{"id":170959,"date":"2026-07-29T07:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T11:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/?p=170959"},"modified":"2026-07-28T19:15:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:15:44","slug":"nicola-scarlino-on-creating-architectural-sets-with-a-cinematic-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/nicola-scarlino-on-creating-architectural-sets-with-a-cinematic-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"Nicola Scarlino on Creating Architectural Sets with a Cinematic Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><em>Behind the Image is an ongoing MODELS.com series taking a more personal look at both established and emerging creative talent.<\/em><\/p>\n<style>\n.quote {\nline-height: 1.2em !important;\npadding: 35px 25px;\n}\n.wp-caption {\n    margin-top: 65px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<figure id=\"attachment_141369\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-141369\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/nicola.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1556\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-171038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/nicola.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/nicola-592x640.jpg 592w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/nicola-1185x1280.jpg 1185w, https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/nicola-1421x1536.jpg 1421w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-141369\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><br \/>\n<a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/nicola-scarlino\">Nicola Scarlino<\/a> | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/nicola-scarlino\">Nicola Scarlino<\/a>, <\/a>Set Designer<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Hometown: Biarritz, France<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Based In: Paris, France<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>Representation:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/agency\/management-artists\">MA + Group<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What initially drew you to set design, and was there a defining moment that made you pursue it professionally?<\/strong><br \/>\nI took a strange route in. I trained as a mechanical engineer with a major in Mandarin, then worked in corporate finance in Asia. In 2014, I transferred to New York to run a new branch developing AI technology that barely existed then. I worked on large-scale digital projects and later consulted for the US Army. It was surprisingly creative work: I&#8217;d draw clients a five or ten-year picture, a roadmap, a vision. I was always obsessed with real images, and eventually, building physical worlds won out over building digital processes. Watching my husband, the director <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/thibault-theodore\">Thibault-Th\u00e9odore<\/a>, make images stirred something in me. The real shift came in 2019, when I realized the space itself often does the storytelling, that a room, a color, a piece of architecture can carry emotion more directly than a line of dialogue. Once I started seeing a set as a character rather than a backdrop, I couldn&#8217;t unsee it. The engineering never left me, though; it&#8217;s why I build everything in 3D before it exists and work through such a methodical pre-production.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How would you describe your work? What&#8217;s your trademark?<\/strong><br \/>\nArchitectural, with a cinematic edge. I try to think in terms of worlds rather than d\u00e9cor. I want the talent to actually experience the set, to be physically immersed in it; I think that shows up in the performance. My signature is that I design everything in 3D before it physically exists. I build the whole set in previz (a rough draft\/mockup made before the final shot), walk the camera through it, test the light and the geometry, and only then commit it to the floor. The finished set is meant to match the render frame-for-frame. Yet the thing I&#8217;m really chasing is emotion. I want to bring feeling back into set design; even a commercial set should feel alive rather than sterile. Precision in the build, warmth in the result.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You recently worked on Charli xcx&#8217;s S\/S 26 <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/music-video-charli-xcx---ss26\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">music video<\/a>. How did you approach building the set, and how did the process differ from editorial and ad work?<\/strong><br \/>\nFor me, music videos are one of the last true creative outlets left for image-makers, so I wanted to have fun with it. We&#8217;d proposed five runway ideas we thought were achievable within the time and budget, each with its own 3D render. Honestly, those first ones were a bit opportunistic; they leaned on upcycled structures that would save budget for other details later. Still, the range helped us understand what the directors, Charli and her team, were really after.