eMotions: Energy Motions and Art Emotions
3rd Place Winner to the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative Copenhagen design competition

Artist Team: Antonio Maccà, Flavio Masi
Artist Location: Padova, Italy
Energy Technologies: photovoltaic panels, micro-scale vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) and horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT), stacked ceramic multilayer actuators, piezoelectric wind energy systems
Annual Capacity: 2,000 MWh

View Design Boards

eMotions showcases artistic interpretations of disparate Danish ecosystems, each varying in materials, energy technologies, dimensions, and textures. The installation places on display Denmark’s biodiversity while engaging different communities within the city.

The artwork is also meant to evoke the image of a large generator, its viewing loop representing the generator’s “belt” and the infinite production of clean energy through its micro-scale generators. The generators are listed below, each representing a type of ecosystem.

1. River is the public connecting loop with a piezoelectric floor made up of stacked, ceramic, multilayer actuators (SCMA). The actuators absorb energy from the movement of the people and convert it into electricity.

2. Beach is the harbor bath with a wooden amphitheater, realizing the transition from land to water as a terraced landscape where people can relax and reach the sea. The circles on the facade of the generator symbolize the beach waves and integrate horizontal axis wind turbines, varying in dimensions depending on the internal diameters.

3. Marine houses many activities, such as swimming, scuba diving and kayaking. The intersecting pattern of sinusoids symbolize the overlapping sea waves and integrate vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT).


4. Sand Dune represents the aeolian sediment transport of the migrating sand dunes. Its facade is composed of thin-film semitransparent photovoltaic panels and horizontal-axis wind turbines.

5. Lake draws its inspiration from the superimposition of waves onto the still surface of a lake. The structure supports semitransparent photovoltaic panels, which enclose a water playground.

6. Agricultural is made up of semitransparent photovoltaic panels that evoke the rotational, open-field production of agricultural crops. This “urban agriculture” garden showcases the biodiversity of plant life in Denmark, bringing knowledge of the country’s varied foods and plants to the public.

7. Arctic calls to mind a snowfall in a typical frozen arctic landscape and hosts an outdoor ice skating rink during winter. The floating snowflakes are oscillating piezoelectric energy systems, converting wind-induced vibrations into electrical power.

8. Grassland is composed of piezoelectric energy systems moved by the wind. The green area offers recreational open grassland for sports activities.

9. Forest is symbolized by a pattern of overlapping tree silhouettes that support vertical axis wind turbines.

10. Urban hosts a renewable energy museum showcasing a history of sustainable energy research and incorporates round microcrystalline photovoltaic panels of different diameters.

Related Posts