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VANTOT www.vantot.com

Sunseeker

By 15-12-2020

Sustainable, smart and dynamic street lightning in Eindhoven

Following a What if lab in 2018, design studio VANTOT now presents SUNSEEKER, a contemporary, sustainable and interactive answer to traditional street lighting. SUNSEEKER has been designed, developed and realised for the brand-new Victoriapark Eindhoven, the Dutch city of light. The 500-metre-long chain of light mod-ules serves as aesthetic signage during the day, as a guide at night, and forms a connecting route from A to B. It connects design, nature and technology, and has enormous potential for Smart Cities as it could help making cities all over the world smarter, more sustainable and liveable.

Esther Jongsma and Sam van Gurp (VANTOT) designed the first concept for SUNSEEKER as part of a What if Lab, a programme by Dutch Design Foundation (DDF), with Solliance in 2018. In the years that followed, they continued to develop the concept on their own initiative, together with a team of experts and in close collaboration with the municipality of Eindhoven. Meanwhile, thanks to the municipality, Design District, The Province of Noord-Brabant and DDF, the streetlight can be admired in the Victoriapark in Eindhoven.

How does it work?
The name SUNSEEKER does not come out of nowhere. Just like humans, the individual fittings designed by VANTOT are always looking for the sunniest spot to charge their batteries. By means of sensors, the smart modules rotate on their axis and move along the chain with the position of the sun, so they never stay in the shade unnecessarily. The lights within SUNSEEKER can be programmed in such a way that the light can dim, change colour or become brighter when people pass by. The gallery of light serves as signage, as a guide at night and it forms a connecting route from A to B, in this case from the city centre to Strijp. The chain of umbrella-shaped lanterns responds to the municipality’s ambition to create the Victoria Park as an energy-neutral park – to be completed in 2023 – that is to supply the surrounding homes with energy. The project has enormous potential in helping cities develop into Smart Cities by becoming smarter, more sustainable and more liveable.

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Photos: Max Kneefel
Video: Gilles van Leeuwen