The SUNplace is a “solar cooking table,” a collaborative project by designers Francesca Lanzavecchia and Hunn Wai, intended for a group of chefs to cook together and prepare a meal using sunlight.
Using protective eyeware and gloves, a group can gather to cook and celebrate cooking as a communal activity. “The station requires the full involvement of all its users,” the studio states. “Sunplace wants to recover the ritual of the banquet as a shared moment.”
Sunshine can be an alternative to fire for cooking and in some places solar stoves can be life savers. About 3 billion people cook over open flame around the world, and the sun can be a great alternative when fuel is a scarce resource.
The designers of the SUNplace hope that this design may “become a new core for living outside, an evolution of the ancient ‘fireplace’ that warms entertains and feeds.”
Freedom For Sustainability 