Thanks to Anthropocene:

Art That Delivers Clean Water & Power

An international competition challenges designers to show that clean energy production and dazzling public art can be one and the same

Since 2010, the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) has sponsored site-specific design competitions, soliciting ideas for public art that generates clean power. Its 2016 contest was the most ambitious yet. It called on designers to conceive of art installations that generate both clean power and water for the city of Santa Monica, California.

“Now, more than ever, energy and water are intertwined,” notes the organization. “As California faces severe water shortages in the coming years, the amount of energy required for water production and transmission is sure to increase.”

The contest’s coastal setting allowed designers to harness not only solar and wind power, but also wave and tidal energy. Its proximity to the Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility provided the opportunity for integration with existing city infrastructure. Further, note the contest organizers, “we can challenge those who would disapprove of these important infrastructures on aesthetic grounds, especially at sites that are cherished for their cultural value and identity (like the Santa Monica Pier Breakwater).”

Here we present highlights from the competition. Learn more about the contest and the entries here and in Powering Places: Land Art Generator Initiative, Santa Monica.

First Place: Regatta H₂O

Designed by Christopher Sjobergand Ryo Saito of Tokyo, Japan

Fog harvesting: Veins on the sails’ surface collect and transport moisture. Annual capacity: 112 million liters of drinking water.

Wind energy: Each mast supports eight oscillating belts fitted with magnets to generate electricity. Annual capacity: 70MWh to illuminate the sails.
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Regatta H₂O repurposes the familiar maritime forms of sails and masts as infrastructure—harvesting fog to create fresh water and harnessing the wind to power its operations.

The sails of Regatta H₂O are fog-harvesting meshes. Collection troughs, designed as veins within the sail surface, transport harvested moisture to the mast, where it can be piped to storage vessels at the Santa Monica Pier. When the moisture content of the air falls below a certain threshold, the sails are retracted to reveal the horizon line of the Pacific Ocean.

Even though water is harvested passively, some electrical power is needed to operate the pumping and steering mechanisms and the deployment of the sails. This energy is extracted from the wind via a WindBelt™, a device which relies on an oscillating belt suspended between two electromagnets. Each mast contains eight such devices.

At night, light rings pulsate with the intensity of power being generated. This also serves as a navigational safety device, alerting boats of the sails’ presence in the dark…

Read the whole article here.