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Is it possible for energy infrastructure to be a work of public art? Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry think so.
The husband-and-wife team behind the Land Art Generator Initiative believes that by merging the line between public art and energy infrastructure, we can erase the notion of “not in my backyard,” creating communities that welcome and celebrate their energy infrastructure.
The couple spoke at Shelter Dubai, outlining the initiative, and looking forward to the 2012 competition, taking place in New York City.
The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) is an international design competition launched in 2010 in the United Arab Emirates. Contestants from across the globe competed to design proposals for three sites in the UAE: two in Abu Dhabi and one in Dubai.
Their mission was to create an installation that would “continuously distribute energy into the electrical grid, with each having the potential to provide power to thousands of homes.”
A panel of judges representing local and international energy providers and artists elected three winners. Prizes were awarded at the 2011 World Future Energy Summit. MASDAR hosted the ceremony and sponsored the prizes.
In its second iteration, the competition moves to Staten Island.
Working closely with New York City Parks and Recreation and the New York City Department of Sanitation, along with the Freshkills Park Alliance and other supporters, the 2012 LAGI participants will compete to design an aesthetic renewable energy project for Freshkills Park on Staten Island.
The park, previously known as the Fresh Kills Landfill, is a the final resting ground of sixty-plus years of the detritus of the great city, holding everything from broken-down washing machines to debris removed from the Twin Towers.
Landfill operations have been suspended at the site since 2001, and the former garbage heap – which once stood taller than the Statue of Liberty – is being converted into a public park.
When the reclamation projected is completed, the city hopes to construct the winning design.
The site provides opportunities as well as challenges to contestants. Despite the tonnage of potential biochemical energy trapped in the fill, city ordinances forbid tapping directly into the casement. Designers wishing to incorporate biological or chemical energy into their proposals will have to access the potential within the landfill from a series of pipes and vents radiating outwards from the central container.
Even for those contestants interested in above ground energy sources, the shallow foundation will provide a challenge for installing and anchoring structures.
In order to assist contestants in overcoming or out-maneuvering these challenges, the New York Sanitation Department has provided extensive blueprints of the landfill.
The 2012 competition is the second in what Ms. Monoian and Mr. Ferry hope will be a global movement. They are already working on plans for more competitions in North America and in Southeast Asia.
As the project grows, the mission of the Land Art Generator Initiative is expanding. The couple will publish a book of the first competition, which will be available in late February of this year. Furthermore, they are building educational components into the initiative’s offerings.
Already, college professors in the United States are using papers that Ms. Monoian and Mr. Ferry have produced on the topic of aesthetic energy infrastructure. And some architecture programs are requiring students to submit designs for the competition as an element of their studio work. All content produced by the initiative holds a creative commons license, meaning that educators and students have free access to the material and are able to adapt the information to fit their curriculum.
In the UAE, educational programming is taking the form of a children’s book. The team is working with a former intern to produce content for elementary students that can be used to teach renewable energy and sustainability concepts.
Back at Shelter, audience members encouraged the couple to push harder to get the designs built.
“Share the pricing information on your website,” one attendee suggested. “There are governments [China and India] who will be interested in these projects, and they will be willing to pay.”
In time, we hope to see the ideas generated from the competition evolve beyond sketches and CAD drawings and emerge into our daily lives. With increasing recognition and support from foundations, cities and governments, the Land Art Generator Initiative comes closer to answer the question:
“Can energy infrastructure be both beautiful and sustainable?”
“Yes.”
-Mary
mary@shelter.ae
Warehouse 30, Al Serkal, Al Qouz
Phone: +04-380-9040
Fax: +04-380-9041
Mobile: +971-55-653-2084
Tags: Dubai, Energy, Fresh Kills Landfill, Freshkills Park, Land Art Generator Initiative, New York, Renewable Energy, Shelter Dubai
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