Designing the SAE studios

by Christian Ruff, Campus Manager SAE Institute Vienna

Studying as a prelude to a career in the media industries – that is what the SAE Institute Vienna is all about. As the European SAE flagship campus and an advocate for „anything is possible“ in the creative industry, we transformed the entire mezzanine of our seven-story campus building into a unique sound engineering landscape.

A total of seven control rooms and four recording studios are much more than a technological show off: We wanted the entire campus to be a respectful tribute to the city of Vienna, which inspired us to dedicate each room to an Austrian artist.

With our alumni and Art Director Petra Gradwohl, we created seven individual worlds inside a small space: A studio of opulence and splendour for Mozart; a control room on the edge to excess for Falco; a relaxed ambiance for Kruder & Dorfmeister; a club-turned-nightlife studio for Camo & Krooked; deliberate exaggeration in a glittering control room for Bilderbuch; the darkness in its most beguiling form for Soap & Skin; and an entire cinema in the ephemeral elegance of Romy Schneider.

The mezzanine of the new SAE Institute Vienna has become more than just the sum of its studios and control rooms: I invite you to dive into a world of music – in every sense.