For over 15 years, the Festival of Lights and Les Grands Ateliers, an innovation lab based in Villefontaine, have been reaching out to young art, architecture, applied arts, and engineering students in France and the rest of Europe. Why? To invite them to participate in a massive call for projects where students from art, architecture, and design schools can try out their ideas in an extraordinary setting. How? By taking the plunge and entering into a long intellectual process that creates connections and encourages tenacity, thinking outside the box, commitment, and even messing around! The grand finale for the winners: presenting their work and meeting all the people who come to see the Festival of Lights. A stimulating environment, a blend of cultures, an extended immersive experience, and a strong connection to the Lyon area are the defining features of this hands-on, dynamic project.
Expérimentations étudiantes
Sunday 11: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
In a nutshell
Titre
Two questions for Maxime Bonnevie, Architect and managing director of Les Grands Ateliers Innovation Architecture.
Students have been taking advantage of this exceptional opportunity to experiment for over 15 years: what major changes have you noticed?
The students are more and more committed to translating their societal and environmental concerns into imaginative and experimental artworks. We see it in the themes and subjects they choose to address, and the construction techniques and materials they use. Another big change came with the emergence of LEDS and new programming technology. As well as drastically reducing the installations' energy consumption, LEDS have also opened up new possibilities. Technological developments have allowed equipment to be computerised, which has enabled systems to be miniaturised and made the creation of digitally-controlled dynamic light installations more accessible.
Lyon's Festival of Lights, Les Grands Ateliers, the students, and the spectators together make a uniquely dynamic artistic partnership: what is the product of this heady cocktail?
"Les Grands Ateliers have been organising student experimentation projects at the Festival of Lights every year for over 15 years. For the hundreds of students who take part, whether individuals or groups, it is an opportunity to design an installation in an urban space, taking a creative approach to the medium of light and letting their imagination run free. These experiments give them first-hand experience of materials, construction techniques, and the limitations set by the surroundings. These innovative and committed students have created bold installations with an experimental style that makes them easy to identify, and they delight in the look of surprise on their audiences' faces.
- Ecole de Condé
- Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Lyon
- Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon
- Ecole Presqu’île
- Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués La Martinière Diderot
A work selected for the Trophy of Lights.
Collective Les Grands Ateliers
Mécénat Citeos ; Samse - MPPI ; Sonepar ; Le Mat’Electrique
Find out more Place Sathonay