Livrons-nous

Architects: Charlotte Jeanjean, Viviane Le Deunff and Camille Maire

Camille Maire, Viviane Le Deunff, and Charlotte Jeanjean - three friends and architects, inspired by various worlds - are proud to announce that their art installation, “Livrons-nous”, has won the Prix du Public award in Montpellier, France.

“Livrons-nous” questions, in a playful and poetic way, our relationship to the sacredness of the world and its evolution. This monumental artistic installation, nine meters high, was created during the Festival des Architectures Vives 2023, in a 13th-century courtyard in Montpellier.

The installation honors books and writing as a medium for the transmission of emotion through time. In the digital age in which we live, our social interactions are governed by the virtual world. Society struggles to disconnect from this digital world where everything moves so quickly, and this installation offers time to pause and daydream in the imaginary world of the book. It takes the form of a monumental spiral, composed of a thousand loose pages escaping from an ancient, majestic book, and drifting up toward the sky. Like these pages flying away, visitors can let their imaginations run free with ink, making use of a small vintage school desk, perhaps serving as a reminder of childhood.

This installation is also an opportunity to open the inaccessible and emblematic courtyard of the Ginestous private hotel to visitors. It reveals a colorimetric and sensory resonance between the stones of a 13th century building and a contemporary artistic installation. This work was designed and produced specifically for this historic courtyard, but, as it is aimed at a wide audience, it can be readapted on demand in other spaces.

In June 2023, “Livrons-nous” was presented with the Prix du Public award at the Festival des Architectures Vives.

Photography: Viviane Le Deunff and Photoarchitecture