Think of renewable energy and you think of gigantic wind turbines, huge, monolithic solar panels and other similarly landscape-scarring eyesores. But, as the folk behind the Land Art Generator Initiative are eager to prove, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Launched last year, LAGI is part environmental campaign, part design competition; an open call to the world’s creatives to devise eco-friendly energy solutions to power an image-conscious city. The entries – from giant, light-catching spheres to maze-like tunnels of glass that channel natural breezes – came in their droves. After intense scrutiny, the winners were unveiled at the recent World Future Energy Summit at Adnec. Here’s the low-down on the top three concepts
1st place – The Lunar Cubit
An architectural marvel in its own right, the contest’s overall victor is also a huge-scale lunar clock and a solar power station capable of producing enough energy to power 250 homes. Nine stark, black pyramids absorb energy from the sun using state-of-the-art, frameless silicon solar panels, which take it in turns to glow with bright white LED lights in time with the shifting phases of the moon.
If green-lit, there’s hope that the site – located next to Masdar City – could double as a space-age monument to green technology, with members of the public encouraged to wander among the structures and witness their futuristic luminescence first hand. There are also plans for a website that’ll display real-time statistics about the site’s performance, which aims to raise awareness of the effectiveness of renewable energy.
2nd place – Windstalk
A field of 55 metre-high carbon-fibre sticks that sway in the wind. The design is apparently inspired by ‘the way the wind caresses a field of wheat, or reeds in a marsh’. Which might sound kind of dreamy, but there’s innovative green science behind the poetry. Each of the 1,203 stalks is made up from a stack of ceramic discs, which, via a chain of inter-connected electrodes, generate a charge as the swaying of the poles causes them to compress. This electrical charge is transferred by a cable into generators in the bases of the stalks, which can then be fed into the city’s power grid.
But how do they compare with traditional wind turbines? Aside from being decidedly easier on the eye, creators Darío Núñez Ameni and Thomas Siegl estimate their project could potentially create just as much, if not more power than a traditional wind farm, since the unique shape of the LED-tipped stalks means they can be installed in a denser arrangement.
3rd place – Solaris
Inspired by traditional Bedouin tents, this effort from American architects Hadrian Predock and John Frane comprises a canopy of super-efficient, inflatable solar cells that track the sun’s movement throughout the course of the day. Generating an estimated 300-400 times more energy than traditional solar panels, it’s claimed the concept could potentially supply up to 73,000 megawatt-hours worth of energy a year – enough to power a small country. The canopy is designed to act as a tunnel between Masdar City and Zayed University, with cells positioned to act as a vent that allows the year-long ‘Shamal’ wind to cool the interior, while deflecting the hotter south easterly summer wind – known as ‘Sharqi’.
Its designers call it ‘a phenomenological instrument that engages and reveals the power and subtlety of desert light’. We’re not entirely sure what they’re on about, but then we’re just happy to gawp at these incredibly cool mock-ups.
To find out more about the Land Art Generator Initiative, go to www.landartgenerator.org.
