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Misunderstanding plays just as much a part in our relations with the world as it does in how we take action. With its slogan “Me-You-Nous – Designing Common Ground,” the International Design Biennial held in Saint-Étienne straddles various forms of incommunication and seeks to make them bear fruit. Likewise Europan, the European competition for young architects, which has been held for the past 30 years, engages with the diversity of its participants, of local and regional authorities, of institutions, and of themes and languages, thereby bringing forth a co-production of urban projects without the cacophony of discord. It is as if all possible misunderstandings and probable acommunication were canceled out or dispelled with the emergence of a common ground. On the basis of these two examples, this article shows how communication is carried out through action, despite the static that constantly interferes with it.