2015

City of Music and Dance, Soissons

For the visual language and wayfinding system of the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse, the site’s educational and outreach activities led us to design a graphic system that involves the users. Thus, following the lead of the work of Karel Teige (Czech typographer, 1900–1951) and many other visual artists from the avant-garde movements, we sought to combine the human figure with typographic characters. This choice, which serves as a tribute to a period and/or key figures in the field of visual creation, also allows us to engage in a “joyful” and instinctive form of experimentation. In Soissons, therefore, the goal was not to produce an immutable alphabet usable year after year, but rather to launch a photo-shooting process and invite users of the facility to come and have their picture taken next to a letter. Children from the conservatory and dance school, musicians and teachers, administrators and the public—everyone participated. Others will come later to pose again, gradually building up a collection of A, a, B, b, C, c…, typographic elements that can be used in various documents to form titles or drop caps. Creating a visual language with those who experience the facility day to day helps anchor its image and its presence in a simple, “everyday” practice, far removed from the solemn image of the ballerina on her toes or the violinist in action. Ultimately, a tool that can be used independently for all communication materials was provided to the Cité de la Musique et de la Danse.

Design team — Laboratoire irb: Denis Coueignoux and Olivier Duzelier