Dissident GardensDissident Gardens

Power Plant is the world's first self-powering greenhouse, developed by solar designer Marjan van Aubel. Through transparent solar glass it powers its indoor climate, harvesting both food and electricity to grow the plants of the future, using the power of design.

The world's population is growing, and so is the demand for food production. New technologies make controlled farming more efficient, but require considerable amounts of energy. Every hour we receive enough sunlight to provide the world with enough electricity for an entire year. What if we could tackle both the world's energy and food problems? What if we could harvest both electricity and food within one system using the power of the sun? For Power Plant Marjan van Aubel collaborates with architect Emma Elston, Yasmine Östendorf and the University of Amsterdam. This exhibition is part of the Dissident Gardens programme.

Marjan van Aubel (1985) graduated from the Royal College of Art (Design Products MA) in 2012 and the Rietveld Academy DesignLAB (BA) in 2009. Van Aubel has since exhibited at the V&A (London), the Design Museum (London), Boijmans van Beuningen Museum (Rotterdam), and the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam). Her work is also part of the permanent collection at the MoMA in New York, the Vitra Design Museum, Boijmans van Beuningen Museum, The Montreal Museum of Art, and the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. In 2012 she won the First Prize at the Dutch New Material Award. In 2017, Marjan van Aubel was selected as one of the winners of the WDCD Climate Action Challenge, and Swarovski named her the Designer of the Future.Marjan van Aubel is the founder of the sustainable design collective Caventou and currently teaches at the Design Academy and Royal College of Art, The Hague.

Marjan van Aubel will be representing The Netherlands with Power Plant during the London Design Biennale from 4 to 23 September.