780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier

the spatial installation explores food waste as architectural material.

Megan Dang edited by christina vergopoulou July 4, 2025 4 min

MERO Studios’ Paysage De Pain reflects on themes of food waste

Paysage de Pain is a public installation built from 780 salvaged baguettes, designed by MERO Studios in collaboration with the Montpellier-based nonprofit Pain de L’Espoir. Set in a sunlit courtyard in the Hôtel de Lunas during the 2025 Festival des Architectures Vives in Montpellier, the pavilion explores the potential of food waste, specifically surplus bread, as a spatial and sensory material.

In France, bread is essential to daily life, yet its abundance often leads to waste. According to a 2018 study by ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency), 11% of bread from bakeries is rejected for sale. Of this unsold bread, 15% is donated, 25% repurposed as animal feed, and 60% destroyed. Paysage de Pain transforms this symbol of waste into an immersive architectural experience. The installation explores gluttony not as excess, but as a lens for sustainable reinvention.

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 1 — all images by Paul Kozlowski

Public pavilion repurposes hundreds of leftover baguettes

The installation invites visitors to reflect on themes of gluttony and excess. The structure is a dialogue between indulgence and the urgency of environmental responsibility. Visitors are invited to move through dough-scented walls that cracked and aged in the summer heat, highlighting the tension between nourishment and discard. The project, developed by MERO Studios’ designers, foregrounds food waste as a cultural issue, transforming urban excess into a sensory, temporal monument. Here, gluttony becomes a celebration of transformation, an architectural delicacy that invites exploration and reflection on how we consume, discard, and create. In the spirit of the festival, Paysage de Pain is not only a feast for the senses but also a call to savor resources with care and ingenuity.

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 2 — 780 salvaged baguettes form the core structure of Paysage de Pain

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 3 — a spatial installation exploring bread waste as architectural material

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 4 — installed in the courtyard of Hôtel de Lunas for the 2025 Festival des Architectures Vives

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 5 — Paysage de Pain responds to food waste through material reuse

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 6 — bread walls crack and age under summer heat, revealing natural decay

paysage-de-pain-public-installation-baguettes-mero-studios-designboom-1800-2 — visitors navigate dough-scented corridors made from surplus baguettes

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 7 — bread becomes both material and message in this public installation

paysage-de-pain-public-installation-baguettes-mero-studios-designboom-1800-4 — a sensory environment built from one of France’s most iconic staples

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 8 — an ephemeral structure shaped by food, heat, scent, and time

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 9 — bread waste is transformed into a tactile and temporal monument

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 10 — the installation encourages reflection on how we consume and discard

780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier - 11 — Paysage de Pain reimagines gluttony as a site of transformation

paysage-de-pain-public-installation-baguettes-mero-studios-designboom-1800-3 — MERO Studios explores biodegradable design strategies through a playful approach

project info:

name: Paysage De Pain
designer: MERO Studios | @mero_studios

lead designers: Megan Dang, Rose Zhang
location: Montpellier, France

photographer: Paul Kozlowski | @photoarchitecture.co

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