SUNPLUGGED DESIGN LABS
08 October 2024, Bari (IT)
19 October 2024, Faro (PT)
13 November 2024, Malmö (SE)
the SUNPLUGGED Manifesto
A Call to young creators, designers, visionaries to design the future with the Sun.
SUNPLUGGED is more than a transnational sunlight art festival. It’s a movement, a creative journey that invites artists, designers, and citizens to reimagine our ancient and modern relationships with the sun. Together, we craft new sustainable solar rituals that power resilient lifestyles and guide the regenerative transformation of our socio-ecological systems.
Over the past year, SUNPLUGGED has sparked a fusion of artistic exploration and cultural storytelling in Faro and Ria Formosa (Portugal), Skåne (Sweden), and the metropolitan area of Bari (Italy). These solar stories—woven from heritage, tradition, and innovation—have unlocked new perspectives on how we live, design, and interact with the world around us. Now, as the project evolves, we invite a new generation of creators to join us.
SUNPLUGGED is more than a transnational sunlight art festival. It’s a movement, a creative journey that invites artists, designers, and citizens to reimagine our ancient and modern relationships with the sun. Together, we craft new sustainable solar rituals that power resilient lifestyles and guide the regenerative transformation of our socio-ecological systems.
Over the past year, SUNPLUGGED has sparked a fusion of artistic exploration and cultural storytelling in Faro and Ria Formosa (Portugal), Skåne (Sweden), and the metropolitan area of Bari (Italy). These solar stories—woven from heritage, tradition, and innovation—have unlocked new perspectives on how we live, design, and interact with the world around us. Now, as the project evolves, we invite a new generation of creators to join us.
Solar Design Labs
SUNPLUGGED calls on you: young creators, designers, visionaries, to craft the future. This is your moment to become part of something bigger: a creative movement to reframe dominant paradigms. Step into a space where imagination meets the desire for action — where Sunplugged solar ritual stories will ignite fresh thinking about the role of the sun in shaping our future. We invite you to design new forms, products, spaces and services for the living that are responsible, regenerative, and deeply rooted in natural rhythms. The time is now to design slower, with less impact and more meaning.
Why join the Solar Design Labs?
- Explore Slow and Low-Tech designExplore how the sun can support patient, low-impact energy processes that can help us overcome the dark sides of the environmental challenges and narratives of today. Don’t waste any rays of sunshine.
- Rethink Design for the FutureChallenge the way we design materials, energy systems, habitats, and communities. Move beyond human-centered thinking and cultivate a holistic approach that embraces the interdependence of all life and the awareness of limited resources.
- Reconnect with NatureRediscover respectful, meaningful relationships with the landscapes we inhabit, and the other species we co-live with, nurturing a deep awareness of our role within natural ecosystems.
- Unlearn and RelearnThrough the lens of solar rituals, embrace the process of (un)learning—reconfiguring your design practice to align with sustainable, circular and regenerative values.
- Reshape Common SpacesDesign solutions to support the commons and the communities in the permacrisis.
SUN RELATION(S) FOR WHAT?
Design is at the heart of how we shape our societies and the future we wish to create.
SUNPLUGGED Thematic Explorations:
1. Future of Narratives
This theme encourages creators to reflect on the role of narratives in the ecological crisis and how they can drive positive change. It explores concepts like embodied complicity, the poetry of patience, the climate change is here that fuels imagination about natural ecosystem imbalance and the urgency to act to reverse the future to be. With new perspectives like Matahari (the “eye of the day”), biomimicry, “slow-tech” and “Radiant Rebellion”, “Data & Evidence” we can reimagine our place and narrative(s) to influence the world and act in the present, whatever small the world or the action are.
2. Solar Energy - Artistic Energy
Art and design can revolutionize how we interact with solar energy, but we must also confront the dark sides of ecological transitions — from electronic waste to lithium extraction and consumerism. The sun, as a source of (internal) energy, inspires us to create, act, and transform. It also inspires slow-tech ideas in less privileged societies (solar oven). What can we learn from a critical deconstruction of contemporary energy solutions? How looking into the pre-industrial European societies and beyond euro-centric societies can help us unravel more respectful solar energy?
3. Solar Economies
This theme examines the commercialization of the sun and its energy in responsible ways, challenging unsustainable consumption patterns weaved around the sun economies. Slow-tech and reverse tourism offer partial alternatives to over-tourism, while decolonizing transitions encourages learning from unprivileged societies about sustainable living. The sun becomes our ally in rethinking the way(s) of not reproducing the crisis.
