The sun is the origin of everything. Without it, nothing on this earth would exist — no life, no warmth, no time. And yet somewhere along the way, we forgot how to live with it. We stopped reading the sky. We stopped building toward the light. We moved indoors, into cities, into artificial rhythms — and handed our energy over to systems invisible and indifferent to where, and who, we are.

The Solar Academy is where that changes. Launched as part of the Solar Movement, this workshop introduces Solar Design as a new design approach: one that sees energy not as infrastructure, but as something tangible, cultural and alive. It refuses the one-size-fits-all logic of the grid and asks instead — what does energy feel like when you can touch it? Rooted in the Solar Movement's principles, it invites designers to work with the sun the way previous generations always did — with curiosity, with craft, and with a deep sense of place.

Over the course of the week, participants will work with their hands and build a Solar Light — a functional object that harvests, stores and gives back sunlight. Not just a lamp, but a light with intention: one that knows where it comes from, and what it chooses to illuminate. To make something powered by the sun is to reconnect with a force we have always depended on, and too easily ignored. The Solar Academy is an invitation to see differently, design differently, and help make solar the default — not just technically, but humanly.