Design Ideas for the Built World

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Bubble Studios - A Place Where All Artistic Ideas Blend Together

Bubble Studios located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a space created by the renowned Argentine photographer Gaby Herbstein and designed by the architect Ramiro Zubeldía, who envisioned from the very beginning a place where all artistic ideas could blend together. Bubble has been a scene for the creation of several audiovisual productions and corporate events which have imbued the place with a new meaning. It also works as a creative factory, a residence for innovative companies related not only to the art world, but also to fashion, advertising and the avant-garde scene.


Bubble Studios was established on a block of three preexisting buildings: an old, idle perfume factory, a warehouse and an auto repair shop. The project maintained an industrial language and preserved the dimensions of the neighborhood, while breaking ground with a dialectic between belonging and innovation that sought a positive transformation of the area. Occupying four lots of land, this building with double frontage and an exit on both streets displays an atypical size in the neighborhood, the covered surface being of nearly 5000 sqm.

The photography studios (on Cucha Cucha Street) and the bureaus (on Repetto Street), together with the flexibility provided by its many authorized uses, make Bubble Studios unique. Today it works as Gaby Herbstein’s photography studio, with its production offices, and also as a permanent space reserved for architect Ramiro Zubeldia, for production companies such as Storm and Rocket to the Moon and Candy Media, and for the agency Blum!

The ground level hosts the Studio 01. With dimensions of 17 x 14 x 10m (width x length x height), the venue can accommodate corporate events with a capacity for 1,500 people.

In addition, it contains all complementary facilities necessary for the photography studio, such as hair and makeup facilities, dressing rooms, a bar, a dining room and a lounge. Its most outstanding attribute is the pool, with a dry area that allows taking underwater photographs with no need to plunge in.

Assembling the two main functional areas, an inner courtyard unfolds in the center of the building. A space conceived for recreation and relaxation, the courtyard is certainly the meeting point of all different areas, while letting the building breathe and take in natural light. On this area there is a dining room with its own separate kitchen, a few offices and a new stairway that leads to the lower level, which, although at first employed as an art gallery, today is used as a disco, as an exhibition room and as an auditorium, allowing for a wide array of uses.

The second level is destined to the Studio 02, which is 9 x 20 x 10 meters large (width x length x height). The studio includes hair and makeup facilities, dressing rooms, a dining room, a lounge and a kitchen.

One special feature of this studio is the convertible roof, which allows taking pictures both with natural and artificial light sources.

Over the second floor, the terrace Terraza 01 works as an open-air photography studio. It also functions as an extension of the office’s sector and as an access to the terrace Terraza 02, which in turn is used for outdoor events. Terraza 02 is bordered with a 20-meter long bar, which enfolds a courtyard, and is equipped with a kitchen and separate toilets. Its sharp, open view of the city makes this spot truly unique.

The project offers a palette of uniform materials which maintain and enhance the industrial character of the former buildings, the prevailing ones being fair-faced concrete, polished cement, painted exposed brick and iron. All materials have a rustic, resistant finish, with low-cost maintenance and a neutral appearance that make it a perfect place to undertake diverse programmatical activities without aesthetic conditionings.

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Take a virtual tour of the studio above and check out more information on the studio here.