SOMBRA Pavilion Moves with the Sun, No Motors Required
As part of the 2025 edition of the Time Space Existence exhibition at the Venice Biennale 2025, MVRDV unveiled the SOMBRA Pavilion, a 30-square-metre temporary installation located in the European Cultural Centre’s Giardini Marinaressa. Created in collaboration with Metadecor, Airshade, Alumet, and other partners, the pavilion demonstrates an innovative kinetic shading system that operates without electronics or motors.
SOMBRA, a name formed from the Latin words for sun (“sol”) and shade (“umbra”), offers a striking experiment in climate-responsive architecture.
In their resting state, the pavilion’s triangular panels are open, yet in the presence of intense, direct sunlight, individual panels will close to give maximum shade.
Inspired by Heliodons and Solar Geometry
The form of SOMBRA takes inspiration from heliodon devices, which are used to study the angle of sunlight in architectural design. Its six metal ribs are precisely angled to correspond with the sun’s position during the summer and winter solstices. Reused beams from a previous project form the upper and lower arches, integrating sustainability into both form and material.
These arches support a series of triangular panels that act as the core of the pavilion’s shading mechanism. Constructed using Metadecor’s MD Formatura perforated screens, these panels are hinged and dynamically responsive. In their default, resting position, the panels remain open to maximise outward views and natural ventilation.
However, when exposed to direct sunlight, individual panels automatically close, offering immediate shade and comfort. The result is an impression akin to a living organism, which changes its posture as the sun moves through the sky and breathes a sigh during cloudy periods.
Powered by Physics, Not Electronics
What sets SOMBRA apart is its use of passive physical principles to achieve movement. This innovation is made possible by Airshade’s soft robotics technology. Hidden within the pavilion’s arched ribs are air canisters that respond to heat. As sunlight warms the structure, the air pressure in the canisters rises, forcing air into a small airbag that connects to the panel hinges. As the airbag inflates, it contracts like a muscle, counteracting the hinge’s spring and causing the panel to close.
Caption: The responsive panels use only natural physical principles thanks to Airshade. The heat from the sun expands the air in hidden canisters, inflating small airbags that contract like muscles
This mechanism mimics natural biological responses, offering a zero-energy solution for dynamic environmental adaptation. In effect, SOMBRA acts like a living organism, shifting and adjusting with the sun’s movements and relaxing during overcast periods. The pavilion provides an architectural experiment in dynamically controlled light, heat, and ventilation that has zero operational carbon emissions.
The undersides of the arches are adorned with the words “sun and shade” in over 200 languages, a reminder that our relationship with the sun is a universal human experience
Climate-Responsive Design
MVRDV partner Bertrand Schippan describes SOMBRA as an example of how architecture must evolve in response to the climate crisis. “With the climate crisis accelerating, it’s clear that we need new architecture that is more in tune with the environment,” he says. “SOMBRA is a demonstration of one approach among many to this philosophy: an architecture that senses its environment and reacts to it in much the same way that plants do.”
The project pushes forward the idea that built environments can respond intelligently to nature, without the need for high-tech solutions that consume energy or require complex maintenance.
Engraved with a Universal Message
SOMBRA is a demonstration of an architecture that senses its environment and reacts in much the same way that plants do
The pavilion’s dedication to the sun is made clear in several key details. The circular floor plate of the pavilion is engraved with the polar sun path chart on which the pavilion’s geometry was based.
The undersides of the arches are adorned with the words “sun and shade” written in over 200 languages—not only referencing the pavilion’s name, but also offering a reminder that our relationship with the sun is a universal human experience.
A Collaborative Vision
The realisation of SOMBRA brought together a multidisciplinary team including Metadecor, Airshade Technologies, MVRDV, Alumet, Van Rossum Raadgevend Ingenieurs, Arup, Kersten Europe, and the AMOLF Institute. Together, they have produced a temporary structure that is not just visually compelling but also technically innovative. SOMBRA will remain on view in Venice through late autumn 2025, with future plans to showcase the pavilion in other locations.
Project Details
- Project Name: SOMBRA Location: Venice, Italy Year: 2025
- Size and Programme: 30 m2 pavilion
- Architect: MVRDV Founding Partner in charge: Jacob van Rijs Partner: Bertrand Schippan
- Design Team: Yayun Liu, Alberto Carro Novo
- Ideation, coordination, co-engineering, production, assembly, testing, installation: Metadecor
- All picture credits: Federico Vespignani, Jaap Heemskerk
- Ideation, Airshade Technology patent holder, research, co-engineering: Airshade Technologies
- AMOLF Institute: Research and production actuation
- Ideation, anodizing: Alumet
- Mechanical engineering, colour and sunlight studies: Arup
- Bending: Kersten Europe
- Structural engineering: Van Rossum Raadgevend Ingenieurs
- All Images Courtesy: MVRDV © Federico Vespignani and © Jaap Heemskerk
