September 2012

FRESH KILLS COASTER
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Jason Shannon, Paola Yanez
Artist Location: Jersey City, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

The concept of an energy producing sculpture is certainly a step in the right direction towards energy sustainability and public awareness. But energy sustainability is just part of a broader idea of mankind’s struggle to sustain themselves with the limited resources we have on our planet. Simply put, all these sustainable or “green” ideas are our attempt to find balance with nature.

This last winter, there was an article in the NY Times that described a surprise sighting of a possum on the NYC subway. It was a good example of how awkward our built environment has made the existence of plants and animals that have thrived in this area for thousands of years. Yes, man has built great things, but we have also destroyed much of the natural ecosystem for sprawling suburbs, strip malls, and parking lots. Our mentality toward the natural environment has been to take everything we can get our hands on. Our proposal suggests that mankind’s strategy should be based more on mutual respect, because we need nature more than it needs us.

Our proposal for the LAGI competition is the Fresh Kills Coaster. First and foremost it is a wild life refuge. The project designates a section of the Fresh Kills park to be off limits to visitors to give plants and animals the freedom to exist unmolested. The site location was chosen to connect to a larger green area surrounding Fresh Kills. In many ways, building nothing makes sense if preserving nature were the only goal, but it would be unrealistic to think that our sustainability problems will be resolved simply by doing nothing.

The physical aspects of the Fresh Kills Coaster were derived from two ideas. First, that the people of Staten Island have been burdened with a landfill for decades and deserve the ability to experience the Fresh Kills park, and second, with the goals of producing sustainable energy to add power to the local community. In order to give people access to the area designated as a preserve, a raised platform is imagined to separate people from nature. Added to the idea of a raised platform is the need to create sustainable energy. Solar collectors have proven to be both passive in terms of their impact on nature and also effective in producing energy. To be most efficient, solar collectors are ideally sloped toward the sun’s predominate direction to absorb the most solar radiation. The combination of a raised platform and the sloped surface desired for the solar cells resulted in the Fresh Kills Coaster. In this case, the sloped surface used to optimize the solar cells not only added the functionality of the project but also the experiential qualities. The rased platform becomes a challenging climb, akin to a mountain to be conquered. At the same time, the coaster platform becomes the perfect opportunity to incorporate the kinetic converters from the PaveGen corporation. Throughout the coaster, people can use there own bodies to add to the energy creation of the project, literally making people part of the solution.

The materiality of the coaster is predominately anodized aluminum. Not only will the aluminum of the coaster contain a significant amount of recycled content, but the skin will be fully recyclable once the life cycle of the project ends. This is similar to the other main component of the project, the steel structure, which can also be fully recycled. The running surface of the coaster is a special product made by Nike that uses old sneakers that are ground up and reconstituted into an athletic surface. Finally the project is designed to be prefabricated which minimizes the construction time on site and the subsequent impact on the natural environment.

The Fresh Kills Coaster turns what is normally a simple path in a park into an iconic experience that will get people talking about Fresh Kills, energy production, and ecology.

Loop
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Amir Kripper, Michael Grogan, Christopher Li, Kristen Barrow, Alena Parunina
Artist Location: Boston, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

1.Intro

The proposal for the Freshkills Park is a “Loop” that aims to dissolve the traditional boundaries between landscape, architecture, public art and renewable energy infrastructure. The project, located on the North Park, consists of a two hundred foot wide boardwalk, articulated by a number of vertical elements on which a system of flexible solar panels are mounted. Through a series of ramped manipulations, the installation corresponds to the unique topography of the site, mediating the slopes of the hill and providing spectacular vistas of the entire park.

The generous circular path loosely defines a journey while serving as a framework transitioning between the new and existing landscape. Along the walkway, a system of circular planters, that vary from five to sixty feet in diameter, are planted with indigenous flowers, plants and trees of Staten Island as well as exotic ones. In addition, circular pools collect rain water and the Loop foundation provides a runoff break allowing filtered water to return to the creek. The structure of the loop is articulated with steel I beams, or “ribs”, every fifty feet, supported by a light concrete mat foundation on grade. The flexible solar panels are arranged on a metal mesh with steel cables that span between the ribs.