<\/p>\n<p>Location scouting was running in parallel, and one space clearly stood out. For the second round, we dropped our new concepts into a 3D render of that actual location. I did more research and mood-boarding and came back with six ideas for the catwalk path and structural elements. At the same time, we modeled the backstage area to determine exactly what the glam, styling, and photo-call spaces would need, since that area doubled as part of our shoot.The X-shape was the one that won over the creative team. Ironically, I hadn&#8217;t suggested it in the first round because I thought it might be too obvious, but the two giant white monolithic walls turned it into a dead-end runway, which fit the fatalistic lyrics of the song! A music video is built for motion and rhythm, not for a single perfect frame. In an editorial, you design toward one image: everything serves the still. In advertising, you serve a product and a brand&#8217;s guardrails. A video is less rigid and more physical: the set has to survive the camera moving through it, the performance living in it, the cuts pulling it apart and back together. So I treated it as a space to be inhabited rather than photographed: designed around how bodies and the camera move through it, and made to read from every angle.<\/p>\n<p><strong>As you often set the stage for shoots, what inspires your work?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy Italian heritage, more than anything. My mother is from Venezia, and that&#8217;s where my love of materials comes from; real wood, stone, plaster, brass, marble, surfaces that have weight, age, ingenuity, and honesty. It&#8217;s also where I get my taste for dramatic storylines, that Venetian instinct for the operatic and theatrical, emotion turned all the way up. Venice is the ultimate cultural crossroads, a blend of styles, and I think it gave me an eye for the essence of local character wherever I go. My earlier career and studies let me travel and live in many places for extended periods, and I made a point of carrying that into set design, immersing myself in local materials to unlock new territory. Over the past three years, I&#8217;ve spent two months in Japan, two in Korea, four in Los Angeles, and one in Kenya, partly to build local networks and teams, but also to understand how each culture responds, in its own way, to the flattening universality that social media brings.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You worked on your first fashion show set for Willy Chavarria&#8217;s F\/W 26 <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/willy-chavarria-willy-chavarria--fw-26-show\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">show<\/a>. What was that experience like?<\/strong><br \/>\nI loved it. It was such an honor to be part of that cultural moment. The show was brilliant. <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/people\/willy-chavarria\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Willy (Chavarria&#8217;s)<\/a> vision was beautiful, and <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/people\/damien-jalet\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Damien Jalet&#8217;s<\/a> execution was precise, human, embodied, genuinely moving, and it was filmed live. It was my first opportunity to work with the powerhouse of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/bureaubetak\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bureau Betak<\/a> and to collaborate with them on the set design and props.The bonus was discovering the music of Latin Mafia; I&#8217;ve had their album on constant repeat while I work on moods and intentions. Hopefully, they&#8217;ll read this and consider me for their next creative chapter. A show is a completely different discipline. A runway set is live; no retakes, no post, one procession that either works or it doesn&#8217;t in front of a room. It can&#8217;t be about a clever frame; it has to hold the walk and carry the emotion of the collection for real, in the space. There&#8217;s so much dignity and feeling in Willy Chavarria&#8217;s work that the set&#8217;s job was to give it room to breathe rather than compete with it. It was an almost absent set, inspired by the floor markings in Dogville. The props were the thing that needed soul and cultural weight to help tell the story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What non-fashion influences (art, film, literature, music, etc.) shape your creative perspective?<\/strong><br \/>\nFilm above all, David Lynch is the big one for me, that sense that the ordinary can tip into the uncanny, that mood is structure. Brutalist architecture, too. What I like is its universality: you find it almost everywhere, and somehow it sits in our collective idea of what the near-future looks like. Vegetation, oddly enough, is a constant source of curiosity. Traveling taught me that what grows locally often carries a cultural signature. Understanding where a texture comes from and what it means symbolically is often what makes the difference.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you consider when designing sets for different types of shoots, such as studio versus location shoots?<\/strong><br \/>\nIn a studio, you start from nothing, total freedom and total responsibility. You shape the reality, the light, the geometry, all of it, so previz is essential to know exactly what you&#8217;re committing to. On location, you&#8217;re stepping into a space that already has its own light, texture, restrictions, and history, so the work becomes editing rather than authoring: what to add, what to hide, how to make an existing room feel designed without fighting it. Studio is control; location is negotiation. Either way, the natural materials do a lot of the emotional work; they&#8217;re what keep a built space from feeling fake. The process itself is the same in both cases, though. Over the past six months, I&#8217;ve managed to 3D-render locations from floor plans and photos within the tight turnarounds our industry demands, and I&#8217;m glad that&#8217;s now fully part of how I work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you approach collaborating with creative teams to ensure your set designs complement the artistic vision?