Studio Mara’s Berlin Workspace Shows the Quiet Force of Architectural Subtraction

Studio Mara’s work makes a case for restraint as an active design decision. The Berlin architecture practice, led by partners Mirjam Danke and Olaf Schulz, builds atmosphere through what a space can lose: awkward alterations, visual clutter and interventions that compete with a building’s character. Their approach comes into focus at the studio’s new workspace at Glint in Berlin-Mitte, where a quiet set of choices gives the interior a distinct presence.

The practice’s warm minimalism draws on the natural, the raw and the nuanced. That combination matters. Raw surfaces can bring texture and a sense of age; natural materials connect an interior to its surroundings; nuance keeps a pared-back room from feeling blank. Studio Mara’s restraint appears to depend on calibrating those qualities, rather than stripping a space down to a generic neutral shell.

Subtraction as a design method

In Studio Mara’s work, subtraction begins with attention to what is already there. The firm has rehabilitated Berlin lofts altered by 1990s renovations and opened up a Majorcan finca toward an ocean view. Those projects differ in setting, but the same underlying question applies: which changes help a building work and feel more like itself, and which ones get in the way?

That question gives renovation a useful order of operations. Before adding new finishes or features, a design team can read the existing structure, identify the disruptions and decide what to remove, retain or reveal. A loft divided into smaller spaces by a past renovation may call for a different response from a finca whose form turns away from a view. In both cases, the aim is to make the relationship between the building and its surroundings easier to perceive.

This approach also gives absence a practical role. Removing an unnecessary partition can change how light and sightlines move through a room; clearing away competing details can make a material or opening more legible. The source feature doesn’t specify the exact construction methods or material schedule for these projects, so their value here is as examples of a broader design principle: a smaller number of deliberate decisions can let existing qualities carry more weight.

A workspace with a quiet presence

The Berlin-Mitte workspace at Glint offers a close view of that sensibility in daily use. Studio Mara’s spaces are described as having atmospheres that are felt more than seen. That’s a telling measure for an interior: its impact need not come from a single signature object or an attention-seeking finish. It can emerge from the way the whole room holds together, with each element leaving room for the next.

For designers, this puts emphasis on relationships rather than isolated gestures. Texture, proportion, light and the amount of visual information in a room all contribute to how it feels. A restrained interior still needs contrast and character; otherwise, reduction risks becoming flat. The useful question is not simply how much can be removed, but what should remain to give the space warmth and definition.

Studio Mara’s description as a Berlin architecture practice places its work in conversation with the city’s existing buildings, while the Majorcan project shows the approach extending to a different setting. The source names Danke and Schulz as the designers but does not provide project launch dates, named clients or technical specifications. Its account instead centers on the pair’s shared way of shaping space: restore, open up and edit until the building’s quieter qualities can register.

What designers can take from the approach

For teams working on an existing interior, the practice suggests a straightforward sequence. First, document the parts of the building that already give it character: its surfaces, openings, proportions and connections to the outside. Next, identify later changes that interrupt those qualities. Then test whether removing or simplifying those interventions improves how people move through and read the space. Only after that assessment should new elements enter the plan.

That sequence can help prevent minimalism from turning into a style applied on top of a building. It also gives clients and collaborators a concrete way to discuss restraint: each proposed element can be considered in relation to what the space already offers. Some additions will support the architecture; others may dilute it. The goal is a clear point of view, not emptiness for its own sake.

IGNANT’s feature on Studio Mara, published on September 20, 2024, frames subtraction as the thread connecting the practice’s projects and its new Berlin workspace. The lesson is less a recipe than a way of looking: attend to what a building can do before deciding what to add. Studio Mara’s spaces suggest that when the edit is careful, a room can feel more present precisely because fewer things demand attention.

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