A large open amphitheater is integrated into the wooden pathway, which can accommodate large events and live performances. The Loop is able to host diverse cultural, social and athletic activities year around as well as providing a unique space for learning, relaxing and playing.

2.Solar Energy

We based our calculation on the assumption that 1 MW of power will supply the energy needs of up to 1,000 homes with each home using about 10,000 kWh per year. A 1 MW utility grade solar plant will require about 6 acres of land. The installation will require 1 to 2 inverters (transformers) to convert the DC power from the solar panels into AC for household use and to safely connect to the local power grid. Inverters are designed for up to 1 MW. A second inverter is advisable given the size of this proposal in order to spread the inversion activity since inverters have to be replaced around every 10 years.

This proposal incorporates flexible lightweight solar energy modules on a metal mesh attached to steel cables spanning between the ribs. The installation is able to provide electricity to more than 1,200 homes. In addition to generating renewable energy, the 6.8 acres of flexible solar panels operate as a shading device for the walkway. The upper portion of the ribs are incrementally angled in order to optimize solar exposure at different orientations and the lower portion varies in accordance to the topography of the site.

3.Environmental Impact Statement

This proposal responds to the brief in terms of creating a macro installation that interacts creatively with the general public while generating large amounts of clean energy. However, its great size and scale, impacts the existing environment. In order to mitigate the effects of water runoff, circular planters placed on the walkway will collect the rain water which is filtered and returned to the creek. Also, special consideration was taken in preserving the integrity of the landfill cap as well as the hill by conceiving the installation as a light metal structural framework on a light concrete foundation mat on grade.

4. Summary

The goal for the Loop, ultimately, is to become a transformative experience where visitors are inspired after discovering the installation and engaging with the amazing views of Fresh Kills Park and Staten Island at large. Moreover, the aim is to establish the installation as a learning facility where the visitors interact with state of the art technology and renewable energy while discovering a new built environment. The Loop will be a unique place, a landmark, a sculpture in the landscape not only providing clean energy for New York City but engaging the public in the reinvented Fresh Kills Park in an unprecedented way.

In Between Scapes of Light
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Carmen Bakanitsch, Christoph Walter Pirker
Artist Location: Graz, Austria

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Artist Descriptive Text:

In Between Scapes of Light is the title of a draft for a piece of land on Staten Island, an island off New York City. Until the end of the 1940s this land was marked by an intact ecosystem and a large variety of species which had developed into a biologically very diverse sanctuary. This was mainly due to the marshland of Fresh Kills, which is formed by the River Arthur Kills that separates Staten Island from New Jersey.

In the course of urban development planning a rubbish dump called Fresh Kills Landfill was established in this area which in size had been increasing steadily since then. By 2001 it had reached such dimensions that with its 150 million tons of waste dumped there it could be referred to as the world’s biggest rubbish dump.

A large part of its original vegetation got destroyed and its sensitive environment became polluted by both unfiltered heavy metals that got into the Kills and an almost globally relevant amount of gases released by the dump.

In 2001 the Fresh Kills Landfill was closed and the question arose as to how to make use of that land in the future. After the landfill had been opened again in autumn 2001 to dump the debris of the World Trade Center and recycle the waste material there, landscape architects from Field Operations presented a draft planning to transform the dump into a park landscape about 2.5 times the size of Central Park within the next 30 years.

One part of the planned park comprises the area of the competition for the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI).

The key point of our draft is to respond in every respect to the so diverse landscape which until a few years ago had been an object of demonstration for both a mega-consuming lifestyle as well as an ecologically diversified landscape.

The whole area is determined by a sealed surface of technoid shape. It is, however, not this surface character, not the intention to coldly force on this a superficial architectural mark that forms the principle of our work. It is just not possible to provide a simple and universally valid architectural answer to respond to this complex context. By using the minimal, seemingly simple element of the line, we are trying to approach this landscape. In doing this we always pay attention to our feelings.

