This pared-back photography studio in Geneva is the brainchild of local practice Sapid Studio, created for young artists Alicia Dubuis and Roman Lusser. Known as Studio 18%, it perfectly captures the duo’s aesthetics: Lusser specialises in simple yet warm portraits, while Dubuis draws inspiration from midcentury cinema and brutalist architecture for her delicate compositions that exude a sense of softness.
Take a tour of this new Geneva photography studio
Set on the ground floor of an industrial building a short drive from Geneva Airport, Studio 18% could easily just have been a warehouse like all the others found in the area, but for the efforts of Sapid Studio, a Swiss architecture and design firm co-founded by Cécile-Diama Samb and Michael Piderit.
Sapid Studio specialises in hospitality interiors, furniture design and small-scale architecture, and its output is characterised by a rigorous attention to detail, as is made apparent by its work for Studio 18%. Here, they inserted an elegant mezzanine into the large space with 8 m high ceilings, turning it into a highly functional and well thought-through studio.
For this project, Sapid Studio has focused its care and precision on lighting conditions, with the entire palette designed around the quality of light, to ensure no colours were reflected into the studio space, creating an ideal blank slate. Throughout, galvanised steel grating panels and railings play with transparency, acting as minimalist screens to obscure some details and reveal others.
‘The spaces are all envisioned with absolute flexibility in mind, to allow for a multitude of uses during photoshoots,’ explain the architects. ‘It is the subtlety of the material palette along with its elevated industrial character that provides a backdrop for creative productions to take place within.’
The sectional door opens onto a 190 sq m full production studio with a cyclorama (a curved, seamless background wall to create the illusion of an infinite space). At the front is a kitchen and a striking staircase leading to the Glulam timber and plywood mezzanine, which houses a variety of production desks, styling areas and changing rooms with built-in desks and storage.
‘Our production desks can accommodate up to three producers and offer a direct view on the cyclorama, allowing the team to follow the set while working on their laptop,’ explain the photographers. ‘The interior becomes a backdrop for production sets to come alive and become the protagonists of the space.’
