A physical mood board
When Rolf Sachs left London for Rome four years ago, it was a decision driven by love. The move marked the beginning of what the Swiss artist describes as the happiest chapter of his life, and a creative renaissance to match. That renewed sense of freedom is most evident in his Roman studio, a former car park transformed into a sprawling Wunderkammer of found objects and playful interventions. Here, everyday items are stripped of their original purpose and reborn as art, from farm buckets suspended as lamps to paint-soaked circles stamped across white walls, creating a space that feels as joyful, curious and unconventional as its owner.
Rolf Sachs was just two years old when his French mother, Anne-Marie Faure, died following a routine operation. His father, Gunther Sachs, the photographer, author and heir to the Opel fortune, was unable to raise him day-to-day, and Sachs spent much of his childhood with his grandmother in the Alps before being sent to boarding school in Switzerland at the age of eight. Despite the upheaval, he remembers those years fondly.
When my mother was pregnant with me, she was a thriving young woman. Her happiness has seeped into me
That optimism has remained a constant throughout his life. After leaving a promising business career in the mid-1980s, Sachs turned his attention to the creative world, eventually establishing his own design studio in London. Since then, his work has spanned everything from furniture and interiors to opera sets, installations, neon sculptures and painting, united by a distinctly playful and surreal sensibility. Moving to Rome marked the beginning of a new chapter, and with it came the search for a studio capable of housing his ever-expanding creative universe.
When Sachs first encountered the space in 2019, it was dark, damp and in a state of disrepair. Working alongside architects Elica Sartogo and Nathalie Grenon, he spent two years transforming the former car park into a studio that balances Roman tradition with contemporary minimalism. Cocciopesto flooring, lime-plaster walls and new openings onto a courtyard planted with lemon trees lend warmth and character to the space.
Today, the studio reflects Sachs’ eclectic creative practice. Suspended from the ceiling is an unlikely collection of objects, from birdcages and umbrellas to a life-sized skeleton and disco ball, creating an atmosphere of playful chaos. Yet beneath it all lies a carefully organised workspace, complete with painting stations, photography facilities and movable walls displaying his latest works. The studio serves not only as a place of production, but as a setting for gathering, conversation and celebration, embodying the sense of freedom and joy that has defined Sachs’ life in Rome.
