Draft:Niklas Bildstein Zaar
Swedish creative director and designer
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Niklas Bildstein Zaar is a Swedish creative director and designer based in Berlin. He is the co-founder and creative director of sub (stylized in lowercase), a Berlin-based architecture and design studio founded in 2017 with Italian architect Andrea Faraguna.[1] The studio is known for its work in fashion scenography, retail architecture, exhibition design, and cultural production, with clients including Balenciaga, Gucci, and Anne Imhof.[2][3]
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Bildstein Zaar and Faraguna are listed on the BoF 500.[4] In 2025, sub was selected by curator Carlo Ratti to design the main exhibition of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.[5][6]
Early life and education
Bildstein Zaar was born in Sweden and has described growing up in what he called Sweden's "Arctic territory."[7] In interviews, he has mentioned that his father was a soldier and his mother a flight attendant.[7] He left school at the age of 16 and has no formal university education or architectural training.[3][2]
Early career
Before co-founding sub, Bildstein Zaar worked as a fashion stylist and editor. He spent approximately four years working with British menswear label Cottweiler, handling art direction and styling for several seasons.[8][2] He also contributed as creative and fashion director for MASSES Magazine and wrote articles for HERO Magazine.[9][10]
Sub
Founding
Sub was co-founded in 2017 in Berlin by Bildstein Zaar and architect Andrea Faraguna.[1] Faraguna, born in 1981 near Venice, holds a doctorate in architecture from Università Iuav di Venezia and was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in March 2024.[11][12]
The studio operates across four departments: Architecture, Entertainment, Digital, and Research.[1] Its official description characterizes it as "a Berlin-based architecture office designing spaces that register and reframe contemporary culture."[1] As of 2025, Bildstein Zaar serves as creative director, with a management team including COO Ilaria Peloso and Principal Architect Roula Assaf.[1]
Balenciaga
Sub's most extensive body of work has been for Balenciaga, for which it has designed runway show scenographies and a global retail concept.[2][3]
The studio developed what it termed "Raw Architecture" for Balenciaga's retail stores, a design language employing deliberately distressed surfaces, exposed concrete, and simulated weathering.[13] Locations designed by sub include flagships on New Bond Street in London, Madison Avenue in New York, and stores in Berlin, Hamburg, Tokyo, Milan, and other cities.[13][14][15]
Sub has designed Balenciaga runway shows since the Spring/Summer 2020 season.[16] Notable productions include a 2022 show in which models walked through a simulated snowstorm inside a glass enclosure,[2] and a 2022 show created in collaboration with artist Santiago Sierra in which the venue floor was covered with 275 cubic metres of peat bog mud.[17][2]
Gucci
In 2025 and 2026, sub worked with designer Demna on projects for Gucci. Bildstein Zaar designed the set for Demna's debut Gucci runway show (Autumn/Winter 2026) at Palazzo delle Scintille in Milan, which featured travertine-clad walls and plaster replicas of classical sculptures.[18][19] Süddeutsche Zeitung profiled Bildstein Zaar and sub in connection with the show, describing the studio as responsible for some of the most notable fashion-show environments of recent years.[20]
Anne Imhof collaborations
Sub has designed exhibition architecture for several projects by German artist Anne Imhof, including "Natures Mortes" (Carte Blanche) at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2021), "Youth" at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2022), and "Doom: House of Hope" at the Park Avenue Armory in New York (2025).[21][22][23]
Music and entertainment
Sub has designed production environments for several music events. These include Kanye West's Donda listening events (2021–2022) and the "Free Larry Hoover Benefit Concert" with Drake at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (2021).[3][24] Sub also designed the stage for Travis Scott's concert at Pompeii's amphitheatre in 2023.[3][25]
Venice Architecture Biennale 2025
Curator Carlo Ratti selected sub to design the main exhibition of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, titled "Intelligens. Natural. Artificial. Collective."[5] The modular spatial system used recycled aluminium profiles.[6] Sub also developed "Spatial Intelligens," an AI-powered digital tool that tracked visitor paths through the exhibition and generated personalized summaries of their visit.[6] The exhibition received 298,000 visitors, making it the most attended Architecture Biennale to that date.[3]
Other projects
Sub designed the spatial installation for Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst's "The Call" at Serpentine North Gallery in London (2024–2025).[26] The studio has also worked with Haider Ackermann on his debut collection for Tom Ford (2025)[3] and with Shayne Oliver of Hood By Air on an installation at Luma Westbau in Zürich (2020).[27] Additional clients listed on the studio's website include Marni, Maison Margiela, Ottolinger, Ferragamo, Mugler, and Mercedes-Benz.[1]
Recognition
Bildstein Zaar and Faraguna are listed on the BoF 500, the Business of Fashion's annual index of individuals shaping the global fashion industry.[4] In 2023, AD Germany included sub in its AD100 list of important creatives of the year.[28] In 2025, Bildstein Zaar served on the jury of the Rimowa Design Prize, alongside figures including Ute Meta Bauer.[29][30]
Sub has been profiled or covered in publications including The Business of Fashion, GQ, GQ Germany, The New York Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wallpaper*, Dezeen, PIN–UP, e-flux, and GREATEST Magazine.[3][2][20][7][31] Sub was featured on the cover of PIN–UP Issue 29 (Fall/Winter 2020/21).[32]
Lectures and writing
Bildstein Zaar delivered an artist talk titled "Coherence" at Soho House Berlin, organized by Spike Art Magazine, in early 2026.[33] He appeared as a speaker at The World Around Summit in 2024.[25] He has written articles for HERO Magazine and contributed to the e-flux Architecture series "Confinement" (2020).[10][34]