4. Future of Materials
A patient, observant approach to the sun can reshape how we design. Inspired by the poetry of patience and processes like open structures, decomposition, and regeneration, creators can explore processes powered by sun (drying) and wind, while rethinking the role of time and natural cycles in design, transforming our conception of materiality.
5. Future of Habitats
This exploration invites us to rethink how agricultural and urban practices impact our ways of living. From changing landscapes to the unpredictability of the sun, creators must consider how our daily choices—whether in farming, tourism, housing or development—affect ecosystems, well-being, and resilient (Non)-human habitat design.
WHEN AND WHERE THE SUN WILL BRING US TOGETHER:
One sun, three ideation grounds:
Bari is at the forefront of efforts to tackle climate change while being particularly vulnerable to coastal erosion. The metropolitan city is becoming a key hub for initiatives that combine art, design, and solar energy to create more resilient ecosystems and landscapes. This deep connection to the sun is rooted in it’s cultural and architectural traditions, such as the solar symbolism in the Saint Nicholas celebrations, and in traditional practices like sun-drying produce, which highlight its bond with the land and natural rhythms. As one of Italy's leading producers of photovoltaic energy, Bari plays a pivotal role in the solar revolution. However, it faces challenges in balancing land use between solar farms, regenerative agriculture, and interspecies well-being. The Solar Design Lab in Bari calls to explore ways to re-imagine solar technologies in light of traditional practices, aiming to harmonize ecological innovation with the city’s historical legacy, solar rituals, and natural landscapes.
Faro is a coastal city in southern Europe and the capital of the Algarve region. It is known for having more than 300 days of sunshine per year, which has attracted mass tourism. Climate change has a strong impact on its territory. If sea levels rise, its beaches could disappear, along with its Ria Formosa, a source of natural and economic wealth. Moreover, Faro and the Algarve must urgently find solutions to address water scarcity and the desertification of the region's interior. Faro has shown itself to be aware of these challenges and ready to face and overcome them. The ability of this city and the region, as well as the awareness of surrounding issues, has been crucial in stimulating dialogue between arts, design, architecture and technology about the importance of sunlight, driving creative strategies.
Skåne, as the southernmost Swedish region, has some of the sunniest and warmest places in Sweden. It will be forced to adapt to climate change at a faster pace and is vulnerable to heatwaves, coastal erosion and sea level rising, as well as disruptions to the regional farming ecosystem. The region explores cross-innovation and transdisciplinary creativity to inspire design explorations of the sun as a resource for resilient lifestyles and places/landscapes.
TARGET GROUP: Who can bring the sun?
We are looking for participants who are ready to unlearn and challenge traditional design paradigms. We want people who can use their different expertise in a flexible and open manner, eager to explore undesign and approach projects playfully and deconstructively.
On this occasion, we invite young designers, architects, urban planners, and local artists to join us in a creative adventure that will explore the power of the sun as a driving force for ideas and solutions toward a climate-neutral future.
With the support of a jury of local artists and inspired by the contributions of other creatives from previous phases of the project, we will move together toward a new way of living and shifting paradigms. If you believe in the power of art and the sun as forces for change, now is the time to act.
Your creativity matters, even in short encounters.
On this occasion, we invite young designers, architects, urban planners, and local artists to join us in a creative adventure that will explore the power of the sun as a driving force for ideas and solutions toward a climate-neutral future.
With the support of a jury of local artists and inspired by the contributions of other creatives from previous phases of the project, we will move together toward a new way of living and shifting paradigms. If you believe in the power of art and the sun as forces for change, now is the time to act.
Your creativity matters, even in short encounters.
Proposals Format(s):
Participants will be invited to work within a short and flexible design thinking format (design sprint).
Individually or in groups, they will be guided through co-learning, discovery and ideation exercises about the solar design challenges of the manifesto, and will then submit conceptual proposals which are quickly actionable at prototype scale.
A monetary prize covering prototyping costs is granted to the best ranked proposals, based on the call's design principles as criteria, by a jury of local and international experts.
The best ranked proposals will be presented at the SUNPLUGGED final conference, planned in Faro (Portugal) in the beginning of February 2025, with all costs covered for 1 representative from each local context.
Individually or in groups, they will be guided through co-learning, discovery and ideation exercises about the solar design challenges of the manifesto, and will then submit conceptual proposals which are quickly actionable at prototype scale.
A monetary prize covering prototyping costs is granted to the best ranked proposals, based on the call's design principles as criteria, by a jury of local and international experts.
The best ranked proposals will be presented at the SUNPLUGGED final conference, planned in Faro (Portugal) in the beginning of February 2025, with all costs covered for 1 representative from each local context.
