In 1925 the Parisi family moved to Como where Ico earned his diploma as a building inspector in 1936 and completed an apprenticeship at Studio Terragni. The studio gave him the opportunity to get to know and interact with prominent figures of Como's architecture and art world such as Cattaneo, Lingeri, Radice, Rho, Persico and Sartoris. Passionate about cinema and photography, at Studio Terragni's request he photographed the Casa del Fascio.

He collaborated with Luisa Aiani and soon married her in 1947. Together they opened the studio La Ruota, a place of design but also a place of art, exhibitions and culture. The late 1960s marked a precise turning point in his design research. With Contenitoriumani, Parisi embarked on a new path of investigation aimed at defining a utopian-existential idea of living.The culmination of his design and existential research came between 1974 and 1976 with "Operazione Arcevia", addressed in a collective and interdisciplinary manner and aimed at designing an entire community. This strongly utopian socio-urban experience gave rise to his subsequent graphic research, which became the theme of innumerable collective and personal exhibitions.

He died in Como on the 19th of December 1996.