VEJA is setting up in Marseille, at La Friche La Belle de Mai, in a vibrant neighborhood shaped by its working-class and multicultural history. This hybrid space welcomes 450,000 people each year, “for an hour or for a lifetime.” Cultural spaces coexist with community gardens, playgrounds, dining areas, as well as a bookstore, a daycare center, a rooftop terrace, and a training center.
The project is guided by strong principles: questioning norms and processes, ecology, sustainability, and a collective spirit —beliefs that also have guided VEJA since the beginning.
With the desire to fully integrate into this engaged community, VEJA has designed its new space as full of life. A space for repairs, with a cobbler’s workshop extending the life of sneakers and shoes,
regardless of the brand. A space celebrating craftsmanship, paying homage to La Friche’s industrial past. A space for reflecting on our relationship with consumption, offering products with minor defects,
restored items, or second-hand goods. And above all, a space for innovation and creation, showcasing exclusive models and prototypes.
Breaking the mold
This new space stands out not only for its unique offering but also for its bold, colorful design – a step aside from VEJA’s usual architectural language. For the first time, color takes center stage in a VEJA store, with a gradient reminiscent of a sunrise over Marseille. Both the walls and the floor are bathed in color, creating a sensory, welcoming atmosphere.
As always, VEJA was committed to highlighting local talent by collaborating with female artisans from the region. Some of them are part of Les Fabricoleuses, a collective of women working in construction, led by Cerise Steiner.
To furnish the space, VEJA used a variety of second-hand furniture and materials. This circular approach extended to a collaboration with students from the Marseille École des Beaux Arts. Starting from a folded, perforated metal stool designed by the VEJA team, students imagined several eco-conscious coverings. The final choice, featured in the store, is the work of Zoé Hulot-Gardé, who created
a woven design using recycled shoelaces. The result reflects VEJA’s aesthetic – simple and minimalist
– but also Marseille’s pop and sun-drenched spirit.
“You walk at ease, you breathe contentedly, the skin expands and soaks in the sun like a great bath of light” – Flaubert once said about the city of Marseille.
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