Solar Tea Ceremony, Karlsruhe

Products of the Sun is an interdisciplinary seminar at the intersection of sustainable design and product design. Students develop prototypes for heating water for a tea ceremony using only renewable energy sources. Combining solar cookers and solar-paneled prototypes , the seminar explores how a small-scale energy infrastructure can be designed for the orchard of the ZKM to support human use while minimising environmental impact. Through practical prototyping and critical reflection, students engage with questions of energy, ecology, and design at both the product and systems level. They also made nadmade ceramic cups with Haikus inspired by solarpunk futures written on them. The seminar was a collaboration between HfG, Relational Design and KIT, Chair of Art in Architecture and was open to students from both institutions. Students: Lisa Alberti, Emanuelta Alikaj, Omar Elnayal, Annika Fischer, Julia Haberzettl, Amelie Hennrich, Marcela Hernández, Elina Kakar, Klara Langer, Likhwa Lehmen, Richard Neubauer, Seline Oelmann, Niklas Peter, Tabea Pfautsch, Lea Schlegel, Daniel Unkel, Lilian Wagner, Han Yuting, Xinyi Zhang, Annelie Zwerger Teachers: Prof. Valentina Karga, Dr. Indra Schelble, Dr. Olaf Quantius Many thanks to Dr. Andreas Kugel and Mira Hirtz and all the beings at the ZKM Orchard for hosting us.