A research and design studio engages in material cycles of locally sourced minerals, with a focus on by-products and overlooked matter.
Studio Eidola, based in Zürich and founded in 2020 by industrial designer Denizay Apusoglu and architect Jonas Kissling, operates as a site of interdisciplinary inquiry at the intersection of design, architecture, and material research. The studio’s practice is driven by a commitment to recontextualizing overlooked or discarded materials, with a particular focus on mineral waste and industrial by-products. By engaging with these residual materials, the studio seeks to reveal latent possibilities, proposing new frameworks for their application and meaning.
Their methodology is inherently dual. On one hand, it involves rigorous, site-specific material investigations that trace the cultural, historical, and industrial trajectories of the substances they engage with. On the other, it prioritizes collaborations with local industries, forging dialogues that ground their explorations in tangible processes and localized expertise. This interplay of research and partnership enables Studio Eidola to examine the shifting relationships between material culture and industrial systems, questioning the narratives embedded in the production and disposal of matter.
The outcomes of their practice resist easy categorization, spanning scales and mediums to reflect the fluidity of their approach. From the creation of singular objects and spatial interventions to the development of alternative building materials, each project is an attempt to both honor and challenge the histories carried by the materials they work with. In doing so, Studio Eidola disrupts conventional boundaries between waste and resource, production and by-product, proposing instead a perspective that embraces transformation, re-use, and the complexity of material life cycles.
Contact
Studio Eidola
Rümlangstrasse 91a
8052 Zürich
Switzerland
mail@studioeidola.ch
+41 79 436 51 50 (DA)
+41 79 400 80 88 (JK)
Exhibitions
09.11.24-12.01.25 | Swiss Design Classics. Today Art Museum Beijing. (Beijing, CN)
25.08 -15.11.24 | Erosions. Merida Studio. (Boston, USA)
17-27.10.2024 | Tools of Rekindling. De Fabriek. Dutch Design Week. (Eindhoven, NL)
21-29.09.2024 | Echoes. Basalto Collective. Zürich Design Weeks. (Zürich, CH)
27.06-14.07.2024 | Design am Rhein. Andeer Granit. Battalia Stone Quarry. (Andeer, CH)
03-12.06.2024 | Swissnex. San Francisco Design Week. (San Francisco, USA)
11-16.06.2024 | Swiss Design Awards. Messe Basel. (Basel, CH)
15-21.04.2024 | Alcova. Milano Design Week. Villa Bagatti Valsecchi. (Milan, IT)
15-21.04.2024 | TOPSOIL STOOLS by Damn Magazine. Milano Design Week. Palazzo Litta. (Milan, IT)
09-12.11.2023 | Refresh Festival: New Realities. ZhDK. Toni Areal. (Zürich, CH)
01-19.09.2023 | Zürich Design Biennale. SHIFT. Alter Botanischer Garten. (Zürich, CH)
19.05-18.06.2023 | Venice Design Biennial. Auto-Exotic. (Venice, IT)
15.03-27.05.2023 | A city beyond: Rethinking Co-habitation. Löwenbräukunst Areal. (Zürich, CH)
09.-12.03.2023 | Collectible 2023. Curated Section “What is your story?”. (Brussels, BE)
12.-28.01.2023 | Colors Diskursiv No. 2. Forum Stadtpark. (Graz, AT)
25.10.22-28.02.23 | CH-IT Exhibition. ADI Design Museum. (Milan, IT)
02.10.-06.11.2022 | Design Without Borders. Budapest Design Week 2022. (Budapest, HU)
16.9.-7.10.2022 | Raw Senses. Zürich Design Weeks 2022. (Zürich, CH)
06.-12.06.2022 | Design Switzerland. House of Switzerland. Milan Design Week. (Milan, IT)
20.-22.05.2022 | Collectible 2022. Curated Section “Escapism”. (Brussels, BE)
05.02.-20.03.2022 | DesignGalerie@Museum. Gewerbemuseum Winterthur. With Okro Gallery. (Winterthur, CH)
12.04.-30.06.2022 | HiFLOW. Métamorphoses de l’espace. Du paysage à la matière. (Geneva, CH)
04.-08.11.2021 | Jungdesign. Designgut. (Winterthur, CH)
16.-24.10.2021 | BioArt Labs. Dutch Design Week. (Eindhoven, NL)
16.-30.09.2021 | Ukurant Perspectives. 3 Days of Design. (Copenhagen, DK)
