Pica Ciamarra was born in Naples to an upper-class family, shortly before the beginning of World War II, which would result in widespread devastation in the city.

[4] The following year he founded his own practice, Pica Ciamarra Associati,[5] which is to this day headquartered in the Casa Bianca [it; de] in Naples, an old family farmhouse he had entirely remodelled for mostly residential use between 1964 and 1970.

[8] At the opposite end of the city, in the Fuorigrotta district, his design of the CNR "Istituto Motori" and of the nearby square majorly modified the area's layout.

In the neighbouring Bagnoli district, he designed in 1993 the Città della Scienza (Italian for "City of Science") museum, which – until partly destroyed by a fire in 2013 – was visited by hundreds of thousands of visitors yearly.

His other 21st century buildings recognised as significant by the Italian Ministry of Culture[10][11] include the San Giorgio library [it; fr] in Pistoia and an Auchan shopping mall in Naples.

[22][23] This list only includes completed works recognised as significant for the history of contemporary architecture in Italy by the Italian Ministry of Culture.