Design Brut | Philia & Kids was presented in Paris at Espace Meyer Zafra as part of a collaboration between Studio BehaghelFoiny and Galerie Philia. The project originated in Breil-sur-Roya, where children took part in a five-month workshop exploring sculptural design.
The project I show you today is not a recent one, but the first of Galerie Philia & kids… The project was also captured on film, and when I recently received it from a friend who often stays in the exact same village, I was so impressed and moved by the project and its beautiful film adaptation that I immediately thought: I have to show this to you, so I hope you take the time to watch the documentary!
One of the exhibitions during Milan Design Week that I will never forget and often think back to was Desacralized by Galerie Philia in 2023, an offsite exhibition featuring over 20 established and emerging international designers, staged in a deconsecrated church in the center of Milan. The empty church, where every object seemed to stand on its own, gave each designer their own stage, while music and scents further enhanced the atmosphere. This exhibition by Galerie Philia is just one of their many projects, with more featured exhibitions available via the Galerie Philia archive on Vosgesparis.
Galerie Philia
Galerie Philia brings together design, fine art, and architecture through a thoughtful, almost philosophical approach. Founded by two brothers with a background in art, literature, and philosophy, the gallery selects works in a way that connects different cultures and ideas from around the world. Instead of focusing on a single style, it creates a network of influences where each piece remains unique while being part of a larger, interconnected vision.
What connects all of Philia’s projects is this idea of openness: design is not treated as something fixed or hierarchical, but as a living network where different voices, cultures, and disciplines can meet. This approach allows unexpected relationships to emerge between tradition and experimentation, craft and concept, intuition and philosophy.
Design Brut was first presented in the chapel Notre-Dame-des-Monts in Breil-sur-Roya, where the children’s works were shown in the presence of the local community.
Philia & Kids
This way of thinking becomes especially clear in the Philia & Kids programme, Philia’s philanthropic initiative dedicated to introducing children to the world of design through collaborative creative workshops. Curated by Ygaël Attali, founder and artistic director of Philia, it creates meaningful encounters between designers and younger generations, where they work together on the development of ideas and objects. The programme explores how design can serve as a tool for education, creativity, and environmental awareness, while encouraging children to engage directly with the design process from concept to creation.
Design Brut | Philia & Kids at Breil-sur-Roya
The project ‘Design Brut’ takes inspiration from French artist Jean Dubuffet’s concept of “Art Brut” (raw art), referring to creative expression outside academic traditions, often characterized by a direct and unfiltered approach. This idea informed Philia’s exploration of design beyond conventional frameworks, encouraging open-ended, collaborative processes rooted in intuition and experimentation.
The answer was Design Brut | Philia & Kids, an inaugural workshop introducing 6–7-year-old children to the practice of sculptural design. The programme took place over five months in Breil-sur-Roya, a village in the Roya valley in the south of France. Under the supervision of their teacher Virgile Ganne and the artistic direction of designers Antoine Behaghel and Alexis Foiny from Studio Behaghel Foiny.
The children were invited to to imagine new furniture designs from the ground up. Guided by international designers, they moved through the entire creative process, from initial ideas and sketches to the physical realization of their concepts. Developing their own interpretations of sculptural forms. Their sketches were then transformed into physical objects, carved in local olive wood by Studio Behaghel Foiny together with a regional cabinetmaker. The resulting works blur the line between collectible design and the untamed imagination of childhood, revealing what happens when adult craft expertise meets unfiltered creative instinct.
Photo Credit: Maison Mouton Noir – Courtesy of Galerie Philia
This article is part of The Gallery Edit
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