Umbra Pavilion by Pauline van Dongen at Dutch Design Week 2025 – All photos are by Ronald Smits, courtesy of the designer.

Design, Innovation. During Dutch Design Week, in the heart of Ketelhuisplein, fashion designer Pauline van Dongen invites visitors and passersby beneath the sweeping canopy of her Umbra Pavilion; here, they can find a place to pause, connect, and witness how design can harness nature’s energy. Shading by day and glowing by night, the installation turns sunlight into atmosphere, proof that sustainability can be as poetic as it is practical.

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At the heart of the Umbra Pavilion lies Heliotex, a solar textile developed by Studio Pauline van Dongen and Tentech over four years. Light, flexible, and beautifully engineered, it weaves solar cells directly into its fabric. As evening falls, the energy gathered during the day gently returns as a soft, ambient glow. “By drawing our gaze to the sky, the Umbra Pavilion invites us to envision solar cities that are alive and inviting,” says van Dongen. The installation “aims to raise awareness of climate adaptation and the energy transition through the power of design.”

In cities where summer heat can rise up to 8°C higher than in the countryside, shade becomes a precious commodity. And where trees can’t grow, Umbra Pavilion offers a striking alternative — cooling the city while sparking curiosity. Its Heliotex textile transforms solar energy into design, combining technology and aesthetic shading solutions in perfect balance.

The Umbra Pavilion stretches 190 square metres and is nearly 10 metres high. 150 organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells are seamlessly woven across 40 square metres of textile, producing and storing up to 3 kWh of power. Beyond its visual allure, Heliotex is a technical marvel — weather-resistant, UV-stable, flame-retardant, and lightweight at only 500 g/m². Made from recycled polyester (rPET) yarn, it’s designed with circularity in mind: every solar module can be separated, reused, or recycled.

With the Umbra Pavilion, this material makes its architectural debut, offering a stylish and practical solution for shading structures, textile façades, and festival tents — with plenty of potential for even more creative applications. Sun power becomes flexible, foldable, scalable and adaptable in various shapes, yarns, colours, and weave patterns.

The innovation continues beyond Eindhoven. With support from Danish and German partners through a Eurostars project, Heliotex’s industrial manufacturing process is currently being advanced. And in summer 2026, Umbra Pavilion will rise again in Arnhem, continuing its mission to demonstrate how design-led innovation can cool, shade, and inspire.

All photos are by Ronald Smits, courtesy of Pauline van Dongen.