Presented last spring at the Milan design fair Salone del Mobile, the Solar Energy Kiosk, will come to Cognac exclusively for three weeks this summer. After its appearance in Milan, the kiosk will travel to Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam, where it will form part of the exhibition The Energy Show – Sun, Solar and Human Power, curated by Matylda Krzykowski.

The Solar Energy Kiosk, a solar-powered installation developed by Rotterdam-based design studio Cream on Chrome poses the question: what would the world look like if it ran on solar energy? Social designers Jonas Althaus and Martina Huynh of Cream on Chrome respond by showing how much solar energy it takes to squeeze out one glass of orange juice at The Solar Energy Kiosk. Interaction is often at the heart of Cream on Chrome’s work, engaging people on pressing issues and seeking to raise public awareness of issues related, among other things, to climate transition and the need to explore new alternatives. Thus, the kiosk becomes a place to meet and discuss the opportunities related to solar energy. An invitation to understand concretely what energy expenditure is and to imagine the future uses of this source of energy.

Open call: solar ideas
The Solar Energy Kiosk has multiple functions. As well as being a conversation starter, it also acts as a drop-off point for objects, drawings, photographs and ideas about solar energy, collected through an open call: visitors, practitioners and other interested parties are invited to share their own initiatives on solar energy, a selection of which will be included in The Energy Show. In Cognac, the first solar ideas by designers Jörg Boner and Michael Jantzen, the Solarpunk Lab and design studio Takram will be presented.

Happy Hour at the Foundation: Comme and press your glass of orange juice at the Solar Energy Kiosk
Fondation d’entreprise Martell
From August 4th to August 21st in the garden of the Foundation
Free access from Wednesday to Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The Energy Show at the Solar Biennale
The Energy Show – Sun, Solar and Human Power is an exhibition curated by Matylda Krzykowski at the Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam from 3 September 2022 to 5 March 2023. It centres on the sun and its design possibilities.
The Energy Show is part of the first edition of The Solar Biennale, initiated by Aric Chen, General and Artistic Director at the Het Nieuwe Instituut and curated by solar designers Marjan van Aubel and Pauline van Dongen. The biennial will bring designers and scientists together to reflect on the use of solar energy and the prevailing technological and economic perspectives surrounding its use.

Fore more information: https://energyshow.hetnieuweinstituut.nl/en/activities/solar-energy-kiosk