SOMBRA Pavilion / MVRDV

Ode to the sun: SOMBRA Pavilion's kinetic shading system in Venice does not need electronics or motors. For the Time Space Existence exhibition in Venice, MVRDV has collaborated with Metadecor, Airshade, and Alumet, among others, to create the SOMBRA pavilion. With its shape inspired by heliodon devices, for the next six months this "ode to the sun" will provide a dynamic shading structure in the European Cultural Centre's Giardini Marinaressa. The SOMBRA pavilion – its name a portmanteau of the Latin words for sun (sol) and shade (umbra) – serves as a demonstration vehicle for an innovative technology: kinetic building elements that work based exclusively on passive physical principles, without using electronics or motors.