2010 LAGI Submissions

Futai Hiroyuki, Asai Hiroki, Murakami Chikako, Ookawa Syotarou, Sawada Kazuhiro, Fujimaki Naoki, Horie Syota, Mori Ryohei, Nakajima Yuji, Nogawa Taishi, Komatsu Kazuki, and Miyamoto Kazuyuki
Designed for Site #2 in Abu Dhabi, between Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

Design Submission for the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative Design Competition

Artist’s descriptive text:
Drivers on the highway encounter a long skyline of the installation. One third of the total is deformed slightly and covered with a mist. The skyline evokes the image of a floating carpet.

The space under the carpet serves as a comfortable shade. The rays of the sun come from the random openings of the carpet, and variedly project on the white sandy soil. The horizontal pattern of openings is gradated from inside toward outside, which creates a smooth boundary between the installation and surroundings. With sensitivity to the environment and local ecosystems, 400,000 solar panels are placed over the land.

The public is restricted to the specific area with safety to view it. Under the carpet of that area, a viewing platform is formed on the hill by making maximum use of the existed geographical characteristics. At the top of the platform visitors have a view of the extensive solar carpet from above, on which a sea of mist clouds is wafting and wind power generators are rotating. The clouds of mist serve to cool down the hot solar panels. The wind power generators show reflections from their mirror surface and absorb sunlight energy on their phosphorescent surface.

During night, the luminous LED particles on the solar carpet welcome the tourists in cabin just before arriving at the Abu Dhabi International Airport. The twinkle led lights synchronize with wind velocities and visualize the real-time environmental shift. The wind power generators supply electricity to the LED lights. In addition, the phosphorescent surfaces of the generators emit blurred luminosity according to the amount of energy absorbed during the daytime.

low-res version PDF of submitted boards

Chika Tsuchida
Designed for Site #2 in Abu Dhabi, between Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

Design Submission for the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative Design Competition

Artist’s descriptive text:
Why does an artificial construction keep static? They persist in keeping static toward wind, rain, animals or human beings. Living nature reacts to external stimulation. Can we shake and breathe an artificial construction?

As the motif of the plant, I choose a lotus, one of a beautiful aquatic plant, and want to build an artificial lotus garden.
There are Organic Solar Cells on the surfaces of these lotus leaves, and they create electrical energy. Lotuses bend and wave in the wind. A stem of lotus keeps vertical. But when wind blows, it bends like a bamboo. TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomers) and stainless steel springs make this movement possible. The stems are hollow and house electrical wiring.
The leaves are also made of TPE, and water-proofed on the surface. They are as thin and as long as possible, and swing in wind and weight of rain. TPE is a recyclable and durable material that is fit for the harsh conditions of the site.

At the site under the water, lotus leaves float on the surface. These leaves don’t use stainless steel, and stand up via their buoyancy.

Organic Solar Cells are 1/10 the cost of common inorganic solar cells, require less embodied energy to produce and are non-toxic to the environment.

This lotus form has the merit in its construction: It doesn’t need to level without foundation, and it makes possible minimum ground level and maximum solar panel space.

An old Chinese proverb says “Lotus grows in the mud but never become muddy itself”. It is known as a symbol of virtue and pureness and is a suitable motif for a clean energy plant.

low-res version PDF of submitted boards

Tanzim Hasan Salim
Designed for Site #2 in Abu Dhabi, between Saadiyat Island and Yas Island.

Design Submission for the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative Design Competition

Artist’s descriptive text:
The inspiration from fractals is derived from concerns both aesthetic and pragmatic. Not only do they create interesting geometries and patterns, but they also give a practical advantage by increasing a surface area of a form.

Fractal geometry is a field that mixes art with mathematics to demonstrate that equations are more than just a collection of numbers. What makes fractals even more interesting is that they are the best existing mathematical descriptions of many natural forms, such as mountains, biological structures, and coastlines (such as that which runs along the site of the artwork). Using fractal geometries in the planning and organization not only generates more electricity than a non fractal linear arrangement but also become more contextual to the site.

The structural stiffness of the inclined structures supporting the photovoltaic panels can also be increased as the concrete pylons form together a type of folded-plate structure. As a whole the project represents nature’s microcosm at a human scale. It is a celebration of nature and technology.

