* 1989, lives in Zurich
WORK
2023
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Stage Design | FROM ROCK TO ROCK | Jeremy Nedd/Impilo Mapantsula | Kaserne Basel
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Stage Design | DER KAUKASISCHE KREIDEKREIS | Helgard Haug/Theater HORA | Salzburger Festspiele
Technical Direction | International Guest Performance Touring with Jeremy Nedd/Impilo Mapantsula | Germany/Belgium/France/Italy -
Stage Design/Light/Video | DIESE NACHRICHT WURDE GELÖSCHT | Bronić/Jansen | Roxy Birsfelden | Basel
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Stage Design/Light | NKISI | Jolie Ngemi | Arsenic - Centre d'art scénique contemporain | Lausanne
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Research Associate | BA Scenic Space | Department of Performing Arts | ZHdK | Zurich
2022
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Technical Co-Direction | International Guest Performance Touring with Yara Bou Nassar | France/Lebanon
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Technical Co-Direction | International Guest Performance Touring with Jeremy Nedd/Impilo Mapantsula | South Africa/Botswana/Rwanda/Germany/Holland
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Stage Design | HOW A FALLING STAR LIT UP THE PURPLE SKY | Jeremy Nedd/Impilo Mapantsula | Kaserne Basel
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Scenographic Accompaniment | DWELLING IN POSSIBILITIES | Natasza Gerlach | Théâtre de l'Usine | Geneva
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Stage Design | FLÜCHTIGES EIS | Harbeke/Schwikowski | PolARTS | The Arts Meet Polar Science
2021
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Stage Design | TOMORROW IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE | Yara Bou Nassar | Theater Neumarkt | Zurich
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Stage Design | THE SUN DIED | Jeremy Nedd | Theater Oberhausen | Gasometer Oberhausen
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Scenography | 43. Solothurner Literaturtage | Solothurn
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Stage Design | NAH AM WASSER GEBAUT | Die Soziale Fiktion | Freischwimmen-Network 2020-2022
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Guest lecturer | BA Stage Design | Department of Performing Arts | ZHdK | Zurich
2020
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Stage Design | AVOIRDUPOIS | Brandy Butler/Jeremy Nedd | Tanzhaus Zurich
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Stage Design/Video | STAR MAGNOLIA | Jeremy Nedd | Theater Neumarkt | Zurich
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Stage Design | DRAUSSEN VOR DER TÜR | Timon Jansen | Theater Basel
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External Expert | BA-Final Productions | Department of Performing Arts | ZHdK | Zurich
2019
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Stage Design | THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY I-III | Bonanno/Erdogan/Nedd | Theater Neumarkt | Zurich
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External Expert | BA Theses | HGK Basel | Institute Interior Design and Scenography
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Stage Design | THE ECSTATIC | Jeremy Nedd/Impilo Mapantsula | Kaserne Basel
2018
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Assistant Stage Designer | Barbara Ehnes | Schauspielhaus Zurich
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Assistant Stage Designer | Irina Schicketanz | Theater Basel
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Stage design | SAD BOY CULTURE | Hanisch/Nedd | Festival Belluard Bollwerk Internationale | Fribourg
2017
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Stage Design/Costume Design/Video | WALD | Germo/Jansen/Knüsel | Treibstoff Theatertage Basel
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Teaching Assistant | Nadia Fistarol/Eva Hauck/Heike Dürscheid | Bachelor Scenography | HGK Basel
2014 - 2015
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Exhibition Designer/Scenographer | Atelier Brückner | Stuttgart
EDUCATION
2015 - 2018
Master Studies | Specialization Stage Design | ZHdK | Zurich
2012 - 2013
Exchange Semester | ENSAV La Cambre Bruxelles | Scénographie et Costume | Brussels/Belgium
2010 - 2013
Bachelor Studies Interior Design and Scenography, HGK Basel
2009 - 2010
Preliminary Course HSLU Design and Art, Lucerne
PROGRAMS
Plan Drawing
Vectorworks | ArchiCAD
Image Editing/Graphics
Photoshop | InDesign | Illustrator
3D Visualization/Animation
Cinema 4D
Live Video Mixing
VDMX | Resolume Arena
Video
Premiere | After Effects
Light
ETCnomad
LANGUAGES
German (First language)
English
French
BIOGRAPHY
Laura Knüsel, born in 1989, is a Swiss stage designer and scenographer with a focus on developing collaborative, narrative spatial concepts. In her work, physical spaces are thought together with their social and political conditions as well as with a temporal dimension. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design and Scenography from the Basel School of Art and Design and a Master's degree in Stage Design from the Zurich University of the Arts.
Laura Knüsel is mainly active in the independent theatre scene in the field of performance and dance. She has a close collaboration with the dancer, choreographer and performer Jeremy Nedd, most recently in the productions THE ECSTATIC and HOW A FALLING STAR LIT UP THE PURPLE SKY, which were shown at various international festivals, including the Noorderzon Festival of Performing Arts and Society (Groningen), the International Summer Festival Kampnagel (Hamburg), the International Dance Fair NRW (Düsseldorf), Wiesbaden Biennale, Swiss Dance Days (Basel), Rencontres Chorégraphique (Paris) as well as the Ubumuntu Arts Festival (Kigali) and the National Arts Festival (Makhanda/Grahamstown).
Further works have been created, among others, with the collective Die Soziale Fiktion, theatre HORA with Yara Bou Nassar, Brandy Butler, Bronić/Jansen, Mike Bonanno (The Yes Men) and Helgard Haug (Rimini Protokoll).
In her collaborations, Laura Knüsel is regularly responsible for video and graphics in addition to stage design.
Since 2023, she has been a research assistant in the bachelor's programme Scenography at the Zurich University of the Arts.
BIOGRAPHY IN PLAIN LANGUAGE
I was born in Switzerland.
When I was a child, I loved to build huts.
And listening to stories.
I made that my profession.
I am a stage designer.
I think up:
What should a stage look like?
What should a stage feel like?
Sometimes I build these stages myself.
Stages are spaces for stories.
I ask myself:
Which stories are told in which spaces?
And which stories are NOT told?
I like to create spaces for rare stories.
I often work together with Jeremy Nedd.
Jeremy Nedd is a dancer and choreographer.
I like to work with other people.
I like working with people who want to tell their own story.
What I like about my job:
I don't work alone.
I work with my head.
I also work with my hands.
I travel a lot.
When I travel, I meet new places.
And I meet new people.
I also meet people's stories.
I learn a lot from these people.
One of these people once said to me:
"You are a quiet person.
But you speak loud and clear through your stage pictures."
That made me feel understood.
I also work at a school.
The school is called the Zurich University of the Arts.
There we think together: About spaces and stories.
How do the spaces and stories change over time?
All photos are copyrighted by the indicated photographers. Unless otherwise stated, all material is copyright of Laura Knüsel. Any commercial use and/or further processing of the images/texts on this website without written permission is prohibited.