Before one draws a line, one always has to first find the meaning of it. This meaning does not lie so much in the element of the line itself but results from the most thorough interpretation of life’s questions, from what we in our draft regard as vital for ourselves and for each individual that comes in contact with this work.

Identity. Atmosphere. Peculiarity. Light. Space. The response to the location, its history, which must never be erased, which one must never force a new surface on – this plays the key role not only in our own architectural way of thinking and feeling. We do not appreciate getting control over a landscape by means of any mediocre surface structure formed by just placing a series of objects in it.

Architecture, landscape architecture, is what one just cannot get under control. In order to understand and be able to respond to the specific location, it first has to be inhaled, it must become part of you, part of oneself. We are trying to get into the sensitive character of this location.

In this process we are developing the element of the line. A line it is meant to be that draws, creates space. A line that winds, bends, runs and stands still. A line that disappears, hides, surprises, thuds, beats, divides, connects, caresses. A line that is tender, brute, defiant, brave, square, light as a feather, clear, glittering, colourless, glowing.

We want to create a line that is atmospherically as dense as the blackest black, dense as the brightest purple chrome. A line that allows man to hear the wind blow.

Aiming to achieve this goal we cannot regard a line as just a two-dimensional object but as an element that is seeking space.

Based on recent research studies the volume of the line is formed by millions of extremely thin solar threads, optical-fiber-based 3D Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. The solar threads arrayed in a distance of 10 centimetres from each other form the proportions of our line: a depth of 5 metres and a height of 10 metres.

Then we will further increase this atmospheric density by employing additional elements of line. We place them in front and behind each other, make them interfere and form relations with each other, thus creating not only spaces within the volume itself, but spaces, spaces in-between, spaces as a result of adding more such lines.

Thus the lines are not set into the landscape as mere objects but in powerful gestures that seeking space refer to themselves, to man, to the wide open of the location, grasping it and responding to it.

The architectural structure consists of four levels which influence each other: Topography, Atmosphere, Context and Structure. All these four levels in this draft correspond with each other and cannot exist without one another: there cannot be any Context without Topography, any Atmosphere without Structure and neither any Atmosphere without Topography or Context.

The solar threads, the essential part of the Atmosphere, are fixed on the Structure which appears from the outside as the narrow horizontal finishing upper part. This plate also serves to support the system as a static reinforcement and a means to transport the energy generated by the solar threads.

The solar threads do not touch the ground but keep a distance of one metre to it as if waiting for an answer.Time will give the answer when the Atmosphere forms a vertical symbiosis with the Topography, when top and bottom, culture and nature get together and unite.

Wind will show its never-ending choreography while fine threads are covering the face of the one that has entered into a dialogue with this work, with these lines. The creative elements — Topography, Context, Atmosphere and Structure – get to lie on each other, become one.

It is the making use of this seemingly so simple element of line, the resorting to the fundamental questions of architecture, the searching for an answer as to what architecture can and must do for us that gives us the creative response to Fresh Kills.

In addition to this, a certain percentage of optical fibers will be integrated in our lines. Emitting a colourfully fluorescent glow they – in conjunction with the poetry of the wind, the colour and the structure – try to form an atmosphere, which we cannot influence and which up to now we have only been hoping for.

Our proposal is not to be thought of in terms of categories, but in terms of a comprehensive holistic view. It may not be of great relevance that the energy produced by all these solar threads meets the demand for energy of 483 New York households. It may not be of great relevance that we do not interfere with the existing natural environment. But what is of relevance to us is to draft a poetic concept by way of listening and answering and bring this place and its history to people’s minds.

No, it is not only the holistic character of this proposal named In Between Scapes of Light but its aim to create something totally new, the aim to explore new limits and chances. But apart from that this proposal is nothing more than a human-anthroposophical idea of space: a response to landscape that – focusing on the atmospheric effects of the quality of life and social qualities and including the aspect of innovative application of sustainable energy production – forms its strong identity from its sensitive approach to the location.

