ECAL at the 2025 Saint-Étienne Biennale
22.05–06.07.2025
Saint-Étienne

On the occasion of the 13th edition of the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Étienne, several projects by ECAL students, graduates, faculty and researchers are featured in the thematic exhibition Ressource(s), Anticipating Tomorrow, curated by Joachim Jirou Najou.

Each participant was invited to explore one of nine proposed themes, in resonance with their own practice: Industrial Futures, Promised Lands, Design for the Commons, Other Living Beings, Hybrid Modes, Creating with AI, Minimum/Maximum, Climate Design, and Already There.

ECAL PROJECTS ON DISPLAY

Theme: "Creating with AI"
Memogram (2022) by Jamy Herrmann
Bachelor Media & Interaction Design diploma project

MEMOGRAM

Project

Today, for many, the memories that remain are only those of images taken with digital cameras. Through this continuous storage process, we offload those moments by trusting instantaneous backups. MEMOGRAM challenges this delegation by offering a time capsule in the form of tickets, accompanying our memories with textual clues and descriptions. www.memogram.ch

Overloaded.supply (2021) by Ignacio Pérez
Bachelor Media & Interaction Design diploma project

Overloaded.supply

Project

In 2020, we reached a tipping point with the mass of man-made artefacts exceeding the biomass on our planet. This is mainly due to an economic system of manufacturing and consumption where the overabundance of objects has become the norm. Overloaded.supply is a semi-autonomous system that exploits the control of creation algorithms in order to question current patterns of design, production and legislation. To do so, the installation allows users, via a physical interface, to control an intangible, invisible and vast universe of objects where they can take possession of them through a fictitious patent document. This document will be stored on a dedicated website that acts as a repository of already protected objects that may or may not be produced. overloaded.supply

Metascape (2023) by Alexandre Gambarini , Angeline Rossetti and Elsa Trummer
Project developed as part of the Bachelor in Graphic Design and Media & Interaction Design, in collaboration with Swiss Post

LA POSTE × ECAL

Project

For the Swiss Post Office, students from ECAL's Bachelor Graphic Design and Bachelor Media & Interaction Design are creating a postage stamp based on artificial intelligence. Thanks to augmented reality, Metascape transports Swiss Post users into an imaginary and poetic universe on the way to a destination that remains elusive.

Theme: "Hybrid Modes"
Pierre (2023) by Guillaume Gindrat
Bachelor Industrial Design diploma project

Pierre

Project

In a context of energy crisis and a generalised awareness of the finiteness of available resources, the use of local resources for heating is being taken into consideration. Pierre offers a compact heating alternative. Like its wood, the stove uses locally sourced stones to store the heat. This facilitates transport, while creating a unique composition for each installation.

Elos (2022) by Souhaïb Ghanmi
Bachelor Industrial Design diploma project

Elos

Project

In the Swiss meat industry, there are more than 230,000 tonnes of waste each year from slaughterhouses. I focus on the recycling of food waste, especially bones, which pollute by disintegrating, and thus use as much of the animal as possible. Bone is, for me, a forgotten and unexploited material despite its many properties. Elos is a range of switches and sockets using bone meal for its electrical insulation properties. The socket is inspired by the articulation of the head of a femur to accompany the cable and thus avoid wear and tear, and the organic shapes of the switches are inspired by the cut of long bones. A cover variant combining a cable reel and a phone charging station has been added to the collection.

Theme: "Promised Lands"
Presque rien (2023) by Erwan Bouroullec , Jasmine Deporta , Silvio Rebholz
With ECAL students:
Basile Avvanzino , Lena Bernasconi , Giulia Burrus , Bradley Campus , Noé Chassot , Chiara Corno , Cyprien Cossy , Louise Dupont , Diego Eiholzer , Teo Primo Frizzarin , Iris Gerbex , Marion Gomes , Alejandrina Hernandez , Minna Holenweg , Bowen Huang , Toscane Jourde , Jeffrey Krieger , Virginie Lienhart , Juliette Masson , Denise Merlette , Amedeo Oddo , Léa Omez , Jeanne Reymond , Tiziana Rocha da Silva , Cindy Sacher , Till Seegräber , Sophia Zeller , Jacobo Zunzunegui

Presque Rien

Project

  Led by the acclaimed French designer Erwan Bouroullec, the workshop 'Presque Rien' unfolded as an exploration of design possibilities within the setting of his estate and recently renovated Burgundy farm. The project envisioned an open canvas, encouraging ECAL’s Bachelor Industrial Design students, to diverge from traditional problem-solving.  

Theme: "Minimum / Maximum"
Matalàs (2022) by Noémie Soriano
Bachelor Industrial Design diploma project

Matalàs

Project

Every year more than 30 million mattresses are thrown away in Europe. Despite the establishment of dismantling centres, only half of these mattresses are recycled. Those whose materials cannot be separated end up incinerated. This is due to the excessive use of glue and the mixing of different materials.  Matalàs offers an alternative to this problem by taking into account its recycling from the design stage. Designed in three parts, it facilitates the extraction of wool and springs, thus becoming part of a circular economy.

LECTURES

Shared Resources: A New Equation for “Less is More”
Tuesday 1 July 2025, from 11:30 to 12:30
Auditorium, ESADSE, Cité du design

Includes the screening of La Grange by Erwan Bouroullec , created in collaboration with Jasmine Deporta and Silvio Rebholz , followed by a discussion.
>Registration required

Faire, encore – AD·Rec 2025 Symposium
Aesthetics of Sustainability: How Can We Still Design in a Time of Energy and Environmental Crisis?
Tuesday 28 May 2025, from 9:30 to 10:30
Auditorium de la Platine, Cité du design
 

With Davide Fornari , Camille Blin , Christophe Guberan and Yohanna Rieckhoff

This panel presents ECAL’s approach to sustainable design through two research-based projects. UPS – Under Pressure Solutions explores ways to reduce the environmental impact of furniture production. U.F.O.G.O. investigates the integration of wind energy infrastructure into the landscape of Fogo Island, Canada.