Glasgow to harness power of art for renewable energy

They are brave, bold and perhaps even beautiful and are set to transform an unloved Glasgow site with a radical new class of public art that can quietly and cleanly produce green energy for hundreds of homes.

Dundas Dandelion will generate electric charges as it sways in the wind and create a striking focal point for the city. Picture: Contributed

Three designs have been shortlisted for The Land Art Generator Initiative which has come to Glasgow following success in Dubai, Copenhagen and New York in creating renewable energy projects for urban spaces.

One design will be developed on the Port Dundas regeneration site in the north of Glasgow to both provide a striking community focal point as well as a source of green electricity for the new community.

Wind Forest is a 'futuristic 'forest' of 100 oscillating windturbines that will rotate and move in the breeze. Picture: Contributed

Teams of architects, designers and engineers have worked together to combine the latest renewables technology with a high-aesthetic approach. Chris Fremantle, curator of the LAGI in Glasgow, said he had been “thrilled” with the shortlisted projects, drawn from 12 entries, which will go on show at the Lighthouse in Glasgow from 9 June.

He said: “I think we are incredibly excited about how all the teams have worked so effectively together to produce such fabulous results.”

“They have all taken on the idea that it isn’t just a problem of creating a beautiful object but that it needs to be something that engages people who are going to live on the site. “All these projects look at how we can do something now to create a positive relationship between energy and sustainability in the future.”

Wind Forest is one of the three shortlisted projects and is a collaboration of architects Peter Richardson of ZM Architecture; Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion of Dalziel + Scullion, Ian Nicoll of Qmulus Ltd and Peter Yeadon of Yeadon Space Agency.

Watergaw will create a rainbow over north Glasgow when power from a network of renewable devices produces 1000 kWh of electricity.

It is a “futuristic forest” of 100 4kW single wind turbines which have no blades but work through oscillation. The turbines will generate electricity through the swaying motion of the 13-metre-high structures.

The second project, Watergaw, promises to create a section of rainbow over the north Glasgow skyline once it has produced 1,000kW of electricity. This will be done through a clean energy production network which includes a hydro scheme at the Pinkston Basin on the Monkland Canal.

The project has been devised by ERZ Studio architects Riccardo Mariano and Alec Finlay, who has just unveiled a major piece at Jupiter Artland, plus a team of civil and structural engineers and ecology consultants.

The Dundas Dandelion is a collaboration between Stallan-Brand Architectural Design, Pidgin Perfect and Glasgow Science Festival, amongst others. It uses an arrangement of flexible carbon fibre “wind stalks” containing discs that generate electric charges as they sway in the wind.

Wind Forest is a 'futuristic 'forest' of 100 oscillating windturbines that will rotate and move in the breeze. Picture: Contributed

The shortlisted projects were selected by the Canal Regeneration Partnership, which will choose the one that will move forward into the development stage with funding sources as yet to be identified. to be sought for the project.

Councillor George Redmond, Executive Member for Jobs, Business and Investment at Glasgow City Council, said: “The regeneration of the canal in Glasgow offers the opportunity to look at achieving our aims for the area in new ways, and the fantastic designs on show at this exhibition will illustrate what could be done by local talent as we continue the renaissance of the canal banks.”

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