Atelier LUMA
Atelier LUMA is the design research program of LUMA Arles dedicated to exploring new ways of using natural and renewable resources in design and architecture on a bioregional scale.
“Atelier LUMA’s mission is to apply a multidisciplinary design approach to the environmental, economic, and social challenges of different territories.”
Maja Hoffmann
Atelier LUMA was founded in 2016. It brings together a team of designers, engineers, scientists, and experts from the fields of culture, craftsmanship, humanities, and social sciences and innovation, who explore the potential of non-extractivist, and often discredited, local materials, such as invasive plants, agricultural coproducts, algae, and industrial waste.
Housed since 2023 in Le Magasin Électrique, Atelier LUMA operates as a collaborative platform, working with local actors and partners, including farmers, craftspeople, and manufacturers to create sustainable and local solutions. Over the years, Atelier LUMA has expanded its research scope and reach from the Arles bioregion to the international level by taking part in European projects and accompanying other institutions in their research.
Atelier LUMA develops local solutions that can be replicated in other regions to contribute to an ecological, economic, technological, and social transition.
A series of implementations of Atelier LUMA’s work can be seen in the Parc des Ateliers.
For The Tower, Atelier LUMA developed wall cladding panels made of salt naturally crystallized in the salt flats. The sanitary facilities are adorned with bioplastic tiles charged with algae-based dyes and invasive and dye plants, the result of research into local production of bio-sourced and biodegradable plastics. Finally, the walls of the Drum Café are covered with a coating based on sunflower pith, a residual raw material from the sunflower oil industry.
Le Réfectoire furnishings are the result of Atelier LUMA’s collaboration with designer Martino Gamper and his studio, as well as many local craftspeople and manufacturers. From chairs to wall plaster, from lamps to bench upholstery, the teams have developed, prototyped, and produced a complete range of equipment that puts into practice the research carried out over several years on rice straw, Arles merino wool, invasive and dye plants.
In 2023, Atelier LUMA will complete the renovation of Le Magasin Électrique, the building that centralizes its activities, at the end of a three-year pilot and experimental project.
Conducted in collaboration with BC architects & studies, and Assemble, the renovation project was an opportunity to implement the Lot 8 project, a large-scale applied research for a bioregional architecture, guided by principles of locality of the resources used and sustainability of equipment.
Atelier LUMA develops educational programs and takes part in exhibitions and public lecture events to ensure the passing-on and dissemination of the knowledge gathered and produced in Arles and abroad.
EVENT
From May 28, Atelier LUMA will present the renovation project of Le Magasin Électrique, Lot 8, through an exhibition in its agora.
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