The pylons are oriented to maximize efficiency by properly adjusting each photovoltaic panel to an optimum angle & also by eliminating segments of concrete panels that fall into shadow zones. The total master plan would also incorporate fractals as pathways and landscaping elements.

At night, these concrete inclined pylons become illuminated creating interesting silhouettes. These strokes of light are monumental as observers pass by the highways and stand as iconic art at a regional scale.

low-res version PDF of submitted boards

Rudabeh Pakravan Studio
Rudabeh Pakravan, Juipai Chen, Victor Otter, Maya Taketani, and Sage Renewables
Designed for Site #3 in Abu Dhabi, on Airport Road near Masdar City.

Design Submission for the 2010 Land Art Generator Initiative Design Competition

Artist’s descriptive text:
Living in the Middle East often involves negotiating the space between your body and the sun. Or between your body and the eye of a neighbor. The veil is a way for you to protect yourself from both of these gazes—a personal sanctuary in the form of a tent or a body covering. The veil itself is functional, but the space it creates within itself becomes infinitely valuable because it is covered.

Solar Veil capitalizes on the availability of a vast swath of land while consecrating it through the idea of the veil. By demarcating that which we consider sacred, whether it is land or body, we claim a responsibility for its cultivation and protection. Veils, curtains, and tents are also temporary; there is an acknowledgement of borrowed space, a desire to leave what we are covering unaltered underneath.

Our proposal covers the site at Airport Road with a porous drape of 300,000 solar units that together have a nameplate capacity of over 16MW of energy. At nearly 175,000 square feet, Solar Veil responds to both the scale of its context and its needs. It becomes a destination in its own right, becoming part of the history of record-breaking infrastructural endeavors in the region while reflecting the vastness of the landscape.

The drape lifts up and touches down on the ground, creating an occupiable and shaded public space. Slits are also cut into the drape and lifted up, catching wind in the direction of its flow and allowing air currents to enter and pass through the space. The wind catchers act in two ways as shown in the diagram above – one, to allow air to pass in and through the space and two, by connecting to an enclosed shaft that pushes the wind underground two meters, where the ground is a constant, cooler temperature. Air returns upward, cooling the space within the drape.

In a region where shaded public space is reserved for parks with entry fees, luxury malls, or on green patches alongside highways, our proposal will create a rare opportunity for people to participate in the public realm, either for recreation or to be a part of a social structure that supports environmental accountability. Situated immediately adjacent to Masdar, the world’s first carbon free city, Solar Veil can both take advantage of the physical infrastructure that is being built there, such as using the proposed monorail to access the site and limit the use of vehicular traffic, and the social network of a sustainable community.

Our proposal attempts to have minimum effect on the site at ground level. The ground remains 80% untouched, with the remaining 20% being excavated for shallow spread footings for the structural system and for the passive cooling tunnels. The site is mostly sparse, but porosity built into the drape system allows for light to reach some areas under the veil that would allow vegetation to remain. The ring of trees around the site remains untouched. At 600gm/square meter, the drape system is very light and needs only a minimal structural armature. We propose a light steel tube framing system that forms a lattice and columns. With the energy generation at a minimum of 16MW, Solar Veil can power 8,000 homes.

Solar panels have already proven to be an extremely effective source of renewable energy. It is no longer necessary to rely on the large and bulkier solar panels traditionally found on roofs or as part of solar farms, but even the most advanced solar cell technology that is available today relies on large, rigid backings and standard sizes to function. In order to create a drape, we are working with a thin film photovoltaic manufacturer to create a small scale unit that is made of photovoltaic laminates overlaid on a 7mm fiberglass panel. The units are 50cm x 50cm and link at the midpoint of each panel to provide flexibility. The units are incredibly light, allowing for attachment to a minimal structural armature. Our proposal ensures that the overall form of the veil allows for 60% of the units to be between 10 to 15 degrees from the horizontal, resulting in maximum solar contact.

Our proposal allows for 20% of energy generated to be stored for off peak use. Wanting a highly efficient storage system with a small footprint, we integrate a group of 12 sodium sulfur (NaS) batteries underneath the surface of the veil.

The surface area of Solar Veil is approximately 160,000 square meters. Even conservatively estimating that only 30% of its area is generating energy, Solar Veil can power 8,000 homes or other buildings in the community. At its peak, it can power twice that.

low-res version PDF of submitted boards