Solar-powered ‘clouds’

Not a cloud in the sky… Well, almost.

If you happen to be at MUDAM Museum in Luxembourg, look up and you’ll notice a number of ‘clouds’ floating in the glass-roofed pavilion. When the sun comes out, these fake clouds inflate automatically to form a curtain of shade.

Skylights are a great way of filling a room with light, but they also make it hot during summer months, creating a mini-greenhouse effect. Netherlands-based Studio Toer has created an exciting new way to keep you cool in these spaces without relying on air conditioning systems.

When things start to heat up, solar cells power fans that inflate the clouds in around 20 seconds. When the sun does disappear, the clouds deflate automatically.

The autonomous character of the project gives the installation a feeling of a living organism responding to its surroundings. It’s also totally mesmerising to watch.