BEFORE CHANGE CAN OCCUR, IT MUST BE IMAGINED.
WHAT IF WE RE-IMAGINED OUR RENEWABLE ENERGY LANDSCAPES AS LARGE-SCALE WORKS OF ART?
Founded in Dubai in 2008, the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) helps design renewable energy infrastructures that are also beautiful places for people. Works of art in civic space distribute clean energy and provide other sustainable services while beautifying the built environment. We help organizations meet their greatest potential as they plan, design, and implement new clean energy projects and regenerative communities.
Eight international design competitions for cities such as Copenhagen, Santa Monica, Melbourne, New York City, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi, have resulted in more than a thousand innovations in the design of large-scale clean energy systems. LAGI is bringing positivity and hope to conversations around climate change by engaging the world’s most talented artists and designers in imagining the greatness and beauty of a clean energy future.
Land Art Generators are places of wonder and awesome beauty. They are inspired by the traditions of Land Art—ancient and contemporary—which merge natural beauty and local context into the conception of creative installations and experiences. They are also large-scale power plants that generate clean electricity at the scale of hundreds or thousands of homes. They will leave a lasting legacy for generations to come, celebrating this important time in human history.
Confronting the challenge of
global climate change requires the communication of a positive vision of a sustainable future that can inspire people everywhere.
The transition now underway toward new forms of energy such as solar power provide incredible opportunities for improved resilience, sustainability, and economic efficiency. The design of these new infrastructures also offers opportunities for innovation, creativity, and community engagement. This is especially true for places where the abundance of cultural assets, geological beauty, cherished architecture, and irreplaceable history may present challenges to conventional methods of solar deployment.
The Land Art Generator Initiative converts this challenge into an opportunity for creative engagement with artists, designers, and community members of all ages by demonstrating the versatility of solar and other clean energy technologies to be designed thoughtfully into cherished environments as works of public art.
The following submissions from past LAGI competitions are a small sampling to inspire audiences of all ages about the beauty of our post- carbon future—a thriving global economy working in harmony with natural systems.
ENERGY DUCK
TEAM: Hareth Pochee, Adam Khan, Louis Leger, Patrick Fryer
TECHNOLOGIES: photovoltaic panels (Panasonic HIT or similar), hydraulic turbines
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 400 MWh
A submission to the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Copenhagen— LAGI 2014.
Energy Duck explains the "Duck Curve" related to renewable energy and old-fashioned power grids.
CLEAR ORB
TEAM: Jaesik Lim, Ahyoung Lee, Jaeyeol Kim, Taegu Lim
TECHNOLOGIES: transparent luminescent solar concentrators, oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy, solar distillation
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 3,820 MWh. 2.2 million liters of drinking water
A submission to the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Santa Monica— LAGI 2016.
SOLAR (ECO) SYSTEM
TEAM: Antonio Maccà, Flavio Masi
TECHNOLOGIES: photovoltaic panels
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 1,000 MWh
A submission to the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Dubai/Abu Dhabi—LAGI 2010.
NEST
TEAM: Robert Flottemesch
TECHNOLOGIES: monocrystalline bifacial PERC solar modules with module level DC optimization
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 6,633 MWh
A submission to the 2019 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Abu Dhabi— LAGI 2019.
THE OASIS
TEAM: Aziz Khalili, Puya Khalili, Iman Khalili
TECHNOLOGIES: combined solar photovoltaic and thermal modules (Naked Energy VirtuPVT® or similar), hot water absorption chiller
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 7,200 MWh and 18 million liters of freshwater
A submission to the 2019 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Abu Dhabi— LAGI 2019.
UNEXPECTED SCENARIOS
TEAM: Riccardo Daniel, Kei Shiho
TECHNOLOGIES: Solar thermal with Stirling heat engine and calcium hydride reactor with hydrogen energy storage
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 170 MWh
A submission to the 2019 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Abu Dhabi (LAGI 2019 Abu Dhabi).
BEYOND THE WAVE
TEAM: Jaesik Lim, Ahyoung Lee, Sunpil Choi, Dohyoung Kim, Hoeyoung Jung, Jaeyeol Kim, Hansaem Kim
TECHNOLOGIES: organic thin film
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 4,229 MWh
A submission to the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Copenhagen— LAGI 2014.
LIGHT SANCTUARY
TEAM: Martina Decker and Peter Yeadon
TECHNOLOGIES: organic thin film
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 4,500 MWh
A submission to the 2010 United Arab Emirates Land Art Generator Initiative competition.
SOLAR HOURGLASS
TEAM: Santiago Muros Cortés
TECHNOLOGIES: concentrated solar power (thermal beam-down tower with heliostats)
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 7,500 MWh
First Place Winner to the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Copenhagen—LAGI 2014.
LODGERS: SERENDIPITY IN THE FLY RANCH WILDERNESS
by Zhicheng Xu and Mengqi Moon He, brings together composting toilets, reclaimed timber waste, traditional thatching methods using local materials, computational script-generated parametric design, and native species shelters to provide an environmental education venue, soil replenishment, sustainable waste management, and habitat enrichment for Fly Ranch. The top-ranked submission to the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch Design Challenge.
THE SOURCE
by Mateusz Góra and Agata Gryszkiewicz (Tamaga Studio) uses solar photovoltaic, battery energy storage, water cistern, rammed earth thermal mass, fruit trees, fruit walls, and compost to contribute 250 kg/year of food, 2.2 MWh/year of electricity, 9,000 liters/year of water, habitat enhancement, environmental education venue, and soil replenishment. A top ten submission to the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch Design Challenge.
