The Solar Biennale

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Nederland
Rotterdam
The Solar Biennale

The world’s first Solar Biennale explores solar futures built on the power of design.

24/04/2026

SOLAR PUNK: NO LIGHT NO LIFE AND SOLAR RITUAL: A GIFT FOR THE SUN

In an inspiring collaboration between and first-year students explored what it means to live with the sun differently.

Through a speculative movement rooted in solar gravity, the project No Light No Life by Aart Schillings & Hongyang Zhangpoints makes a simple but urgent case: our wellbeing depends on natural light, and it is time we started designing our lives around it.

Solar Ritual by Cho Yeain & Ileana Rutigliano goes a step further, asking not just whether we are connected to the sun, but what kind of relationship we actually have with it. One based on extraction and efficiency, or one based on care and reciprocity?

22/04/2026

SOLAR PUNK: SUN TEMPLE AND BODY FRIDGE LAB

In an inspiring collaboration between and first-year students explored what it means to live with the sun differently.

Set in 2100, Body Fridge Lab by Diana Kusyová & Yu-Hsuan Ko frames cooling as a social issue. When heat becomes extreme, staying comfortable becomes a privilege. Through DIY wearables and their circulation as online trends, the project exposes how extreme heat transforms comfort into a commodity, touching on social hierarchy, consumerism, and the fashion industry.

Set in 2070, Sun Temple by .na.mente and approaches the same future from a more intimate angle. What happens to human connection and daily life when the light we depend on forces us indoors? The installation sits with that loss, of sunlight, of each other, of something we never thought to protect.

20/04/2026

SOLARPUNK X KABK THE HAGUE

In a project led by in collaboration with and curator the students of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, explored what the sun means in our everyday lives. How do our bodies, cities, and systems shape our relationship with it? And what could it mean to live with the sun differently?

Through speculative and deeply personal projects, these students reimagined our relationship with the sun as a force to be understood, respected, and lived with.

Their work was presented at a space historically dedicated to scientific observation, a perfect setting for reimagining what the sun can mean to us ☀️

More on the individual projects soon.

24/10/2025

MORE SOLAR DESIGN AT DUTCH DESIGN WEEK

The Solar Movement co-founder ’s work is also shining at . As part of the Talent Podium, she is showcasing a new evolution of Ra, created using organic photovoltaics, a third-generation solar technology printed on thin electroluminescent foils and produced in a fully circular manner.

‘Solar energy should be ubiquitous and integrated into everything’ -

Come see and experience it at Klokgebouw.

📸 by

22/10/2025

FROM SOLEIL·S TO DUTCH DESIGN WEEK

Solar design keeps on shining. At this year’s (18–26 October, Eindhoven), the solar biennale cofounders continue spreading the message to establish solar design as a recognized design driver worldwide. At the heart of Ketelhuisplein, the Umbra Pavilion proudly showcases the newly developed - a flexible, freeform solar textile for architectural applications.

‘The Umbra Pavilion embraces you with a softness only textile can create. Interacting with the sun, and moving with the wind, the structure and its physical experience changes moment by moment and day by day. It’s a dynamic form of architecture’

Come see and experience it in full scale at

Photography by

16/10/2025

THANK YOU

Soleil·s, Solar Biennale 2, has just come to an end. We feel so grateful to have been part of this journey , celebrating the power of the sun in so many ways: symbolic, spiritual, political, and sensorial. From films and objects to installations and products, each perspective shed new light on our connection to the sun.

A warm thank you to everyone involved especially to those whose creativity, curiosity, and energy made it all shine ☀️

A special thank you to

Photography by

21/06/2025

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

On this longest day of the year, we celebrate another commissioned project part of Soleil-s.

This project by Réflecteurs solaires is a poetic series of reflective devices that redirect natural sunlight from bright zones to shaded urban and interior spaces. Made from glass, ceramic, and metal, these subtle interventions reimagine how buildings can share light and interiors illuminate each other through sun reflections.

As part of today’s Summer Solstice, don’t miss the Fête du Solstice et de la Musique (check mudac’s calendar for events).

09/05/2025

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

A few months into the second edition of The Solar Movement , a major highlight is the commissioning of eight new projects, each pushing the boundaries of solar design, storytelling, and material innovation.

Among them is Fellaria’s Time Capsule by : a two-metre-diameter sphere that simulates the environmental conditions of the year 2070 for a plot of land beneath what will be the former Fellaria Glacier in Lombardy. Blending technology and ecology, the installation questions whether to mourn the glacier’s disappearance or embrace the meadow that may replace it.

Soleil-s is on view at mudac until 21 September.

Hope to see you there!

sto dacsolarbiennale

23/03/2025

SOLEIL·S: KEY THEMES

As The Solar Biennale continues to redefine our relationship with solar energy, the SOLEIL·S exhibition invites visitors to dive into the social, political, and aesthetic dimensions of solar power through design, art, and research. It is structured around three core themes that shape our solar future:

1. Energy — explores new material possibilities and the role of design in accelerating solar adoption.
2. Politics — investigates the sociopolitical implications of a solar transition and challenging extractive energy models.
3. Popular culture — showcases how solar aesthetics and storytelling shape public perception and behavior.

Join the movement by signing the Solar Manifesto

>>> www.thesolarmovement.org

21/03/2025

THE SOLAR BIENNALE 2: SOLEIL·S

Beyond excited about the opening of SOLEIL·S, the second edition of The Solar Biennale.

SOLEIL·S explores how design can drive the adoption of solar innovations and reimagine material culture.

Experience an immersive and dynamic program across and , inviting everyone to explore the social, political, and aesthetic dimensions of solar power through cutting-edge design, art, and research.

The exhibition features installations, artefacts, films, innovative materials, and immersive spaces, including original creations by a wide range of artists and designers.

Come soak up the sun with us, from the spring equinox to the autumn equinox!

Images: Cynthia Ammann

Adres

Rotterdam

Website

https://thesolarbiennale.com/

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