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s definitely evolved. Early on, I focused on execution, but with experience (and a lot of observation), I got a quick grasp of what other departments need, and I learned to reconcile the virtual world of pre-production with the physical one of the build. It really clicked last year on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DSndehnDWhp\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Margiela project<\/a>, where I gave my 3D set files to the camera crew so they could set up the robot camera virtually inside the model. That saved a full day of studio pre-rigging and freed up the budget we needed to elevate the set. That first real cross-departmental experience made me want to find more synergies, so I started working more closely with post-producers and CGI artists. I&#8217;d like to be one of the first few set designers to oversee the entire world around the talent, from concept through set extensions in post, CGI, color, and flame work. 3D previz is my shared language. Instead of describing a set, I can immerse people in it: give the director, photographer, movement director, and stylist a real sense of scale and space. That clears up a lot of misunderstandings before it starts costing money on the floor. My instinct is always to serve the vision rather than impose my own; the set exists to make someone else&#8217;s idea feel inevitable. There&#8217;s the emotional side on set. It&#8217;s not only about delivering images; it&#8217;s about the experience of making them together. As a director&#8217;s spouse, I know how much a shoot&#8217;s intentions can change during the editing process. I try to stay aware of that and keep things light and positive on the floor.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What&#8217;s been the most challenging moment in your career, and what did you take away from it?<\/strong><br \/>\nTo be honest, there hasn&#8217;t been one job with a problem that couldn&#8217;t be resolved. So I&#8217;d have to say that one of the more challenging moments has been proving myself as an artist. Coming from a corporate background and having grown up as the only queer kid in my family, I had some real mental blocks to work through. I always wanted to have a seat at the table, and in my early years in set design, I wanted the sets to shine, almost overtaking the other media. I&#8217;ve since honed my skill set and now recognize the value of a team and the amalgamation of different visions in helping construct a truly exquisite image.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who do you think is one to watch?<\/strong><br \/>\nRather than &#8220;Ones to Watch,&#8221; I have &#8220;Ones I Admire.&#8221; These are the artists I think have had a lasting impact on our industry and who have spoken through their own lens, such as <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/bethany-vargas\">Bethany Vargas<\/a>, <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/Gordon-von-Steiner\">Gordon von Steiner<\/a>, <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/bardia-zeinali\">Bardia Zeinali<\/a>, <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/charlotte-wales\">Charlotte Wales<\/a>, <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/carlijn-jacobs\">Carlijn Jacobs<\/a>, and <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/max-siedentopf\">Max Siedentopf<\/a>. I will say to anyone who is starting out: practice, work hard, and remember to always just try and have fun. <\/p>\n<h3>Selected Work<\/h3>\n<p><div style=\"width: 1080px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('video');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-170959-1\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/LV-FW25_Final-vs-Previz1.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/LV-FW25_Final-vs-Previz1.mp4\">https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/LV-FW25_Final-vs-Previz1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><br \/>\n<small> By Axel Morin | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/small> <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/louis-vuitton-louis-vuitton-fall-winter-2025-collection\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Louis Vuitton FW25 \u2014 High Speed Lives<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nAn aesthetic I really loved working on, directed by <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/axel-morin\">Axel Morin<\/a>  and produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/agency\/DIVISION\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Division<\/a>. Ten days to distill &#8220;high-speed living&#8221;: the suspended hush of a departure dock, silhouettes smeared by motion. The images race the way the production did, the speed of the concept and the speed of the deadline at once. Lately it feels like the speed of my own life too.<\/p>\n<p>[https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Thom-Browne-x-Asics_Final-vs-Previz.mp4][\/video]<br \/>\n<small> By Alma de Ricou &#038; Manon Engel | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/small> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Thom Browne \u00d7 Asics \u2014 GEL-KAYANO\u2122 14<\/strong><br \/>\nA tribute to modernist brutalism, corporate uncanny. An office as maze, order as menace: sterile, symmetrical, a little sinister. Warmth engineered out, everything on grid. There&#8217;s a private joke in it for me: I once lived this life, and here I got to celebrate it. Campaign directed by <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/alma-de-ricou-and-manon-engel-1\">Alma de Ricou &#038; Manon Engel<\/a>, produced by  <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/agency\/DIVISION\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Division<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 1920px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-170959-2\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/RAYBAN_WAYFARER_RED_15s_VA_compressed1.mp4?