and form of utilitarian and decorative objects, including furniture, jewellery, and shoes, from the perspective of human emotion, environment, and production.

[35][36] Pesce's iconic feminist armchair - a fulsome bulbous form and attached ball-shaped ottoman – alternately referred to as La Mamma, Big Mama, Donna, and Up chair – continues to inspire interpretation nearly 50 years after its creation.

[52] Pesce's sculpture entitled "Porta Ritratti" (2018) for the Milan Fuorisalone was exhibited at the entrance of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, and later, the 13th edition of Design Miami / Basel.

The ambitious installation – a chair measuring over 13 feet (4 meters) high representing 20 human faces – according to Pesce, " is a Trojan horse that penetrates the Rocca dell'Arte making victims among the old mentality."

[54][55] For 28 years, Pesce taught architectural design at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) (National Institute of Applied Sciences), Strasbourg, France; Domus Academy, Milan, Italy; City University of Hong Kong, China; Escola da Cidade, (AEAUSP), (Architectural School of São Paulo), Brazil; Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio; and in New York, from 1980 on, at the Cooper Union.