CLOUDFIELD
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Elcin Ertugrul, Katherine Moya, Carlos Alegria, Joaquin Boldrini
Artist Location: New York City, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

CLOUDFIELD….

Fresh Kills Park, given its fragile connotation and character it’s perceived as a crystal-likeplace for any physical intervention, like a balloon close to a needle, it requires a surgical or gentle approach to any proposal. The thick layered condition of its soil, waste, soil, becomes a natural generator of layers that accumulate over time giving insights of what an energy device should operate on this specific site. The proposal aims to add a new soft layer of energy/wild life support that brings life into the site over the existent condition and fulfilling the broken ecosystem cycle that was in place pre-landfill times.

WHY A CLOUD?

For us the starting point for this challenging project was how to become part of the construction process of a new landscape. The answer may reside on the key word of PROCESS; it will require then a method, a means of growth to support the REGENERATION of a new landscape, a new aesthetic that also embraces the underground condition of the site. For us it will require an ethereal ally, a gentle sentinel system which aim is to PURIFY the ecosystem by means of the substratum enrichment and also by switching the meaning of the park into a positive realm. The CLOUD symbolizes the transitional state of a park at its embryonic phase, in a more abstract approach a CLOUD is the matter of all matters, condensed water as a basic knowledge; it’s also the most common natural element in our everyday life, constantly mutating shapes and moods, seeing as providers of life with rains and sun shade, playing a crucial role in our ecosystem, balancing the environments with their presence.

CloudFields is conceived as a living device in it-self, evolutionary per-se, a living sculpture instead of an object sculpture. The main purpose of the project is to restore the historic and original condition of the place, developing organic and sustainable skins on each of the cloud types, from solar applications to green layered skins with the aim to understand the sustainability on its holistic approach not only energy driven but even most important is to be engaged with the wild-life and ecosystem in all levels, where the fields are irrigated with organic matter that enriches the soil and therefore builds over time a new ecosystem that will reach its former maturity.

The modern sense of urban parks are directly linked with the habitat experience that can produce, and the future sense will be directly linked not only of the habitat and experience but also the energy it can produce, in that way the CloudFields will set a new paradigm of how a future urban park should behave, merging into one both realms. The direct relationship between sun and clouds makes them an ideal match for solar application as the energy strategy to go for. In overall, The CLOUDFIELDS are a dreamlike image that aims to shift the current negative perception that the community has from the Fresh Kills Landfill area into the positive realm.

SITE LAYOUT

The layout on site of the clouds define 3 main nodes at the top of the mounds, 1 node at the North Park and 2 nodes at the East Park (north and south end), linking all 3 nodes by a path of clouds where pedestrian activities are supporting the promenade of the site with sightseeing spots along the trail. This layout engages the initial master plan proposed for the whole Landfill site setting a framework to contemplate from any given point of the site and surroundings.These devices are set to be lifted from the ground plane to clear the eye level views and allocating the solar panels at a higher altitude for grteater solar radiance capture.

The distribution program is set in 6 different options, this gives the flexibility to adjust the quantities according to the required needs of the development, always keeping a balanced approach between human activities, energy supply and wild life support.

TYPOLOGIES

We propose 3 types of clouds addressing the programs that will support all the activities to occur at the park, from energy to wild-life specific, the Blue Cloud (solar energy – Large size), the Green Cloud (wild-life – Medium size), the White Cloud (shade activities – small size); these 3 devices will produce a synergy of events that will bring life to the project. Blue cloud: Large size (150x80x60 ft) aka mother cloud, the solar energy cloud, will supply energy back to the urban energy grid having a 0.18 acres approximate per cloud for solar panel surface (7,840 sqf aprox.) its metal structure diamond grid house solar panels that are wired through the steel post back to the central station. The solar panels are made of OPVC (organic photovoltaic plastic sheet) that will be applied over a PTFE TEFLON COATED FIBERGLASS tensed between the diamond grid. It is also half covered by creeper plants. Green cloud: Medium size (100x54x40 ft),home of wild-life and organic metabolism, fully covered by decidious vegetation (creeper plants) will give organic nutrition to the soil cap as its matter turn into compost during cold seasons. During warm seasons it will attract wild-life with its blossoms. The proposed bamboo diamond grid structure will mimic the organic growth degrading over the years and becoming part of the landscape. White cloud: Small size (75x40x30 ft), it is the shade-cloud, it provides shelter and covered area for events such as music, theater, picnic, etc. Made out of a metal structure diamond grid as the blue cloud, the skin is a tensed recyclable membrane that can collect rain or fog water for other site maintenances and irrigation of the soil. It operates as a spontaneous tent if needed. The multiple combination of these 3 clouds define clusters types that can be reproduced as many times the projects requires. To manage efficiencies and reduce construction cost they all share the same structural typology, using a diamond grid that defines its shape generated from a single module in various scales, they house all the features for each type so solar panels, planters, irrigation systems, etc. are part of the structure.