02.-03.09.2021 | Swiss Green Economy Symposium. Exhibition with Pro Helvetia. (Winterthur, CH)
Grants / Awards
01.2025 | Research Trip Grant - Rajasthan - India. Pro Helvetia New Delhi. (Tectonic Dusts)
06.2024 | Swiss Design Award 2024 in “Product Design” category. Bundesamt für Kultur BAK. (Tectonic Dusts)
04.2023 | Jury mention and project development mandate - Lausanne Jardins 24. ( Le jardin des délices métalliques ). Team: Denizay Apusoglu, Jonas Kissling, Stephan Lando, Yuiko Shigeta
04.2023 | Research Trip Grant - Siwa and Cairo - Egypt. Pro Helvetia Cairo. (Ocean Articulated)
11.2021 | Best Product Award - Jungdesign: Sustainability and Innovation. (Ocean Articulated)
07.2021 | Design Work Grant - Concept. ProHelvetia. (Ocean Articulated)
Lectures / Workshops
12.04.2025 | The Days of Spring, international conference. Panel 7 “Bioregional Ways”. Covilhã Design Triennial. (Covilhã, PT)
10.02.2025 | Seminarweek input and quarry visit. Materiallabor. Architecture Hochschule Luzern, HSLU. (Luzern, CH)
04.04.2024 | Lecture “Material dialogues between earth and artefact”. Object Design. Lucerne School of Design, Film and Art, HSLU. (Luzern, CH)
14.02.2024 | Lecture “Materialbegegnungen”. Materiallabor. Architecture Hochschule Luzern, HSLU. (Luzern, CH)
12.10.2023 | Design Lounge Talks “What potential lies in the material?”. Organized by Museum für Gestaltung Zürich. (Zürich, CH)
24.05.2023 | Artist Talk “Ephemeral Geologies”. Organized by We ARE AIA. Löwenbräukunst. (Zürich, CH)
08.05.2023 | Podium Discussion “More with Less(ons)”. Organized by HUB Architecture Hochschule Luzern, HSLU. (Luzern, CH)
18.03.2023 | Workshop and Lecture “Form Finding Through the Processes of Nature”. Organized jointly by OKRO Gallery and Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur. (Chur, CH)
02.03.2023 | Lecture “Ephemeral Geologies”. Design Art Night 6. (Brussels, BE)
02.09.2022 | Workshop “Ocean Articulated” for Graubünden and Zürich School of Design, SFGZ and SFGGR. (Zürich, CH)
30.04.2022 | Lecture “Narratives of Material tTansformation”. <<Kein Kino>> - <<New Realities - Diverse Futures>>. Zürich University of the Arts. (Zürich, CH)
12.04.2022 | Lecture “Materials for New Narratives”. Territoire(s) Designer l’espcae urbain - HiFLOW. (Geneva, CH)
05.11.2021 | Pecha Kucha Presentation / Next Generation im Dialog - Gewerbemuseum. (Winterthur, CH)
14.08.2021 | Lecture "Site as a Source" in Architektur im Magazin. (Vienna, AT)
Selected Press
2025
StirWorld. Synthetic Geologies by Studio Eidola examines cement as a medium in flux.
BauNetz. Synthetic Geologies: On the Becoming Process of Cement.
e-flux. Studio Eidola: Synthetic Geologies. MAGAZIN - Exhibition Space for Contemporary Architecture.
2024
Transformierte Materialien. Das Ideale Heim. Text by Susanna Koeberle and Photos by Mirjam Kluka.
Transformierte Materie. Meter Magazin. Text by Susanna Koeberle and Photos by Mirjam Kluka.
Schnitt Magazin. Interview Studio Eidola. Material Culture and Research. Interviewed by Caroline Steffen.
2023
Nargis Magazine . Ideal Design by Eidola. Page 70-75. Interviewed by Irina Belan.
RON ORP. “Meet the Designers: Studio Eidola”. Liminal Sediments.
Profiler.tv . Understanding Cyclicality. Material Research. Ocean Articulated.
2022
DAMN No 83. Stepping into education. Research + Realities. Ocean Articulated.
FRAME. In Numbers. Issue 148.
DesignJournal feature ArkJournal VOLVIII. Material Manipulation.
Pillow Talk. Collectible 2022. Anima Ona x Studio Eidola.
SRF. So geht visionäres Wohnen. «Kulturplatz» besucht im Rahmen der Milan Design Week junge Designschaffende, die Ästhetik mit Nachhaltigkeit verbinden.
RAUM UND WOHNEN. Schweizer Designnachwuchs Milan Design Week 2022. Stuhl und Tisch «Ocean Articulated».
2021
AW 2023 /24 MIX Magazine issue 66. Colour Hive. Edition december 2021. (Ocean Articulated)
Lila Strauss: Future Nostalgia 02, ISSN: 2673-8147, (Ocean Articulated)
2020
Wohnrevue. Wachgeküsst. Schweizer Möbel und Design. Ausgabe November 2020. (Vases EIDOLA & VÉGÉTÉ)