So Watt! is the name of a design exhibition intended to raise awareness of energy consumption issues, which opens in Paris...

So Watt! is the name of a design exhibition intended to raise awareness of energy consumption issues, which opens in Paris today.

Top image: Solar Lamp by Damian O’Sullivan. Above: Power-Aware Cord by Static! The extension lead glows with varying intensity depending on the amount of power consumed.

Above: Flower Lamp by Static! The lampshade opens and closes according to the heat generated by the bulb. Below: Wattson by DIY Kyoto - a domestic device that estimates annual electricity bills by measuring energy consumption.

The show is at Espace EDF Electra - the gallery belonging to Fondacion EDF, the charitable arm of French power company Electricité de France - and continues until 9 September.

Above: H Racer (a hydrogen-powered, radio-controlled toy car) by Horizon Fuel Cell

The gallery is at 6, rue Récamier (metro: Sèvres-Babylone, lines 10 & 12) 75007 Paris, France.

Below is the press release, kindly translated for us by Damian O’Sullivan’s mum:

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Faced with the energy issues today, how can we change our behaviour when energy is so immaterial? It is this question which designers have attempted to answer through forty international projects.

Who, today in France and in Europe, can live without electricity? Although intertwined in our daily habits, we still need to start thinking about preserving it.

The five themes that make up the exhibition allow us to see electricity in a different light in order for us to realize that we need to have a more responsible attitude towards it.

Thanks to these designs, this becomes more tangible and inspires new aesthetics.

Thus, certain objects symbolize energy: this is the case of the multi-grip of Gilles Belley which materializes the escape of energy due to the electrical appliance left in from the day before. Others such as the lamps, blinds or paper-painted designs by STATIC! react according to the level of consumption of the house and change form or colour accordingly. Lastly, the radios of Eton produce their own energy.

These designs make it possible for us to consider a new rapport with energy and to reconcile comfort and respect for the environment. By a responsible consumption, each individual engagement impels a collective dynamic. This exhibition is part of the Fondation EDF ambition to improve the societal and environmental solidarity.