Sun Shines on Architecture

SUN SHINES ON ARCHITECTURE

Exhibition from 21 March to 21 June 2025
Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5:30pm
Archizoom, SG building, Place Ada Lovelace, EPFL

In spring 2025, Archizoom is inviting you to immerse yourself into the world of solar architecture.

Capturing, filtering, reflecting or protecting: the interactions of the sun with architecture and with our territories are many and varied. The sun is at once a source of precious energy, of unwanted heat, and of light. In the face of global warming, these technical and poetic challenges are getting a real update — illustrated in the exhibition by work from EPFL laboratories, a cartography of contemporary Swiss solar buildings and the resurgence of historical examples.

This exhibition is part of the Solar Biennale 2: Soleil·s organised by the mudac.

PRESS KIT

Jaques Michel & Félix Trombe, Solar House, Font-Romeu-Odeillo-Via-France, 1967 © Michèle François

EVENTS

Vernissage! Wednesday 19 March, SG building
Joint opening with Enter the Hyper-Scientific
5 p.m. –
  Exhibition opening at Archizoom
6 p.m. – Short Adresses by
Michael Kinzer (Department of Culture, City of Lausanne)
Cyril Veillon (Curator of the exhibition Shines on Architecture)
Marilyne Andersen (Prof. EPFL, LIPID)
Giulia Bini (Curator of the Artist-in-Residence Program “Enter the Hyper-Scientific” )
Frédéric Kaplan (Director of the College of Humanities at EPFL)
6.30 p.m. – Opening of the exhibition From Solar to Nocturnal à EPFL Pavilions – Pavilion A with the artists Alice Bucknell and Matthew C. Wilson and aperitive

Energy vs architecture? Tuesday 8 April 5.30 p.m.
Lecture by Maria Cristina Munari Probst

Guided tour Tuesday 8 April 6.30 p.m.
On registration, in French

Greenhouses studies Seminar Monday 31 March
1-6 p.m. – Series of lectures and discussions (information to come)
Organised by Tiago Borges (EAST, EPFL)

Meeting with the Archives of the modern construction
Wednesday 30 April
12.15-1.30 p.m. Discovery of the archives of the solar architects with Dr. Salvatore Aprea, Director of Acm, and the architects Patrick Chiché, Dimitri Demetriades and Dimitri Papadaniel
3-4.30 p.m. Tour of the solar district in Préverenges, winner of the Prix Suisse Romand d’architecture solaire, 1988, with the architects
5.30- 6.30 p.m. – Tour of the solar houses in Lausanne-Ouchy, 1981, with the architects
Details and registrations

Guided tour Tuesday 13 May 5 p.m.
On registration, in English

Workshop for children and families Saturday 21 June
2-5 p.m. Join us at the Mudac for some sunny activities!
Organised by the Service de la Promotion des Sciences, SPS, EPFL

EPFL Library on show! From Wednesday 19 March to 15 May
Documentary selection related to the Solar Biennale 2: Soleil·s
Also available online

Cover of Popular Science magazine featuring the Dover Sun House, the first solar-heated home, designed by architect Eleanor Raymond with a heating system developed by physicist Mária Telkes, 1948

The relationship between architecture and the sun has profoundly shaped the design and construction of buildings for millennia. Yet, the integration of solar energy into the built environment has remained rather marginal to this day.

Although the sun has always been there as a source of energy and beauty, should we wait for fossil fuels to run out before turning to it? The manifesto of the Solar Biennale declares: its time has finally come, but it is not enough to simply plug the sun into an outlet. A holistic approach to solar design must be embraced.

The current “solar movement” rethinks architecture and urban planning on a global scale, placing the sun at the center of our concerns. The exhibition explores how this energy source, whether used passively or actively, becomes a true architectural element, benefiting any renovation or new construction project.

Transient Stillness, visual perception of natural light, Yunni Cho, 2020