Exhibition L'École idéale
The Ideal School is a project co-produced by the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and the Magasins Généraux, under the curatorial direction of Atelier Senzu and Anna & Keimis. Our interest in educational architecture leads us to examine the legacy of the public school as a building and to rethink its foundations in light of today’s climatic and ecological challenges.
We aim to share our research with a broad audience to demonstrate that the school is a malleable framework — one that can be reshaped and reinvented.
Plan of the exhibition
Our agency offers an immersion into the school through the various spaces that compose it: public realm, building form, classroom, corridor, covered playground, courtyard, outdoor areas, and materials. These sections reveal the underlying structure of the school as an architectural entity.
Throughout this exploration, visitors are invited to reflect on their own experiences in relation to the examples presented. The exhibition design, conceived for both children and adults, uses low-height displays to ensure an accessible and inclusive experience.
Model of the exhibition
The joint curatorship provides an opportunity to explore a key theme for our agency: transdisciplinarity.
Each chapter is constructed around architectural examples from diverse geographical and historical contexts, accompanied by works by artists and designers. Whether created for the exhibition or loaned, these works allow visitors—children and adults alike—to physically engage with the spaces and test the proposed solutions.
The complementarity between architecture, which responds to the needs of the built environment, and design, which focuses on use, appears to us essential for shaping a renewed approach.
What if the future of schooling lay not in the urban fabric, but in a natural environment — a woodland, a field, or an open landscape?
Our outdoor-school pavilion prototype provides full autonomy for a group of twenty students learning in the open air. It brings together all essential elements for a day outside: access to water, power, sheltered areas, privacy, and sanitation. The brick hearth forms a gathering point that helps structure and ritualize collective learning moments shared by teachers and students.
Campfire & pavilion
Elevations
Constructive details
SOLD OUT. The exhibition catalogue was developed with contributions from Anna Heringer, Herman Hertzberger, Anne-Marie Chatelet, Madeleine Masse, Philippe Meirieu, and Alexandre Ribeaux. It revisits and expands upon the major themes presented in the exhibition.
From June 2025 to November 2025
© Sophie Civita
© Benoit Santiard
© Martin Argyroglo
Exhibition L'École idéale
The Ideal School is a project co-produced by the Pavillon de l’Arsenal and the Magasins Généraux, under the curatorial direction of Atelier Senzu and Anna & Keimis. Our interest in educational architecture leads us to examine the legacy of the public school as a building and to rethink its foundations in light of today’s climatic and ecological challenges.
We aim to share our research with a broad audience to demonstrate that the school is a malleable framework — one that can be reshaped and reinvented.
Plan of the exhibition
Our agency offers an immersion into the school through the various spaces that compose it: public realm, building form, classroom, corridor, covered playground, courtyard, outdoor areas, and materials. These sections reveal the underlying structure of the school as an architectural entity.
Throughout this exploration, visitors are invited to reflect on their own experiences in relation to the examples presented. The exhibition design, conceived for both children and adults, uses low-height displays to ensure an accessible and inclusive experience.
Model of the exhibition
The joint curatorship provides an opportunity to explore a key theme for our agency: transdisciplinarity.
Each chapter is constructed around architectural examples from diverse geographical and historical contexts, accompanied by works by artists and designers. Whether created for the exhibition or loaned, these works allow visitors—children and adults alike—to physically engage with the spaces and test the proposed solutions.
The complementarity between architecture, which responds to the needs of the built environment, and design, which focuses on use, appears to us essential for shaping a renewed approach.
What if the future of schooling lay not in the urban fabric, but in a natural environment — a woodland, a field, or an open landscape?
Our outdoor-school pavilion prototype provides full autonomy for a group of twenty students learning in the open air. It brings together all essential elements for a day outside: access to water, power, sheltered areas, privacy, and sanitation. The brick hearth forms a gathering point that helps structure and ritualize collective learning moments shared by teachers and students.
Campfire & pavilion
Elevations
Constructive details
SOLD OUT. The exhibition catalogue was developed with contributions from Anna Heringer, Herman Hertzberger, Anne-Marie Chatelet, Madeleine Masse, Philippe Meirieu, and Alexandre Ribeaux. It revisits and expands upon the major themes presented in the exhibition.
From June 2025 to November 2025
© Sophie Civita
© Benoit Santiard
© Martin Argyroglo
