Why we are here
The prevailing solar narrative focuses on technical and economic considerations. On efficiency and payback time. Solar farms are being rolled out at breakneck speed to meet the growing need but in our haste, we merely pile on existing ideas.
To accelerate the energy transition, it is crucial that people embrace solar energy as an integral part of their experience. What is needed to achieve this? Room for wonder, design and imagination. Room for pioneers who bring the human dimension to the drawing board, so that we can also enter into aesthetic and emotional relationships with solar energy.
“How can we design a post-fossil future using the power of the sun?"
The worlds’ first Solar Biennale will take place in the Netherlands from September to October 2022, with the city of Rotterdam as the main location. The Solar Biennale explores new solar futures built on the power of design. The central question to this first edition is: “How can we design a post-fossil future using the power of the sun?" Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam will host the central exhibition of The Solar Biennale, which will be curated by Matylda Krzykowski. In addition, programs and activities will also take place in other cities such as Eindhoven and Amsterdam. The closing week of The Solar Biennale is during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven.
The Solar Biennale is an exciting new initiative of Dutch solar designers Marjan van Aubel and Pauline van Dongen and presents a future that integrates solar technology into a variety of surfaces, materials and objects. During this two month period people from different disciplines exchange and work together to create a natural, meaningful and aesthetic everyday living environment, broadening the one-sided technological and economic perspective of solar energy.