The first episode of Solar Machines features the CERN Science Gateway in Geneva, designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop. Conceived as both a cultural landmark and an environmental manifesto, it embodies the dialogue between science, architecture and sustainability.
Its luminous pavilions and suspended bridge form a transparent gateway powered by a 4,000 m² photovoltaic system that turns energy production into an architectural expression. Through the voices of Joost Moolhuijzen (RPBW) and Lorenzo Piazza (RPBW), in dialogue with Pierluigi Bonomo (head of the SUPSI BIPV team) and Jean-Didier Steenackers (founder of Sunsoak Architecture Studio), the episode reveals how light, technology, and nature converge in a “solar machine” where architecture itself becomes a medium for scientific storytelling.
The Voice of Solar Architecture project is curated by SUPSI within the European Project SEAMLESS-PV and explores exemplary architectures where the sun becomes both material and metaphor.
Enjoy the video and don’t forget to answer the questions below to receive a Certificate of Participation (1 CFU) from SUPSI Continuing Education.
Episode 2,
with Shigeru Ban Architects and Jean de Gastines Architects, will explore the poetry and structural elegance of La Seine Musicale in Paris
(online from October 27).
Episode 3,
with Foster + Partners, will take us to Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, where solar design becomes a collective urban gesture and a new ecological paradigm
(online from November 3).