SUNPLUGGED evaluation criteria:
- 1Lead and Tell Your Story with a Sunplugged DesignAnalyze current challenge(s) and propose an alternative that builds on the observation of (human) failures to adapt a design area integrating sun rituals and solar energy. Use design as a transformative tool to communicate new narratives about the role of sun rituals in informing the ecological transition.
- 2Seek Out and Address Relevant Contextual ChallengeTackle most pressing contextual issues cross-cutting to the Sunplugged thematic focus and locations with the potential of inspiring a Europe wide imagination.
- 3Design for Uncertainty and RegenerationThe proposals focus on creating designs that not only reduce harm but also actively contribute to the regeneration of ecosystems, also non-human worlds. Whether it's in crafting new narratives, developing sustainable habitats, or innovating with materials, the goal is to ensure long-term ecological balance and resilience, without forgetting the care for the finiteness of resources.
- 4Embrace Fact-Based Optimism to push imaginationThe approach to the future benefits from a realistic and optimistic outlook, grounded in data and evidence. In changing narratives, this principle helps identify and promote opportunities for positive transformation by making complex information accessible, relatable and insightful for action and pushing imaginary boundaries.
- 5Balance Art, Science and Ecological EmpathyThe proposal merges scientific research with artistic creativity. The proposal value both innovation and aesthetics. The design is functional, beautiful and emotionally engaging, socially and ecologically responsible.
- 6Design for All Senses and Beyond the VisibleThe solar (energy) proposals consider all sensory experiences the entire lifecycle of products or services. It goes beyond the visible aspects to address unseen impacts (including non-human worlds) ensuring a respectful approach of solar design and energy use.
Credits:
Solar Design Lab(s) Curatorial Team: Farah Makki & Leonardo Delmonte (Basso Profilo); Tiago Prata (Transversal Project), Fúlvia Almeida & Teresa da Silva (ArQuente)
Bari Solar Design Lab supported by:
Studio Shift*, a Benefit Corporation: a social innovation lab that provides research, training, and design-driven consulting services to social enterprises, Public Administrations, and the educational system. (Facilitation)
Creative Europe, Camera Commercio di Bari, Fondazione Puglia, in synergy with the project "Design Playfully: change with a Smile," as part of the #DEMO2024 initiative, thanks to the contribution of Regione Lombardia. (Co-funding)
Spazio Murat, Bari (Venue host)
Faro Solar Design Lab supported by:
Oficina, is a team specialized in the areas of planning, evaluation and promotion of participatory democracy. A team that believes in and invests in people, enhancing their ideas and skills and valuing processes. Focused on transforming each moment into a unique experience for those involved through dynamics of construction-deconstruction of realities. (Facilitation)
Creative Europe, Câmara Municipal de Faro, ESEC - Universidade do Algarve, Algarve Evolution, Boto da Cruz - Creative Studio, Associação Designers do Sul
Algarve STP - UALG TEc CAmpus (Venue host and local outreach)
Skåne Solar Design Lab supported by:
STPLN: a co-created creative meeting space and workspace for artists, creative freelancers, and the makers and shakers of the world, in Kommendanthuset, Malmö (Venue & Communication partner)
Cross-Innovation Southern Sweden/Region Skånes Kulturförvaltning: an initiative to enhance southern Sweden's innovation capacity for cross-sectoral innovation with an emphasis on cultural and creative industries (facilitation and co-funding)
About SUNPLUGGED
SUNPLUGGED - Sustainable Solar Rituals is a transnational sunlight art festival.
It invites artists and citizens to re-interpret old and contemporary relationships between people(s) and the sun, and gives form to new sustainable solar rituals in which artistic practices re-imagine new ways to power ecologically-resilient lifestyles and regenerative transition of socio-ecological systems.
Intangible and tangible sun-related heritages across Faro (Portugal), Ystad (Sweden) and Bari (Italy) will be activated with talks, walks, creative workshops, arts exhibitions, design competitions and conferences, in order to expand the concept of light art, transitioning it from an energy-intensive nighttime experience to a nature-based, energy-efficient experience accessible in urban and rural landscapes.
It invites artists and citizens to re-interpret old and contemporary relationships between people(s) and the sun, and gives form to new sustainable solar rituals in which artistic practices re-imagine new ways to power ecologically-resilient lifestyles and regenerative transition of socio-ecological systems.
Intangible and tangible sun-related heritages across Faro (Portugal), Ystad (Sweden) and Bari (Italy) will be activated with talks, walks, creative workshops, arts exhibitions, design competitions and conferences, in order to expand the concept of light art, transitioning it from an energy-intensive nighttime experience to a nature-based, energy-efficient experience accessible in urban and rural landscapes.
