BEYOND SOLAR POWER: HOW DESIGNERS ARE USING THE SUN TO ENERGIZE HOSPITALITY DESIGN

25 Oct

Koji Saryo café of rice- koji maker Uonuma Jozo by Atsushi Suzuki and Transit Branding Studio in Taki, Japan. ©Hitomi Matuno

In each issue we identify a key aesthetic trend evident in our archive of recent projects and challenge semiotics agency Axis Mundi to unpack its design codes. Here, we look at how contemporary hospitality venues are energized by the rhythms and power of the sun.

As societies strive to make the transition to sustainable energy, the power of the sun is becoming more visibly evident in day-to-day human lives. Photovoltaic technology is increasingly explicit in the form of vast solar energy farms, but also more locally and intimately distributed in people’s homes and neighbourhoods. Designers are beginning to think about how they can represent this nascent ‘solar consciousness’ more creatively in living and hospitality venues, inviting us to reflect on how a future more closely reliant on solar energy might gently alter our daily rhythms.

Thé ATRE café and bakery by Ramoprimo in Beijing, China. ©MARCELLA CAMPA

The sun must be the most ancient of ‘design influences’. Bronze age cairns, burial grounds or monuments (such as Stonehenge) consciously interact with the angles of the sun as it arcs through the sky casting auspicious shadows and spotlights. The fanning circular arrangement of these ancient structures is mirrored in the contemporary hospitality venues of Solar Power. Often with an inner sanctum where koji, sushi or coffee is prepared, guest seating cascades outwards in semi-circles with small steps or dividers demarcating the space. Broad skylights or folding floor-to-ceiling windows permit floods of natural light to suffuse the venues, sanctifying the social consumption rituals happening inside with the ancient paint of the sun.

Baovan restaurant by Clap Studio in Valencia, Spain. ©DANIEL RUEDA

Ombre palettes dominate, highlighting the predictable rhythm of the sun’s journey through the sky. The hues of sunrise and sunset – indigo purples, salmon pinks, emergency reds, twilight blues – resonate at calm but energetic frequencies, gently massaging the subconscious of guests. Brilliant and ill-disciplined LED white light bleaches out from behind frames and surfaces. It is as if we are blinded by solar flares burning through early morning mist that hangs in the air. The mellow, sensorial pace of these spaces is conducive to the gentle ceremonial rhythms of tea drinking, with the flushed ombre and mists mimicking the morphing infusion of tea leaves in water.

Blue Bottle Coffee by I IN in Osaka, Japan. ©TOMOOKI KENGAKU

Ceremony and ritual in general are intrinsic design features of these spaces. Curved stage curtains enclose guests in their clusters, while spartan semi-circular benches face each other in the style of an ancient agora. Hanging clouds of immersive visual art and pond-sized Claude glass features invite a moment of mysterious reflection, gazing into dark galactic depths. There is a theatrical and scenographic quality to many of the spaces. Sunset motifs transport guests to beachside bars, with dangling twine and rippling wave-like decorations ensconcing them in a humid and hazy tropical ambience.

The Sea multifunctional space for World Capital Valencia 2022 by Clap Studio in Valencia, Spain. ©DAVID ZARZOSO

The life-giving power of the sun is on display throughout these spaces. Bright, shapeshifting interactions between light and surface highlight the multidimensional, illuminatory potential of the sun as an energy resource (in contrast to the inky opacity of oil – or coal). Bread or koji are also powerful mediums through which to express solar energy, processes of fermentation activated by the warmth of the sun. The gentle homeliness of bread, rice and fermentation aligns well with mood-altering spaces that invite calm reflection, conversation or ritual.

Source: FRAME

Words: ROSAMUND PICTON & KOUROSH NEWMAN-ZAND