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/RAYBAN_WAYFARER_RED_15s_VA_compressed1.mp4\">https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/RAYBAN_WAYFARER_RED_15s_VA_compressed1.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><br \/>\n<small> Jadi Wegener by Axel Morin | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/small> <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/ray-ban-ray-ban-2025-icons-campaign---the-balorama\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ray-Ban 2025 Icons Campaign &#8211; The Balorama<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nShowcasing this one for the craft. We created a giant mural, 18m wide and 5.5m high: powdery pigments spray-painted into a dramatic gradient of grey shades. At the center of the space, a vibrant monolith, one color per product variant. This video highlights the red monolith, a stone-to-the-touch gradient built from Burnt Sienna pigments. Another project directed by <a href=\"\/\/models.com\/people\/axel-morin\">Axel Morin,<\/a> produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/360_pm\/?hl=en\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">360\/PM<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 1080px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-170959-3\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Nike-x-Knwls_Final-vs-Previz_compressed.mp4?_=3\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Nike-x-Knwls_Final-vs-Previz_compressed.mp4\">https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Nike-x-Knwls_Final-vs-Previz_compressed.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><br \/>\n<small> VTSS, Evgenia Nirka, Soo Joo Park by Torso | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/small> <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/knwls-knwls-x-nike-2025-collection\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KNWLS x Nike 2025 Collection<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nArchitecture and structure first, and here that meant more than aesthetics. A protected location adapted until it vanished into the concept; a working water treadmill designed in a week; a live stunt made safe through tight SFX and stunt coordination. Structure carrying a story, and a body moving through it. Beautiful campaign, directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/people\/torso-solutions\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Torso Solutions<\/a> and produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/agency\/DIVISION\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Division<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><div style=\"width: 1080px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-170959-4\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Charli-XCX-SS26_Final.mp4?_=4\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Charli-XCX-SS26_Final.mp4\">https:\/\/i.mdel.net\/oftheminute\/images\/2026\/07\/Charli-XCX-SS26_Final.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div><br \/>\n<small> Charli xcx by Torso | Image courtesy of MA + Group<\/small> <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/work\/music-video-charli-xcx---ss26\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Charli xcx &#8211; SS26 music video<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nAn X-shaped raised catwalk, heightened in tribute to the great 90s shows. Dead-end monolith walls at its edges, or models falling into the void beyond them. Backstage, hectic yet perfectly ordered. There&#8217;s a life narrative in this one, somehow. The song insists nothing&#8217;s gonna save us, not music, fashion, or film, but I want to believe otherwise; they saved me from a slow corporate death. What I love is how the song and the set both embrace the irony; that we&#8217;re all creatives held inside a commercial compromise. Directed by <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/people\/torso-solutions\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Torso Solutions<\/a> and produced by <a href=\"https:\/\/models.com\/agency\/DIVISION\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Division<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Behind the Image is an ongoing MODELS.com series taking a more personal look at both established and emerging creative talent. Nicola Scarlino, Set Designer Hometown: Biarritz, France Based In: Paris, France Representation: MA + Group What initially drew you to set design, and was there a defining moment that made you pursue it professionally? I&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":171038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12752,13941,10414,16,13943],"tags":[8705,15426],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/450"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170959"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171133,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170959\/revisions\/171133"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/models.com\/oftheminute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}