Sous les pavés, la plage…
A participatory mural project
with local youth
illustration – mediation
« Sous les pavés, la plage… »
A Participatory Mural with Local Youth
Co-creating a joyful, dreamlike fresco to
reclaim urban space through imagination
and collaboration
Date
– 2015
Client
– Louis Lumière Stadium
Role
– artistic direction
– illustration
– mediation
As part of the summer event La Plage Louis Lumière, hosted by one of Paris’ largest sports complexes, La Fabrique was commissioned to design and facilitate a large-scale participatory mural. Centered around the iconic phrase “Under the cobblestones, the beach”, the project aimed to engage children in a creative reinterpretation of their everyday urban environment.
Through a series of shadow-play workshops, participants were invited to explore the poetic potential of their neighborhood. Children observed urban objects, traced their shadows, and reimagined them with playful distortion, transforming familiar structures into surreal, imaginative forms. These reinterpretations became the foundation for a visual language of custom pictograms, co-designed with the children and assembled into a dynamic three-color composition.
The project continued over two weeks, during which dozens of children returned daily to help bring the fresco to life, painting directly onto the stadium’s concrete wall. This collective effort not only beautified the space but also offered young residents the chance to leave a lasting imprint on their local environment.
By blending graphic design, urban art, and participatory methods, this project empowered youth to express their creativity while fostering a sense of ownership over shared public space. The mural now stands as a vibrant symbol of imagination, collaboration, and joyful reclamation of the city.
