© Vincent Leroux ; Constance Guisset Studio

Philharmonie des enfants

Exhibition design
Philharmonie de Paris, 
2021

The Philharmonie des enfants is a space of sound and musical experimentations, especially conceived for children from 4 to 10 years old. Located inside the Philharmonie de Paris, thirty original installations, to be discovered in autonomy, invite you to a journey appealing both to body and mind.

This exciting adventure, which gathered more than 300 contributors during four years, has been a unique occasion to work on a project from the global conception of the space to the small details of the games design. Each set has been conceived by multiple experts (ethnomusicologists, instrument makers, artists…) for its use to be manifest and its access to be intuitive for visitors.
Children and adults are invited to dive into a colorful atmosphere, full of sensations and interactions. Each space suggests an abstract and fun mood, yet never infantilizing. A specific work on the acoustic promises comfort to every user’s journey.
The tour begins with the discovery of a spectacular corridor, with a forest of anechoic tentacles leading to a bell with a reflected echo. It conducts to a central plaza bathed in colorful light, where everybody can discover stories coming out of periscopes planted in the ground. This room is like a comfortable lookout tower from which parents can watch their children evolve freely in each of the spaces distributed in a star shape.
Each part of the tour gathers installations with diverse themes. They can be identified easily thanks to soft colors. A flow of colorful bubbles gently guides the visitors to the exit once all the activities have been experienced.

Photographs Vincent Leroux
Director of the place : Mathilde Michel-Lambert
Graphist : Agnès Dahan Studio
Lights : Aura Studio
Acoustic : Meta Acoustique with Buzzing Light and Cadmos
Audiovisuel : Buzzing Light
Multimédia : Cadmos

This project has been rewarded by the Janus du design civique in 2022.