Ideology

Nicholas Schmidt Studio is a comprehensive research and design practice centered in the fields of art, architecture, and design. The studio favors a research-centric approach; we deliberately separate thought and practice, allowing these to be disciplines in their own right, and only thereafter work together. We work to develop and implement timeless and universally significant solutions following the principles of simplicity, elegance, and non-reference. The aesthetic ideals are not imposed, but rather, are natural consequences of each project’s purpose and serve as reflections of its intent. We believe dialogue is the principle that sustains the relationship between studio and client; that collaboration facilitates meaningful design solutions and persisting partnerships.

      Research
Although it is not always acknowledged or addressed, there is a fundamental creative tension between thought and action; often the action outweighs or limits the thought. The investigations carried out by our research are free from the bounds of execution. The studies we undertake serve to convey a specific narrative and to ensure its consistency throughout a project. We set out to understand or refine the essence of the clients we work with; this starts by identifying who, what, where, and why people interact with them. From this preliminary narrowing process, a niche is extracted. The subsequent aesthetic research extends to complementary fields to create a rigorous, comprehensive, representative, and thus unique atmosphere that clearly guides all tangible design work to follow. What is left is a precise and compelling impression entailed by the unambiguous representation of complex thought.

      Design Principles
Every project, with its unique needs, brings about highly specific research. This research, in turn, establishes a strict framework within which design can be executed. Although each project operates within a different framework, the three aesthetic principles by which the design strategy abides are simplicity, elegance, and non-reference. The aesthetics of simplicity are not the exploration of absence; rather they imply a concentration on the appropriate, stripped of superfluous adornment. The aesthetics of elegance, which transcend complexity, are free to be rich and exist outside the confines of time and trend. Equally, the studio develops strategies that are non-referential. A concept developed by Valerio Olgiati, non-referential design is inherently significant beyond predetermined iconography and its contemporaneous context. This theoretical approach creates work that aims to be timeless and universal. It is the studio’s belief that this approach stands as the sole meaningful one to conceive design for the benefit of all.