Design exhibition 2026: Elements for a real world
It is open to all from 4 to 28 June at Lumen. The opening will take place on Thursday 4 June at 6pm, attended by the students and the department’s teaching staff.
It is open to all from 4 to 28 June at Lumen. The opening will take place on Thursday 4 June at 6pm, attended by the students and the department’s teaching staff. Lumen ENS-PARIS-SACLAY webmaster@ens-paris-saclay.fr Europe/Paris public
From 4 June 2026 to 28 June 2026
Opening: Thursday 4 June 2026
Lumen – Paris-Saclay University
Free admission
Elements for a real world
Design excellence is measured not only by formal beauty, but also by a designer’s ability to integrate real-world constraints into the creative process.
This research exhibition, developed through the work of Master’s students in Design Research at ENS Paris-Saclay, presents a materialist approach in which the constituent elements of the world become subjects of study in their own right.
Traditionally, design has positioned itself as an applied discipline aimed at optimising pre-existing solutions. The projects presented here reverse this logic. Earth, water, urban infrastructures, and human interactions are no longer treated as passive contexts, but as active agents that shape, constrain, and transform design itself.
Such a perspective calls for a reassessment of design methodologies. When water becomes a central parameter, the designer can no longer overlook its physical properties or cyclical nature. When interpersonal interactions are approached as materials, design must engage with the complexity and unpredictability of social dynamics.
These works demonstrate how such constraints compel designers to adopt new modes of thinking and adaptation. This approach requires a form of epistemological humility: the recognition that the world possesses its own logics, which design must learn not simply to control, but to observe, interpret, and engage with.
Ultimately, this exhibition invites us to reconsider design as an ongoing negotiation between human intention and material reality, opening new perspectives for a more responsible practice—one deeply integrated within the ecosystems of the 21st century.
Organisation
Tutors: James Auger, Lorène Picard, Émile de Visscher
Exhibitors:
Julie Ansel, Carla Barreto, Marie Boishus, Romane Boyer, Zoé Buranello, Christiane de Montigny, Nina Drouillot, Selma Ferrier, Charlotte Follea, Madly Fuss, Paige Gaskins, Camille Lemonnier, Raphaël Luciani-Galais, Erell Mazo, Anna Montagnon, Gabrielle Rayé, Andrea Rey Acevedo, Sarah Streicher-Mellangé
Graphic design: Céline Chip