AGORA DU DESIGN: Supporting Research, Challenging Practice
Friday 11 September —
11:00
- 11:45
The Talks — Hall 5
Description
Design is about exploration. It pushes boundaries, opens up new perspectives, and invites us to see the world differently. Through its research grant programme, the Agora du Design provides award recipients with the resources to advance their research, develop their projects, and expand their practice. For more than 40 years, this initiative has fostered critical inquiry into the major issues shaping our time, helping design fully realize its role across every area of society.
Participants
Pierre CharriéDesigner
Rebecca Fezard & Elodie MichaudDesigners et cofounders - hors-studio
Scott LongfellowExhibition curator and Vice-President - Agora du Design
Olivier WachéJournalist
Pierre Charrié
Designer
A graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts and the École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle (ENSCI–Les Ateliers), Pierre Charrié is fascinated by the sensory dimension of everyday objects. His work explores how materials, sounds, and gestures can create new forms of interaction and elevate the ordinary. A passionate musician, his research and experimentation into the acoustic qualities of objects have earned him widespread recognition among his peers. Several of his creations have been acquired for the permanent collection of the French National Centre for Visual Arts (Centre National des Arts Plastiques – CNAP).
Rebecca Fezard & Elodie Michaud
Designers et cofounders - hors-studio
Founded by Elodie Michaud and Rebecca Fezard, hors-studio is a duo of designers, makers, and researchers. Working at the intersection of design, craftsmanship, and ecology, the studio conducts design-led R&D focused on upcycling industrial waste by transforming it with biodegradable natural binders, entirely free from petrochemicals. Building on this research, hors-studio develops bespoke projects for architects and interior designers while creating artistic pieces that question our relationship with resources and the living world. The studio has received the City of Paris Grand Prix de la Création, the Agora du Design Grant, and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation's "Dialogues pour l'intelligence de la main" Award. Through its practice, hors-studio advocates for a responsible approach to creation that is deeply rooted in local territories.
Scott Longfellow
Exhibition curator and Vice-President - Agora du Design
Scott Longfellow is an exhibition curator with a background in political science and creative industries management. Convinced of design's political stakes, his research focuses on the intersections of craft, ecology, technology, and imaginaries. He directed the Designer's Days association in Paris (2010–2017), co-founded the Bureau des Usages with Ramy Fischler in 2017 — a programming and design fiction unit serving architecture and urban planning projects — before joining mudac in Lausanne in 2021 as curator. He has led notable exhibitions including Le Maroc contemporain (IMA, Paris, 2015), Sens-Fiction (Lille, 2020), Space is the Place (mudac, 2023), and the Solar Biennale. He teaches, publishes, and speaks regularly at conferences.
Olivier Waché
Journalist
A journalist for over 25 years, Olivier Waché specializes in the worlds of home, decoration, design, and lifestyle, and has worked for numerous publications including The Good Life, Femme Actuelle, Résidences Décoration, and Maison Créative. A former Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Ideat magazine, he now collaborates with a wide range of titles such as Madame Figaro, À Vivre, Art & Décoration, Geste/s, and Le Journal de la Maison. An observer of the evolving living environment, he has authored two books for VIA in the Domovision collection. In 2014, he founded WOC, a writing house that provides high–value content and strategic advice to professionals, including PR agencies, brands, artisans, and architects.