The Second Solar Biennale Showcases Innovative Sun-Powered Design

Taking place from the Spring equinox to the Fall equinox, the second edition of the Solar Biennale “Soleil·s” returns at the mudac (Museum of Contemporary Design and Applied Arts) of Switzerland to showcase the most innovative solar-powered designs and research initiatives. Believing in the potential of solar power to revolutionize how we think about the material world, the campus-spanning exhibition unpacks the social, political, and aesthetic dimensions of the continuously evolving technology.

Curators Rafaël Santianez and Scott Longfellow said “Soleil·s explores the symbolic and transformative potential of the sun, inspired by the vision of the Solar Biennale” in a statement. “Solar design is more than an energy solution—it challenges us to rethink our relationship with health, politics, urbanism, and inclusivity,” they continued.

Standout installations include works by Barcelona-based firm TAKK, London design lab ecologicStudio, and Vienna-based mischer’traxler studio. TAKK brought its glowing installation Fellaria’s Time Capsule as an elevated pod, akin to a galactic lander. The piece examines the potential impacts on biodiversity that the retreating glaciers of northern Italian Lombardy may cause in the local ecosystem.

Elsewhere, ecologicStudio partnered with the Synthetic Landscape Lab to create “CryoflorE: on cyber gardening the city” which imagines a future where architecture and living systems are blurred with the use of algae and cyanobacteria to generate renewable energy. mischer’traxler studio showcases its solar-powered machine that yields one furniture piece every day. The design of each unique piece is digitally determined by concurrent weather and sunlight, a relationship that evokes the nature of tree growth.

On this year’s edition of their project, the Solar Movement founders Marjan van Aubel and Pauline van Dongen said “We are thrilled to entrust the second edition of the Solar Biennale to mudac, a leading institution at the intersection of design and critical thinking. The Solar Movement is meant to span the world, connecting all people and disciplines, and it is inspiring to see how a new context and team approach it. Each edition offers fresh perspectives, new voices, and unexpected themes that expand our collective imagination of a solar future,” in a statement.

Key to the Solar Biennale’s contribution to the design sector is its bridging of the social, environmental, and aesthetic — reconciling these realms with functional and creative technologies. As environmental crises continue to become more and more prevalent, design and fashion are increasingly incorporating a more holistic approach to creation that considers the overlap of different global issues.

The second Solar Biennale will be on view at mudac in Lausanne, Switzerland from March 21 to September 21.