STRUCTURE

The ground structure is defined by strategic points for post anchors that ties back the diamond grid structure to a foot wall half buried on the 6’’ top soil cap to avoid harm to the landfill caps underneath, the foot walls will become benches or tables for the users in different areas, defining also an inner space under the clouds. The vertical steel posts are positioned in a non-Cartesian position to create a forest-like view scape that aims to blend with the future organic growth of the site.

ENERGY OUTCOME

Our main source of energy is the sun, therefore the selection of the solar panel to be applied has to relate to the easthetics of the project, structural constrains of the site and availabilityin the market. OPVC (Organic Photovoltaic Plastic Sheet) is a 3rd generation solar panel that complies with all these requirements, part of its properties are that has a 5%-10% eficiency in energy outcome, other advantages of the OPVC is that is a lightweigth material that minimizes the structural load for structural sizing, it has an inherent flexibility to be applied in complex geometrical surfaces, its translucency means that can also be applied over a ligth transmitting surfaces such as poly composed plastic membranes or glass; and finally it doesn’t require to be set on a fix angle due to its energy outcome requires the radiance precense of daylight (non direct sunlight). Since the panel surfaces are placed at the top of the cloud structure their radiance capturing performance is enhanced and secured of any casted shadows and obstruction.

The CloudField proposes 6 options of solar applications that ranges from a 10.8 acre min. to 16.2 acre max. According to wich setting is choosen for the final development. The energy that is provided by the solar panels will be sent to the urban grid and sold for park management income.

The Beauty of Recycling
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Daniel Elmore
Artist Location: Cherry Hill, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

The “Beauty of Recycling” seeks to enforce the importance of recycling by creating solar energy collectors that not only harvest the sun’s energy, but creates a spectacular light show during the twilight hours. These solar energy collectors, composed largely of recycled materials, collect energy throughout the day, reserving small amounts of energy for a daily “Twilight Show”. The rest of the energy is distributed to local power grids. Spheres made of recycled plastic float on the surface of the water, tethered to the riverbed by anchored pulleys controlling their various heights and levels of submersion. These solar-energy-collecting spheres will go through a daily cycle of collecting energy from dawn to dusk. When the sun begins to set, the devices are submerged underwater and multi-colored LED lights within the devices’ plastic spheres begin to glow, creating a spectacular lightshow for park visitors that compliments the natural beauty of the setting sun.

The goal of the project is to avoid potentially endangering the existing engineered systems and infrastructure of the landfill. Instead, by simplest means possible, the project seeks to attract visitors who will enjoy its natural beauty. To assure minimal environment impact, and allow for easy installation, the devices are simply anchored to the riverbed through the use of steel nails (not to exceed 3 feet in length). The design of the device naturally insures that these nails are secured at varying angles to enhance its grip to the riverbed. When the Twilight Show is over, the devices are completely submerged until the next day when the cycle will recommence. Visitors to the Freshkills Park will leave this former landfill with a greater appreciation for nature, an understanding of technology’s potential to compliment nature, rather than destroy it, and our ability to merge vision and beauty in the realm of recycling.

