Build the materials laboratory out of its research.
Sunflower fibres and rice straw are not samples in a display case here. They help make the building in which new materials are researched.
FR FranceIn practice. Le Magasin Électrique opened at LUMA Arles in 2023, developed by Atelier LUMA with Assemble and BC architects & studies.
What to keep in view
A local feedstock still needs processing, testing, maintenance and a viable supply chain. One building does not establish that each material suits every climate or construction system.
Make the building a material test
Atelier LUMA moved into the renovated Le Magasin Électrique in 2023 after the Lot 8 collaboration with BC architects & studies and Assemble. The project incorporates regional earth, minerals and agricultural coproducts, including sunflower-fibre and rice-straw interior panels. Research, fabrication workshops and a public Agora share the building. Construction included collective workshops and training around the materials.
Let the place that develops materials become their working demonstration and learning environment.
Connect the region to the workshop
Our reading: a material library asks someone to imagine a sample becoming a room. This building removes that gap. Its walls and fittings expose the extra work between a promising ingredient and something a builder can specify, make and maintain. Locality becomes a set of practical capabilities rather than a decorative regional story.
Read next.
Let the timber find its curve.
Both turn construction into a visible material experiment. Regional feedstocks and moisture-shaped timber create different paths from research to a building.
Mycelium insulation, tested in a building.
A real building becomes a place to investigate a material. Compare a regional materials laboratory with a monitored insulation installation.