Heliocomplex 'Sun'

The Heliocomplex 'Sun' is a set of buildings hosting a solar furnace and research complex, built between 1981 and 1987 in the mountain area of Parkent. It was awarded a gold medal by the Union of Architects of the USSR in 1987 and recognised as the year's best project in the All-Union competition.

The solar furnace of Parkent is one of only two examples of such infrastructure worldwide, together with the one built in Odeillo, in the Eastern French Pyrénées, between 1962 and 1968. Unlike the French precedent, the Parkent centre consists of several buildings, each hosting a single technical or administrative function. Soviet scientists and engineers studied the Odeillo furnace and determined that, given the location, the seismic risk, and the capacity of the Soviet construction industry, it would be impossible to replicate the combination of the laboratories and offices block with the concentrator in a single volume. Hence, each of the five elements of the complex was built as an independent structure. The complex consists of five functional bodies: a heliostatic field — a terraced hill with 62 solar mirrors — a concentrator, which is a large paraboloid shield covered with mirrors oriented towards the solar furnace; a furnace, a technical or process tower containing the focal point where all solar energy is directed; a block of laboratories directly connected to the furnace; and a courtyard building for laboratories and offices. The heliostats on the hill reflect solar radiation towards the concentrator, which in turn directs it towards the focal point of the furnace. There, a sample may be melted or heated to very high temperatures, theoretically close to 3,000°C. This method, deploying clean solar energy without additional gases, enables the production of particularly pure oxide materials that cannot be produced otherwise, and allows testing of materials' resistance to intense solar radiation. The isolation of the concentrator on a crest of a hill, and the tapering shape of its sides dictated by structural requirements, produce a strong sense of monumentality. The complex also has a strong relationship with the landscape and the climate, with a constant search for viewpoints toward the surrounding mountains through elements such as the arcades on the ground floor and the sunshades with their slender metal structure and transparent panels. The artistic apparatus created by Irena Lipene testifies to a high point in the Modernist research for a "Synthesis of the Arts." Lipene made four works for the Heliocomplex 'Sun', each inspired by the universe. The "Sun Hymn" is a gigantic glass chandelier in the central atrium with elements in red, yellow, amber, orange, and golden glass, symbolising the warmth of the sun; the work is reflected in full-height side mirrors, duplicating itself to infinity. The "Milky Way" was created for the conference hall and is embedded in the stepped structure of the acoustic ceiling, consisting of three rows of ornamental glass parallel to the arena's seats. The "Moon" is a metal and glass spatial composition in the middle of a secondary foyer, with vertical stainless-steel elements connecting floor and ceiling, and two red half-spheres at the centre of a composition formed by fused glass spheres and white glass lamps. The "Parade of the Planets" is a composition of metal and frosted glass spheres — pink and purple — that resemble a sequence of planets vertically lined from bottom to top in a luminous staircase atrium. The building shows a good level of authenticity: no major interventions have been carried out since construction, and all four artworks by Irena Lipene remain in place. The elegant glass and metal sunscreens have been dismantled on the outer facades of the administration building, and partially in the courtyard. The building is not fully used today because of a lack of funding and a serious level of obsolescence in parts. Since it carries no heritage protection listing, it is at risk of undergoing major transformations.