Solar Bloom
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Robert Cervellione
Artist Location: New York City, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

Solar Bloom is a project which merges technology with nature to create a unique solar harvesting system. The project is adaptable, scalable and can be deployed on the site in phases. Visitors will be encouraged to inhabit the Solar Bloom clusters. The design of the clusters is intended to invoke an altered sense of nature, where natural elements intertwine with the man made. The clusters are envisioned as a place of play as well as for social and cultural activities. Visitors can escape the openness of the site and enjoy some shade from the blooms overhead gathering the sun energy. Visitors will be able to directly engage with the energy being harvested by providing outlets to allow charging and powering their devices.

At the heart of the Solar Bloom is a 3.4 Kw Free-Piston Sterling Dish Engine, a technology that is proven and easy to maintain. All the systems and design elements shown in the proposal are easily fabricated or commercially available. The design incorporates three main elements based on plant systems, the base (root system), the support (stems), and the solar collectors (blooms).

The base is made up of an interwoven concrete support system that is designed to stabilize the stem and blooms by distributing the load across a wide surface area. This will help ensure minimal impact to the delicate site condition by putting nominal pressure on the multiple layers which make up the landfill cap. The base also allows for the system to adapt to the varying slopes of the site and navigate around the numerous landfill elements such as the gas vents. The shape of the concrete base will also allow for all of the internal mechanics such as transformers and battery storage to be enclosed and out of sight. The base will also feature a grooved pattern in the concrete to foster the growth of natural moss and ground cover plants.

The design for the clusters stems is based on the idea of grafting. Each bloom will be supported by multiple grafted stems emanating from the base and merging at the bloom. This arrangement allows the system to become structurally stable. Each stem is connected to one or two other stems creating a rigid A-frame or tripod like arrangement. The stems are made of 18 inch diameter structural steel tubes that are curved in a series of 10 typical radii allowing for a modular construction of the stem system. The curved pipe sections are then cut to specific arc lengths and assembled together to create the stems. With the 10 modular radii there are over 2000 combinations possible allowing for varied and unique stem system.

At the top of the stems are the blooms which are the heart of the system. The blooms house a 3.4 kW free piston Sterling Engine with a 15.4 foot diameter reflective dish. The dish engine is enclosed with a translucent panel made of an eco-friendly resin that is 40 percent recycled content and 100 percent recyclable. The enclosure is illuminated at night with a series of energy efficient LED lights. The intensity of the LED lights at night will vary depending on the amount of energy the bloom collected for that day allowing the visitors to see a visual representation of the systems efficacy. The entire bloom is structured with a lightweight steel and aluminum support structure which is mounted to a 2 axis solar tracking system to ensure optimal collector efficiency.

Environmental Impact Statement

The proposed design will accommodate enough energy to sustain the entire phase I and Phase II energy demand of the site. The system is capable of producing 93,230 kWH/day which is over 4 times the energy required for phase II (assuming LEED building principles from table 15-3 of the FreshkillsGEIS). This would allow Freshkills Park to be a significantly net positive energy project.

The design, material, and construction follow LEED Green Building practices to ensure the least amount of environmental impact. The proposed design will not affect existing waterways, engineered systems, or infrastructure. The proposed system was design to float on the existing landfill which will distribute the weight of the system as well as conform to the natural slopes of the site and minimizing the impact on the landfill cap. The design also allows for access to existing infrastructure elements on the site. The design is modular in nature and a significant portion of the clusters can be manufactures off site allowing minimal disruption of the site during construction of the clusters.

NAWT Balloons
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Thomas Kelley, Carrie Norman, Sarah Jazmine Fugate
Artist Location: Chicago, USA

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Artist Descriptive Text:

It is a common misconception that Phileas Fogg’s journey in Around the World in Eighty Days was by hot air balloon. The iconic image, however, fulfills a visual nostalgia for the whimsical beauty of a floating mass. Despite the misreading of Verne’s text, the image is far too satisfying to pass up and we accept the error. The aim of this project is to couple the image of an oversized helium-filled teardrop with a nuanced application of wind energy technology. While the balloon’s image and subsequent geometry are the primitives to our submission, the deployment on the Fresh Kills site ignites an interest in the oversized and the attenuated. Thousands of airborne wind turbines are embedded in conic hair follicles which are applied to the balloon’s curved surface. Skewing the iconic image of Verne’s bouyant transportation, the aim of NAWT Balloons is not flight or expedition. But through its multiplication and reconfiguration, it may be able to produce new, yet familiar, collections of iconicity. It is our belief that it is not important if the method of travel in Fogg’s journey is often depicted falsely, but rather that it continues to strike a chord with the eyes, both young and old.