AQUA PLANTERRA
by Felix Cheong, Haley Zhou, and Rachel Cohen-Murison uses locally sourced clay vessels and coiling pottery techniques to contribute 70,000 liters of potable water/year/vessel, 684 cups of edible plants and herbs per year/vessel, educational programming for the local community, sustainable goods for a circular economy, and enhanced habitat for local species. Shortlisted proposal to the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch Design Challenge.
THE COOPx: MOBILE HEN HOUSES FOR FLY RANCH
by J. Matthew Thomas is a series of modular solar- powered climate controlled hen houses that provide organic and free- range eggs while fertilizing the Fly Ranch soil, providing a sustainable use for food waste, and engaging the community in a sustainable local economy. Shortlisted proposal to the LAGI 2020 Fly Ranch Design Challenge.
FRESH HILLS
TEAM: Designer: Matthew Rosenberg; Structural Engineering Consultant: Matt Melnyk; Production Assistants: Emmy Maruta, Robbie Eleazer
TECHNOLOGIES: WindTamerTM, Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, SmartWrapTM
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 238 MWh
A submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for NYC—LAGI 2012.
WINDSTALK
TEAM: Concept and Design Atelier dna: Darío Núñez Ameni & Thomas Siegl; Narrative and Poetics: Gabrielle Jesiolowski; Structure and Engineering: ISSE Innovative Structural and Specialty Engineering: Radhi Majmudar PE; Ecology and Renewable Energy Strategy eDesign Dynamics: Ian Lipsky
TECHNOLOGIES: piezoelectric discs, linear alternator
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 20,000 MWh
A submission to the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Dubai/Abu Dhabi—LAGI 2010.
CATCHING THE WAVE
TEAM: Christina Vannelli, Liz Davidson, Matthew Madigan
TECHNOLOGIES: point absorber wave energy converter (similar to CETOTM by Carnegie Wave Energy)
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 16,000 MWh
A submission to the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Santa Monica— LAGI 2016.
CNIDARIA HALITUS
TEAM: John Eric Chung, Pablo La Roche, Danxi Zou, Jingyan Zhang, Tianyi Deng (CallisonRTKL)
TECHNOLOGIES: Tidal Turbines (100% of energy used to pump water for distillation), Solar Distillation with Fresnel lens
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 220 million liters of drinking water
A submission to the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Santa Monica.
THE PIPE
TEAM: Khalili Engineers
TECHNOLOGIES: photovoltaic panels, electromagnetic desalination
ANNUAL CAPACITY:10,000 MWh to generate 4.5 billion liters of drinking water
A submission to the 2016 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Santa Monica— LAGI 2016.
LIGHT UP
TEAM: Martin Heide, Dean Boothroyd, Emily Van Monger, David Allouf, Takasumi Inoue, Liam Oxlade, Michael Strack, Richard Le (NH Architecture); Mike Rainbow, Jan Talacko (Ark Resources); John Bahoric (John Bahoric Design); Bryan Chung, Chea Yuen Yeow Chong, Anna Lee, Amelie Noren (RMIT Architecture Students)
TECHNOLOGIES: flexible mono-crystalline silicon photovoltaic, wind energy harvesting, microbial fuel cells
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 2,220 MWh
First Place Winner to the 2018 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Melbourne—LAGI 2018.
NIGHT & DAY
TEAM: Kevin Kudo-King, Annie Aldrich, James Juricevich, Evan Harlan, Vikram Sami, Erin Hamilton, Gabriela Frank, MacKenzie Cotters, Lauren Gallow, Jonathan Nelson (Olson Kundig)
TECHNOLOGIES: mono-crystalline silicon photovoltaic, pumped hydro storage
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 1,000 MWh
Second Place Winner to the 2018 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Melbourne—LAGI 2018.
CLOUD FIELD
DESIGNER: Ignacio Martí
TECHNOLOGIES: organic photovoltaic (OPV)
ANNUAL CAPACITY: 1,172 MWh
A submission to the 2019 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition for Abu Dhabi— LAGI 2019.
The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) works with communities around the world to design public art installations that cleanly generate renewable energy, water, and provide other human support systems at a variety of scales.
As the world works together to rise to the climate challenge, vast new sustainable energy and other infrastructures will quickly become a ubiquitous part of our landscape and culture. LAGI provides exceptional solutions that inspire people about the beauty of our post-carbon future and innovate the integration of zero-emission energy and water systems into cultural venues and civic spaces— regenerative monuments to this most important time in human history.
Educational programming and community collaboration are fundamental to all LAGI projects, beginning with early concept generation and continuing on site after each project is installed.
Open design competitions for Dubai/Abu Dhabi (2010), New York City (2012), Copenhagen (2014), Santa Monica (2016), Melbourne (2018), Abu Dhabi (2019), and Fly Ranch (2020) have brought in over 1,300 designs from 80+ countries.
Participatory design projects include: Solar Mural artworks, developing culturally relevant energy solutions with Maasai women in Olorgesailie Kenya, working with West Virginia coal miners, Art+Energy camps, and more. LAGI is working closely with cities such as Glasgow and Battery Park City to integrate renewable energy infrastructure into creative placemaking projects and mixed- use developments.
Partnerships and supporters include Masdar Abu Dhabi, City of New York, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, City of Copenhagen, European Union Commission on Climate Action, City of Santa Monica, J.M. Kaplan Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Capital Region of Denmark, Danish Design Centre, US Green Building Council, the City of Glasgow, the State of Victoria (Australia), Carbon Arts, Creative Carbon Scotland, Climarte, Burning Man Project, Arizona State University (GIOS), and many others.