As scenographers, we are confronted with the ephemeral nature of sets and the recurring production of elements destined to become waste. This is why reuse occupies a central place in the studio's practice: repurposing elements from previous exhibitions, connecting institutions to facilitate the exchange of materials, and thinking more broadly about waste reduction from the design phase onwards. Our research, informed by experience as well as several resources — including the podcast Scénographies des Possibles by Clémence Chiron, the Exhibition Design Guide from the London Design Museum, and the recommendations of the Gallery Climate Coalition — focused on waste reduction, the use of new resources, the choice of materials to prioritize in order to reduce environmental impact, and the carbon footprint associated with transport.

To address these issues, we first developed a diagram of the degrees of "aggressiveness" of scenographic elements: at one end, the use of non-reusable or non-recyclable materials; at the other, the reuse of objects already present within the museum. Between these two poles, we identified intermediate levels: recyclable materials used in an ephemeral way, objects that can be repurposed elsewhere, and modular, recombinable scenographies.

This reflection led us to examine another crucial issue, which became central to our research: the management and potential of museum stockrooms. Most museums hold large quantities of standard scenographic objects (plinths, display cases, panels), as well as a multitude of tools and complementary objects that are often underused. In an ideal vision, a pooling of stockrooms — or at minimum a sharing of information between institutions — would help optimize existing resources and limit new production.

At the same time, we undertook an analysis of exhibition "layers." This involved breaking down each scenographic element into its constituent parts in order to understand its essential form and imagine how to return to that form or function in alternative ways. Ten fundamental elements were identified: plinths, wooden panels, plexiglass panels and bell jars, pipes and tubes, cages, fabric, chairs, ladders, stepladders, and bricks. These objects, frequently found in museum storage, constitute simple modules that can be used individually or in combination. Through a card-based exercise, these elements were brought into relation with one another: testing compositions, variations, and accumulations, yielding finished or loosely defined objects open to multiple uses and possibilities. Chairs stacked and draped in fabric become stage backdrops; plinths layered and supported by ladders form exhibition walls; planks laid across stepladders are transformed into tables. These experiments show how existing objects can become fully-fledged scenographic elements, opening the way to a multitude of configurations, reuses, and reinterpretations.

^{Publications :}

• ^{The Design Museum. Concevoir une exposition à notre époque. Guide pour réduire l’impact environnemental des expositions.}

^{Podcasts :}

• ^{Chiron, C. Scénographies des Possibles}

^{Guidelines and institutional ressources :}

• ^{Gallery Climate Coalition . Guidelines & Carbon Calculator}

• ^{Design Museum. Design Museum Research - Working to Make Change}

^{Materials libraries :}

• ^Écothèque

• ^{Regenerative Materials} 

• ^{Material Archiv}

^{Circular Economy / Resource Centres :}

• ^Plinth

• ^{La Réserve des Arts}

• ^{La Ressourcerie Culturelle}