The design of the overhead solar railway Sunglider, by a Polish-German group of designers, won one of the two main awards in the New York Product Design Awards. The futuristic railway will connect the center of the German city of Osnabrück with the suburbs and the surrounding area.

The authors of the project are employees, students and graduates of the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology and the University of Osnabrück. The group of designers received the “Product Designer of the Year” award, defeating 500 competitors from around the world.

The overhead rail network is designed with tree-like pylons, tree-crown roofs and wooden stops.

“This pro-ecological project with its visionary idea related to the future perfectly addresses the problems of the present”, emphasized the organizers of the competition.

All design is made of glued wood, locally processed and produced. The line with 3D-printed carriages covered with solar cells is fully supplied with energy obtained from the roofs. The whole process is controlled by artificial intelligence. Ultimately, traveling will be completely free.

The Polish part of the team dealt with shaping the roof architecture, which creates the supporting structure of the railway, and its individual stations. The roof is completely covered with photovoltaic panels to obtain the maximum amount of solar energy.

Working with specialists in various fields (e.g. in the field of transport engineering, fabrication or sociology), the team designed a parametric model that allows easy shaping of the railway, e.g. its course or the angle of inclination of photovoltaic panels.

The New York Product Design Awards are granted to talented designers, design teams and manufacturers from around the world whose designs make everyday life better.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński