Atelier de Recherche et de Création is part of the Manufactures Nationales, the French public institution that supports innovation in materials used in the arts and crafts sector. The Atelier carries research on sustainable practices in its working laboratory, and handmakes works in its artisan workshop. By facilitating dialogue between inventors and engineers, traditional artisans and established designers, the organisation creates unexpected collaborations and new forms of craft. Through this work, it seeks to perpetuate and transmit exceptional skills and to promote contemporary creation in French decorative arts.

Exhibited at Homo Faber 2026, Divorañ is a side table produced by the institution’s laboratory of sustainable practices and research. The table is made from low-carbon marine sediment, natural pigments and abalone shells. Based on a design by Pierre Gonalons, it brings together his established design skills with the company Gwilen, which has developed a novel approach to turning sustainable marine sediment into rock without firing. To create it, Atelier de Recherche et de Création's research focused on mould design, mechanical strength testing, reducing the weight of components by incorporating materials with a low environmental impact, and exploring colour and decorative options using recycled shells.