Atelier Luma is a think tank, a production workshop and a learning network of the Luma Foundation. Based in Arles, in the Camargue region, Atelier Luma wants to co-develop new ways of producing and caring for a city and a bioregion, using design as a tool for transition.
Since its foundation in 2016, Atelier Luma conducts projects connected to six strategic themes: Waste Matters, Producing (in) the City, Healthy Mobility, Next Hospitality, Food Circle, Circular Education.
Enhancing the potential of discarded materials to create ecological, social, and economic impact.
Projects developed under the Waste Matters initiative follow two environmental strategies : the superuse approach gives new functions to local materials that are traditionally considered waste ; and the circular economy concept recognizes the Camargue bioregion bordering Arles as a priority to preserve. Letting waste streams and design meet under these two guidelines creates a series of positive frictions that can lead to outcomes with an immediate ecological, social, and economic impact. From the usage of traditional agricultural waste from cultures such as reed, rice and salt harvests, to an overall educational strategy changing local minds about the potential of these materials, waste presents a myriad of opportunities to create truly innovative projects.
Studying the Camargue region’s natural resources and learning from local knowledge to design innovative and ecological objects.
The Producing in the city initiative combines design, scientific research and local natural resources to create ecological and innovative solutions. From the design of electronic paper to the production of biopolymers that can replace fossil oil-based plastics, limits are pushed to set the stage for new forms of ecological imagination and hands-on engagement with biodiversity.
Exploring, upgrading and reinforcing mobility in Arles and its region.
The Healthy Mobility initiative rethinks transportation flows in the Arles region. With the help of mobility experts and designers, Atelier Luma examines diverse kinds of mobility for different age groups, upgrades and reinforces existing local initiatives and promotes the use of alternative forms of energy in the city of Arles and its region.
Finding smaller-scale, non-intrusive ways of promoting tourism connected with its surroundings.
Contemporary hospitality should encompass an active and intelligent dialogue between man and his environment. The Next Hospitality initiative looks for smaller-scale, non-intrusive ways of promoting a tourism experience, and seeks to provoke productive and engaging relationships with the landscape of the city of Arles and the Camargue region.
Combining food, design and circular economy and building more connected food systems.
When food meets design in its broadest sense, food production can go a step further, stimulate social change and innovation, bring environmental and health benefits, and create a more connected food system… Simultaneously, this encounter can boost new economies, enhance skills and support emerging talents.
Promoting shared knowledge to better serve the communal ecological approach.
Atelier Luma’s workshop is designed in such a way as to foster knowledge and skill sharing. Its large open space, its digital library and its innovative modular furniture facilitate transdisciplinary exchange, optimize the use of tools and methodologies and contribute to the projects’ vitality. Besides, Atelier Luma – which premises are open to the public all year long - strongly encourages its visitors to take part in its reflections.
