Land Art Generator
ORGANIZATION NAME: The Land Art Generator Initiative
LOCATION: Seattle, Washington, USA
SUMMARY: The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) is advancing the pace of sustainable city planning by integrating social practice art and interdisciplinary design into utility-scale renewable energy installations that are culturally relevant and visually inspiring — providing power to thousands of homes, while pointing the way to a beautiful clean energy future.
PROBLEM SPACE: “We begin with recognition that a solution to global climate change will only come about in democratic societies when massive change is driven by a popular cultural movement. The Paris Accord commitment is technically and financially feasible; the question is whether we will act before it is too late.
Abstract messages of gloom and doom (red heatmap projections, rising sea level maps) leave many feeling un-empowered as individuals to make a difference. While we were remarking to one of the middle school students in our Art + Energy workshop about the interesting weather we had in Western Pennsylvania this past summer, she responded in earnest: “I heard the world is ending because of the climate.”
Contributing to the headwinds of change is NIMBYism around renewable energy installations. Embracing the fact that renewable energy will have a profound influence on our visual environment, LAGI is pointing the way to a world in which these infrastructures are enhancements to parks and public space.
The world needs an emblematic standard of beauty that can help to define this moment in history. Aesthetics, cultural relevance, and community participation must now become critical components in the successful development of renewable energy installations.”
SOLUTION: “LAGI integrates art and interdisciplinary creative processes into the design of renewable energy infrastructures through public art installations that have the added benefit of utility-scale clean energy generationäóîproviding power to thousands of homes, while educating and inspiring the public about our clean energy future.
We are answering the question of what our cities will look like when weäó»ve solved the problem of climate change and turned the page, establishing a harmonic balance with the environment that will secure the opportunity for future generations to experience happiness on Earth.
The LAGI design competitions (LAGI 2010 Dubai/Abu Dhabi, LAGI 2012 NYC Freshkills Park, LAGI 2014 Copenhagen, LAGI 2016 Southern California) have resulted in a network of thousands of creatives in more than 60 countries contributing over 600 ideas in an expanding portfolio that is being accessed by cities and developers.
We are bringing the ideas to life in cities like Pittsburgh and Glasgow, where LAGI is informing the early masterplanning process for regeneration projects by using natural energies of sites to bring renewable energy and cultural amenity into projects from the startäóîa transformative approach to the design of living cities.
LAGI educational programs engage under-resourced neighborhoods, provide STEAM tools for high school teachers, and studio curricula to university professors at schools such as Cal Poly, Yale, University of Oregon, and Georgia Tech.
LAGI outcomes are exhibited in galleries around the world, distributed through Prestel publications, and our infographics are used in reports released by institutions such the IEA, the Nature Conservancy, and Bank of America.
Together we are demonstrating that sustainable development models that incent distributed electricity generation infrastructures can result in beautiful urban spaces for people, and that a 100% renewable energy-powered world can be achieved while respecting cultural history and the built environment.
Renewable energy can be beautiful.”
CONTACT: [email protected]