Crosswalks are one of these rare semiotic objects that became conventional all over the world. Quite extraordinary when you think about it: an universal meaning some signs do acquire through time. Imagine the circumstances that lead to such a globalized […]

Paris, february 2017.

Paris, march 2017. If streets have been invested with various visual and graphic artefacts for many centuries, the last two decades have been characterized by a proliferation of paintings, posters and ceramics drawings usually attributed to the street art movement. […]

The notion of “script” was coined by Madeleine Akrich to describe the way users, their partners and their environment are inscribed in objects themselves. The de-scription of objects allows notably to understand that competencies are not situated in users’ side […]

Paris, 19 March 2017. The demonstration had just passed, with its cohort of panels, slogans and flags. Behind it, its traces in the public space are quickly erased by the cleaning services, but the most diverse surfaces to accommodate the […]

Singapore, february 2017. In this building of an international company, one has to show her identity card at the entrance booth in order to go a step further. A passeport should work. Yet the desk clerk hesitates, then asks again […]

Singapore, february 2017. The first episode of the recently aired third season of Black Mirror, in which everything and everyone is subject to instant evaluation, is by far the more realistic of the whole show. Likes, stars, hearts, grades: today, […]

Northern Alps, February 2017. Above the cloud sea, the sky is blue and the slopes are not full of people. Obsession of the skiers once the slope is done, the queue to the chairlift remains short in this supposed period […]

Köln, october 2016. It’s Friday afternoon, the train just arrived at the platform, and passengers get off the train. Some are familiar with the station and go directly to the exit, while others meet again some family members or friends. […]

On the first day, we didn’t really pay attention to the sign. We were just surprised to find the door closed and only looked at the dates. She told us she wasn’t taking any vacation this year, maybe she eventually […]

Paris, janvier 2017 The ministry had left the wealthy building of a square full of jewelers for these Parisian margins close to the periphérique. Thus, instead of rooms that seemed to be part of bourgeois apartments, there was a room […]

Paris, may 2013. What is it about? The full restoration of a store and its main window, facing the sidewalk. What the paper is meant to do? Clearly, it’s about “paint”. But we can’t see it. The whole window is […]

It’s been years, now, that we are supposed to live in a paperless world. Since the seventies, and the emergence of affordable and easy-to-use computers, the disappearance of notebooks, single sheets or post-it has been announced again and again. Yet, […]

Paris, November 2016 Urban spaces are paradoxically those of Nature. This Nature is certainly tamed, framed, but nevertheless present, protected and patrimonialised. Thus, until recently, only city authorities were able to plant trees and flower beds and, according to the […]

Paris, november 2016. At the time of internet and collaborative platforms, the sharing of information is multiplied. A large number of persons, distributed all over the world, may circulate an idea, deliver an opinion, or pass a judgment in a […]

Instructions for use are precious documents for who wants to do semiotics. As Madeleine Akrich taught us years ago, they are one of the sites where the crowd the objects are made of is described. Reading them, looking at their […]

Paris, November 2016 The place was cozy with its wooden tables, mismatched chairs and leather armchairs, as we noticed the big homemade everyday cakes on a big corner table. Everything seemed perfect for a work appointment. And then we saw […]

Bayonne, july 2016. Entering the room, you face a huge, multicolored wall, made of numerous components directly screwed on it. A simple glance and you understand how much colors are crucial in the world of climbing. Mostly white, the paint […]

The place was quiet that morning. Even quieter than the rest of the city. You would just hear the birds and the hard wind in the trees. Here and there, benches seemed to wait for visitors, facing the lake, like […]

Barcelona, août 2016 La conférence avait lieu dans le centre des congrès, bâtiment visant la pure fonctionnalité. Salles numérotées, vidéoprojecteurs et écrans à l’intérieur, couloirs avec leurs tables garnies pour les pauses, tout semblait parfait pour accueillir les 1500 collègues […]

Paris, october 2016. In any way-finding system, arrows are key. Whether in the streets, a subway system, an airport, a park or a building, an arrow plays a crucial part in pointing to a specific site, while adding as a […]

The things you can do with writings are quite impressive. And they show how wrong were those who tried to analyze written words as mere representations of speech. Inverted commas are a good exemple of that. Theses little marks can […]

Pontivy, July 2016 The station is long closed, its windows are blocked; behind the building, the now useless tracks are subjected to rust and to the invasion of weeds. Due to the lack of maintenance, the lobby ceiling has collapsed, […]

London, august 2016. Urban settings are made of flows. Pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, wheelchairs, cars, strollers, buses, tramways circulate the streets simultaneously, and many devices are designed to perform fluidity and to regulate their peaceful coexistence. The introduction of each new […]

Trying to convince people to adopt responsible practices is not an easy thing, especially when it comes to ecology. Certainly, the difficulty to render the consequences of our actions tangible has a lot to do with it. Even if we […]

Brussels, July 2016 The area was deserted on this summer Sunday, the usual officials and lobbyists being absent at the entrance of the office buildings. At the heart of Europe with its four lanes, “Law street” was covered by only […]

Hossegor, july 2016. It is commonplace: in many workplaces, the flexibility of work schedules has gradually transformed the working conditions. In this manner, the work force can be adjusted to the changing rhythm of the market on almost a daily […]

Early in the morning on this week day, there were only a few dogs in the park. And unless you were paying close attention, you couldn’t tell what kind of dogs they were. It’s only when I saw the sign […]

Brussels, August 2016. Around the buildings, as it is common in this type of campus, you have to cross parking lots protected by barriers. Lost tourists or nearby supermarket consumers shall be prevented to seize this area dedicated to duly […]

Paris, June 2016 The classroom was empty, no tables or chairs left. They had been transported in a gym, to be used there for baccalaureate candidates. But in a corner near the entrance, a trace of exam preparation has been […]

As Franck Cochoy remarkably showed, the invention of packaging took a crucial part in the shaping of modern markets. Before it appeared, customers could only made choices between two different goods: rice and pasta for instance. But rice was present […]

Paris, March 2016 On a single-color background stand out letters, numbers and mathematical symbols. All along the dock convoluted formulas are displayed. Modern hieroglyphics that we can not literally read, much less understand, they fix the gaze of rushed travelers […]

It’s easy to understand what signposts do to space. They help to transform it into places. Signs perform territories, jurisdictions, ie delimited portions of land that are not only named, but also organized, even politicized. Once you pass a sign, […]