Studio Élémentaires

Studio portrait by @michaelferire 🧿 @zaventemateliers 🏰

STUDIO ÉLÉMENTAIRES Studio Élémentaires is a French design studio founded in 2013 by Apolline Couverchel and Gauthier Haziiza. Their work explores the relationship between movement, light, and space, translating kinetic phenomena into sculptural lighting pieces that sit between design, installation, and performance. Rooted in the language of the performing arts, the studio approaches light as a living material. Their works capture rhythm, pause, and motion, transforming environmental dynamics into luminous compositions that activate the spaces they inhabit. Technology and craftsmanship are inseparable in their process. Mechanical systems, precise engineering, and carefully fabricated components allow their objects to move, shift, and breathe with subtlety. The result is lighting that behaves almost like choreography, revealing light not only as illumination but as a spatial experience. Rather than imitating nature, Studio Élémentaires isolates its gestures. Light becomes pulse, rotation, reflection, and silence. These transformations produce objects that feel at once archaic and contemporary, grounded in technical precision yet emotionally resonant. Their work has been commissioned by major institutions and cultural figures, including collaborations with chef Paul Pairet, projects for Shang Xia founded by Hermès in Shanghai, installations for the Hôtel de Crillon, Mix Brussels, and Food Society Paris. The studio has also collaborated with Moët & Chandon, the Centre Pompidou, and the Grand Hornu Design Center. Based at Zaventem Ateliers since 2018, Apolline and Gauthier contribute to the collective ecosystem of artists and designers exploring new directions in collectible design. ZAVENTEM ATELIERS inhabits VILLA EMPAIN Prototype of Reality 11 – 19 March 2026 Boghossian Foundation Av. Franklin Roosevelt 67 1050 Brussels For general inquiries [email protected] Tickets via Villa Empain website.

« Sparkler » Commissioned by @erasedstudio 🪄 @oken.brussels 🪐 @_o_s_m_o_s_e_ 🔭

Sparkler is a monumental light sculpture located at the threshold of @oken.brussels . Unfolding through the underground corridor that leads visitors toward the bar’s entrance, the eight- meters long piece acts as a luminous prologue, an immersive passage that subtly shifts perception and mood. Composed of eighteen glass cylinders, each half- covered with perforated aluminum reflector, the work reveals a subtle choreography. Driven by a system of motors and belts, the tubes rotate independently in a continuous and asynchronous motion, generating an ever-evolving interplay of reflections, transparencies, and shadow. Commissioned by @erasedstudio 🔌

The kinetic LightFan sculpture stems from a journey of inspiration through the western United States. Suspended over restaurant kitchens, casino halls or motel rooms, the fan object symbolizes for the duo the collective imagination of a mythical America. The object’s direct quote is apprehended in a «pop» and offbeat look at the frenzy of luminous signs that punctuate these landscapes. Here, the ventilating function fades away to emphasize the hypnotic beauty of the slow continuous rotation. Vivid and striking, the colored light highlights the graphic aspect of this object and gives it its attractiveness. Materials : aluminium, custom LED tubes, motor, mechanical and electrical transmission system. Dimensions : 130cm (rotational circumference) x 75cm 📸 @stan.huaux + @jeremy_marchant

« White Night » A special edition crafted for the iconic Chef Paul Pairet and his Parisian Deli, nestled within one of French’s most legendary palaces. ✨ Thank you @paulpairet for your trust over the years 🙏 «  Framing the shellfish bar and overlooking the Palace’s main corridor, the « White Night » diptych offers a nod to the space’s history, once home to a barber’s chair and its artistry. Crafted from glass and hand-bent aluminum, the contemplative presence of these kinetic lights warmly invites visitors to the Deli’s exquisite and vibrant cuisine.» Interior architecture @tristanauer Photographs @michaelferire

SNACK 🎮

SNACK 🛸 Materials : aluminium, LED and acrylic and tubes,, computer fans, bearings, electronic components and printed technical parts. Dimensions : 102 x 49 x 65cm (rotational circumference)

SNACK was inspired by the kinetic operation of sidewalk signs, designed to be spun round by the wind. It’s the studio’s first object to use propulsion-driven motion: twin light bars are rotated by the output of a column of computer fans, borrowed from the world of gaming. This hybridisation of popular culture and hardware references opens a dialogue between low- and high-tech in a work with starkly sculptural and graphical aspects. Materials : aluminium, LED and acrylic tubes, computer fans, bearings, electronic components and printed technical parts. Dimensions : 102 x 49 x 65cm (rotational circumference) 📷 @jeremy_marchant + @stan.huaux

CANDY CRUSH 🍬 Wafting its aroma from under the garish signage of confectionery stalls, draped over hands and faces, cotton candy is one of the core rituals of a visit to the fairground. Candy Crush is a nod to these sugary tendrils, wrapping around a stick to form a colourful cloud. It draws on the fascination elicited by the textural motion employed to construct this confectionary delicacy. A sheet with moiré and iridescent reflections is wrapped around the acrylic tube that composes the light fixture. As the pattern rotates, the repetitive motion creates an optical ripple effect that conveys the impression of a material that’s transforming as it spins. Materials: acrylic and glass tubes, LED source, custom optical filters, aluminium, printed technical parts, bearings and gears, motor. Dimensions: ⌀ 12 x 160 x 38cm Pics @stan.huaux & @jeremy_marchant

CANDY CRUSH 🍬🍭 Materials : acrylic and glass tubes, LED source, custom optical filters, aluminium, printed technical parts, bearings and gears, motor. Dimensions: ⌀ 12 x 160 x 38cm 📸 : @stan.huaux + @jeremy_marchant

FLASHER during @baranzate_ateliers 2024 🪩🎛️🔌