The Sunny Memories international design workshop was initiated by the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) Lab in Switzerland, to explore the potential of a recently invented technology: dye solar cells. Inspired by photosynthesis in plants, the technology harnesses solar energy with flexible, coloured and even see-through surfaces.
The RCA Design Products Department were invited to explore the technology, alongside three other design schools: the California College of the Arts (CCA), the Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne (ECAL) and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris (ENSCI). In total, over 80 students shared their vision of the future of solar energy under the guidance of top-level designers.
This ambitious project, which has served to highlight the potential for innovation at a crossroads between design and engineering, was made possible thanks to the commitment of private bankers Lombard Odier, pioneers in the field of responsible investing.
The exhibition was first shown in the ECAL + EPFL lab in Lausanne in May 2009, at ENSCI Paris in June and then at the RCA for the London Design Festival in September 2009. The projects showcased here represent some of the College's contributions across the themes of energy use and energy conservation.
Sunny Memories includes the projects Hang, Solar Balloon, Solar Cloud and Solar Lamp.