NDR Paartherapie

Year

2024

Client

Norddeutscher Rundfunk – Hamburg

HighlightsStage Design
Visual Concept

Die Paartherapie is a documentary series by NDR following couples through an intensive coaching process with therapist Eric Hegmann. The format addresses common relationship conflicts and encourages open dialogue about emotional challenges, relying on authenticity and trust within a carefully constructed observational setting.

Originally commissioned as an extension, I developed the project into a complete redesign of the existing set. Based on an analysis of spatial, functional, and dramaturgical shortcomings, I created a new concept in close collaboration with the NDR workshops, including material sampling, color testing, cross-department coordination, and the implementation of structural and fire safety standards.

The design responds directly to the psychological conditions of the format. Couples enter without encountering technical infrastructure, while camera axes are fully integrated via one-way mirrors, keeping observation invisible and the space believable.

Rather than clinical or contemporary aesthetics, I referenced culturally familiar interiors of the 1960s and 70s. Warm woods, human-scaled furniture, and intimate proportions create trust, while maintaining an abstract, timeless quality.

Set Decoration
— Concept

At the core of my design is a controlled tension between opposing qualities: warmth and coolness, openness and enclosure, softness and rawness. The space is not designed for comfort alone, but for emotional activation. Warm materials and indirect lighting are concentrated at eye level — in wall paneling and seating zones — creating proximity, grounding, and interpersonal connection. Cooler tones and darker surfaces recede into the architectural background, introducing distance, reflection, and a subtle unease. What is close feels human; what surrounds it remains slightly withdrawn.

Materiality reinforces this balance. Structured elements such as wood slats and modular shelving introduce rhythm and control, while raw plaster surfaces retain imperfection and realism — reflecting the tension between stability and unpredictability within relationships.

Spatial zoning follows a performative logic. The central conversation area is intimate and stable, while surrounding transitions provide depth and orientation. Walls and built-ins act as architectural frames, embedding cinematographic composition directly into the space. Indirect lighting emerges from within the architecture, creating atmosphere and depth without excess.

The result is not a representation of a therapy room, but a constructed psychological setting with architectural credibility — balancing openness and tension, familiarity and distance.