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A pavilion by V8 Architects and Marjan van Aubel

Solar Pavilion at Dutch Design Week showcased in Dezeen video

Designer Marjan van Aubel has collaborated with Dutch architecture studio V8 Architects to create a pavilion topped with multicoloured solar panels, which Dezeen has captured in the third and final video in a series of Instagram reels for Dutch Design Week.

Called Solar Pavilion, the central pavilion of Dutch Design Week (DDW) is comprised of rows of 380 blue, orange and red photovoltaic panels that form a curved shape designed to harness sunlight.

 

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The third video features an interview with designer Marjan van Aubel

"I aim to change the perspective on solar technology into solar design," Van Aubel told Dezeen.

"We want to change the narrative on solar energy," she continued. "We need the power of design to really show that it [solar power] can become beautifully integrated into our environment – something we want to be surrounded with."

Red, orange and blue solar panels
The Solar Pavilion is designed to show the beauty of solar power

Visitors wanting to see the panels up close could travel up a set of stairs to an opening in the curved steel pavilion. Here, they could also have their photo taken against the backdrop of the panels by a camera installed in an adjacent building.

Meanwhile, those looking to take a break from the many design exhibitions and events nearby could rest on a circular mirrored bench underneath the pavilion's roof.

Van Aubel said she used multiple colours for the panels, which convert solar power into light and heat, to demonstrate how solar technology can be beautiful.

"We chose to use really fun, beautiful coloured panels – you can see how they're printed with this colour – to move away from this one-sided perspective on solar," Van Aubel explained. "It can't just be only technological but needs design, art, all these perspectives."

Public space under the roof of the Solar Pavilion
Visitors could gather underneath the pavilion during DDW

Elsewhere in the video series for DDW, Dezeen interviewed designer Fides Lapidaire about Shit Show, an exhibition about the benefits of using human waste as compost and rounded up several design highlights from the week.

Dezeen is a partner for DDW and published video highlights from the festival throughout the month.

The photography is by Aiste Rakauskaite.

Dutch Design Week 2022 took place from 22 to 30 October in Eindhoven. See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the many other exhibitions, installations and talks taking place throughout the week.

Partnership content

This video was produced by Dezeen for Dutch Design Week as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.