PLAYTIME
Charles Bedin
Mike Langeder
studiœmile is first and foremost a workshop of experimentation in Brussels.
The initiative started in 2020 with the desire to establish a non-linear design process, encouraging a ping pong between drawing and making within a single space. The collective is an open umbrella of architects and craftsmen who exchange diverse skills and knowledge. They often focus on in-house production, building their own tools, and using leftover or recycled materials. Rather than prioritizing the final product, studiœmile values the process itself, promoting open-ended discussions and the use of playful models or prototypes in design. The collective alternates between architectural projects, artistic and domestic installations. Notable works include the itinerant Silo with Les Choses de Rien, a playful installation at Wiels, a scenography proposal for the Soft Power – The Brussels Way of Making the City exhibition, and the winning design for the renovation of Place Lehon, a public square in Brussels involving a local participatory process.
Our proposal takes inspiration from Playtime, the satirical movie by Jacques Tati. As Tati once remarked, his film is “better described through drawing than by words, and that the story is about a straight line that curves.”
In this spirit, PLAYTIME seeks to bend the linear narratives of environmental discourse into a more unexpected, playful and poetic form. We aim to develop playful interventions that encourage a connection with the natural resources of our finite earth in a fun way. Through playful interventions that interact with the classical elements—earth, air, water, and fire—old and young can explore natural forces while also developing curiosity for the environment. These tactile, interactive experiences create deeper sensory and emotional connections to our resources. These proposals will take the form of installations in public space, designed to be inclusive, accessible, and free to explore. They celebrate the importance of physical play, especially in today’s world where a lot takes place online. Through play, people from all backgrounds can connect with one another. The project emphasizes user interaction and control, allowing people to shape their own experiences within the space.
One precedent for this approach is Heaven on Earth, our project created for WIELS during Francis Alÿs' exhibition 'The Nature of the Game’. Taking inspiration from the playing children of Alÿs' videos, the artwork challenges visitors to play with, in, and around art. The installation gives the traditional game of hopscotch a special twist in an adapted version for the playweek at WIELS. The start and the end of the game are connected in a loop where “earth” and “heaven” meet each other at the entrance of the space. Built from repurposed materials from the gallery itself, this intervention demonstrated how waste can be transformed into opportunity, and how play can become a tool for environmental reflection.