Step Into The Light
The second Solar Biennale illuminates the latest in ‘solar design’
Words by Harriet Thorpe.
Image Courtesy of Alice Bucknell
This year, the Solar Biennale returns for its second edition in Lausanne. Created to explore the synergy between the power of the sun, the discipline of design and our future sustainability, the event was originally founded in 2022 by ‘solar designers’ Pauline van Dongen and Marjan van Aubel. Their mission is to establish ‘solar design’ as an integral part of life today.
A wide programme of exhibitions, pavilions and installations are being hosted across the institutions of mudac (Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts), Plateforme 10 arts district and EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). The flagship SOLEIL·S exhibition at mudac curated by Rafaël Santianez and Scott Longfellow has brought together a series of projects created by a group of designers, artists, researchers and activists that not only address the acceleration of the design of solar energy, yet also our cultural relationship with the sun.
It’s incredible to imagine that the technology behind solar energy dates back to 1839, when French physicist Edmond Becquerel discovered the ‘photovoltaic effect’ identifying how light triggers the production of an electric current. ‘Solar cells’ emerged over the next century converting the sun into electricity, yet it wasn’t until the energy crisis of the 1970s when, thanks to new political policies, the technology became more affordable and therefore gradually became more widespread.
It’s taken some time, but now solar energy is on a steep rise globally. In 2023, solar energy accounted for 5.4% of total global electricity generation (according to the International Energy Agency). Today it is the third largest renewable electricity technology (behind hydropower and wind), yet trending predictions show that by the end of the decade it will become the largest renewable source.
We are certainly well-acquainted with the rectangular monotony of solar panels lining roofs and fields, but what if this energy source could be better embedded into our cities and architecture? What if it could go even further and become biophilic, alive and regenerative?
This is what EcologicStudio (founded by designers Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto) proposes with their working prototype named ‘CryoflorE’ that integrates a city with bio-catalytic cells. Similarly to solar energy, biocatalytic energy also harnesses the power of the sun, yet this time through the photosynthesis of living organisms – such as algae or cyanobacteria.
What’s exciting is that biocatalytic cells not only produce energy, but also purify air, sequester carbon and support biodiversity. “They're low-energy to produce, often made from biodegradable, 3D-printed materials, and designed for reversibility and circularity – a stark contrast to the high-energy manufacturing and limited recyclability of traditional photovoltaics,” says Pasquero.
This ‘urban biocatalytic network’ is more like “cultivating a garden than installing a device” they explain. Cells can be “embedded into facades, grown into architectural elements, or distributed throughout interiors in ways that are tactile, aesthetic, and interactive.” This could include green roofs, public furniture, street paving, or even within windows and shading devices. “So, instead of being centralised or hidden, energy generation is hyper-local, distributed, and visible – part of the city's skin.”
(Above) Claudia Pasquero and Marco Poletto, co-founders of EcologicStudio, photo by Rasmus Hjortshoj
The reality is that many of us are disconnected from the rhythms of energy we use, and it's often hard to quantify and calculate what we use for daily activities – let alone the energy embodied in the objects we buy, from the materials they are made of and the distances they travel to reach us.
Exhibited at the Solar Biennale a project named ‘The Idea of a Tree’ by Vienna-based mischer’traxler studio, founded by Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler, seeks to “prove that it’s possible to connect a production process to surrounding influences, and in doing so, create unique pieces using natural influences.”
Operating autonomously between sunrise and sunset, the solar-powered machine weaves a bench or lamp, which, like the growth of a tree, varies in size and colour depending on the intensity of the sun. At the end of the day, the object is ‘harvested’ like a three-dimensional ‘photograph’ of the day, offering a new approach to locality focussed on the climactic and environmental factors.
“We definitely hope that by connecting the object to its energy source, people gain a sense of the energy we receive from the sun – but as well begin to see its variations not as something negative, but as something positive and natural,” says Mischer.
Because as well as providing energy for our grids, the sun also has the power to stimulate us psychologically and physically as humans – even though urban and modern living often limits our absorption of its positive health benefits.
(Above) Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler, co-founders of mischer’traxler studio
Buildings are designed to protect us from the elements, yet they also result in excluding us from the sun, explains Marseille-based ‘daytime lighting’ designer Nathanaël Abeille. “An apartment in the city rarely benefits from favourable sunlight at every hour of the day and in every season,” he says. “To compensate for this lack of lighting, we use lamps, but what about natural lighting?”
Abeille’s solar reflectors made of glass, ceramics and metal do during the day what lamps do at night. “In terms of energy, astral energy replaces electrical energy. Lamps, whether they are standing, hanging, or wall-mounted, literally shape the interior of architecture. Solar reflectors act in a similar way; they are luminous tools that serve the inhabitant, whether human or plant.”
These solar devices are not only beautiful, yet serve to make daylight more accessible to all – they could be used in dark domestic spaces with few windows and aspects, as well as outdoors, bouncing light through tunnels or passageways.
(Above) Reflexions by Nathanaël Abeille
To what extent should daylight be accessible to all? ‘The Right to the Day’ is the title of a project by Marilyne Andersen, Professor of Sustainable Construction Technologies at EPFL created for the Solar Biennale, which pitches a fictional legislation exploring the benefits of natural light and circadian rhythms. This responds to our increasing use of electrical lighting, which has disconnected us from our natural synchronisation with daylight.
So, why should we all have a right to daylight? “Because it is a fundamental human need, a need that our biology adapted to,” says Andersen. “Like all species on earth, we have evolved under the natural day-night cycle, with bright days and dark nights. Our biology and circadian rhythms have thus adapted to this contrast, where light exposure at the eye sends the signal to synchronise our biological clocks.”
Andersen continues: “It is commonly accepted today that we would be chronically light deprived during the day and over exposed in the evening, and while the consequences are not immediately observable, they build up in the long term.” Part of ‘The Right to the Day’ advocates for better ‘light hygiene’ – outlining when to avoid blue-rich light (in the evening and at night); and how to better embrace it during the day.
(Above) ‘The Right to the Day’ project by Marilyne Andersen
These projects not only address how we can better integrate solar energy into our lives in a more innovative and transcendent way, yet also examine our relationship with the sun and how it affects health, culture, politics, urbanism, and inclusivity. Have these ideas reframed how you think about the sun’s power and its potential?
The Soleil·s exhibition, part of the Solar Biennale 2, runs until 5 October 2025 at mudac, Lausanne.
