Écoletopie
« Écoletopie » à l’école Saint-Charles
Photo: smarin
Conceived by Studio smarin in 2022 for the exhibition “ L’Art d’apprendre, une école des créateurs” at the Centre Pompidou Metz, the installation was first deployed in a school setting in Monaco in 2023 at the initiative of the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco and the Direction de l’Éducation Nationale, de la Jeunesse et des Sports of the Principality of Monaco, with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
Thus, “Écoletopie” has taken its place in a classroom at Saint-Charles School. Fourth-grade students and their teacher are immersed in a total environment, whose main objectives are to engage attention, foster collective intelligence, and cultivate sensitivity and body awareness.
The installation, every component of which is crafted from pure, untreated materials carefully selected for their natural qualities, was accompanied by a series of discussions and hands-on workshops led by smarin. During these sessions, the children gained an awareness of the importance of their posture and mobility in the classroom, the role of the group in many activities, and the significance of sensory practice in the acquisition of knowledge.
Ecoletopie. L’Art d’apprendre
Benjamin Laugier, head of publics at the NMNM, and Stéphanie Marin, designer and founder of smarin studio, discuss the “Ecoletopie” project