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The three founders, Christopher, Christoph and Lutz, met during their graduate studies at DARCH, the ETH Zurich architecture department in 2006/07. They came across their very first commission for a single interior image for an architectural competition more or less by accident. Equipped with laptops they worked for weeks in the office of the commissioning architect, unsure if they were hitting or missing the target, until they had spread out the agreed fixed fee down to something like 3CHF per hour. When the deadline was met and the work handed over, they were convinced they would never set another foot into the realm of architectural visualisation again. Ever.

But things took a turn - the architects, it turned out, were not unhappy with the result and told the tale of the crazy students that worked all night - for literally no money - to their colleagues. The next request to reach the team was already by a very prestigious office from Zurich - and impossible to decline. A third commission soon followed - the images improved - the painful way of working until the client was satisfied, slowly improved.

Fast forward - Christoph and Christopher had successfully graduated from ETH and taken on jobs as architects in Zurich offices - Lutz was on the last leg of his studies. The word had spread - projects were regular, clients were demanding and times were a bit crazy. One night at the kitchen-table of their shared apartment the three began to realize, why they were being repeatedly asked for their service:

Architects of all ages, in the final stages of working on their competitions, are often in a terrible state. Physically - they have not slept for too long, not eaten sustainably for weeks, had too much coffee and too many cigarettes - as well as mentally - they are under a fair amount of pressure - possibly unsure if their concept is strong enough, whether the competitors are having similar ideas and quite generally if they are doing the right thing. The team realised that the best support they could offer at that moment, was to be available, sooth and support, and make sure the competition would look amazing. Ultimately - to provide some sort of care. The idea of the nurse, who is always near and working constantly to ease the pain, ready to respond to the "beep" of a pager at all times, was close at hand. And, because the team had jobs to fulfil during the day, as a matter of fact the nighttime was the only time they were able to "render" their service. This is the origin of the name "nightnurse images". The company was filed in Zurich in June 2010.