Technical:

The hegemony of the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine must end! Nuance and whimsy are not the enemies of efficiency!

Currently, in the developing wind energy industry, the iconic HAWT is prevalent. In part, the HAWT prevails because of the equation for the available energy in wind: Ek = ½ p A v3, where p is the air density, A is the part of the turbine swept by the wind, and v3 is the velocity of the wind. Since on any given site, designers can do little to control p and v, they have thus far focused on increasing the swept area, A. For a HAWT, A = ∏r2, so the industry has tended toward larger and larger turbines, because energy outputs are a function of the square of the radius of the turbine. Thus goes the conventional thinking that bigger is always better. If the question being asked is, “How can we make the most energy from a single wind turbine?” then such a response is the only logical one.

Yet, the bigger a HAWT is, the deeper and more intrusive its foundations must be and the more embodied energy it must contain. Furthermore, the bigger a HAWT is, the further it has to be spaced from other HAWTs to function efficiently. The Fresh Kills site, for example, can only host up to five large HAWTs, despite its sprawling size. What if the question asked were, “How can we achieve the greatest density of energy production on this site, with its given area and given three dimensional wind conditions?” When the question is posed in this more specific and nuanced way, we see that bigger is not necessarily denser.

The wind energy industry is starting to explore the idea of energy density in addition to exploring ways to increase the energy produced at any one point. Much research has been done (particularly by Professor John Dabiri at Caltech) to show that Vertical Axis Wind Turbines can nest more closely together than HAWTs, can turn in complementary directions, and can increase in efficiency without increasing their footprints by growing vertically. The swept area for a VAWT is A = rh, where r is the radius of the turbine and h is its height.

This project resists the simplicity of the thinking that has lead to HAWT dominance and uses the VAWT as a starting point. It is also highly influenced by the whimsy of Airborne Wind Turbines of all types–from the kytoon to the Magenn Air Rotor System.

The project proposes mounting an array of VAWT-style turbines to the surface of balloons, with each turbine held normal to the balloon’s surface. This new type of turbine, the Normal Axis Wind Turbine, adds a sculptural, whimsical quality to the surface of each balloon. The turbines are light, interchangeable, and have very low embodied energy. Because each balloon is held aloft by the buoyancy of helium gas, only minimal foundations are required for tie-downs, resulting in less disruption of the site. And though each turbine produces only a tiny fraction of the energy produced by a large HAWT, the turbines nest tightly together while minimally disrupting each other’s efficiencies.

Furthermore, the balloons’ height and cluster patterns can be adjusted to increase energy output as needed, since the balloons can be allowed to go higher to catch stronger winds and since adding more balloons to the same tie-down location is relatively simple.

Like so many examples from nature, the Normal Axis Wind Turbine balloon builds up to high energy output through density and cellularity.

Art Wind Energy Unit (A.W.E.)
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Ana Morcillo Pallares, Jonathan Rule
Artist Location: Cieza (Murcia), Spain

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Artist Descriptive Text:

The A.W.E. unit or Art Wind Energy unit, combines sculpture, engineering and wind to generate clean energy and offset the new energy demands at Freshkills. The A.W.E. kinetically twists making reference to the cyclical movement produced by the winds interaction with the turbines. It is composed to be a piece that attracts the attention of the visitor through a visual stimulation evoked by its structural fragility. In addition, it serves as a spatial generator to be used as a 360° look-out so visitors can gaze in AWE at the transformation that has taken place at Freshkills.

The site chosen for the first five units is the North Park mound which is to be built-out by 2016. The units are integrated within the internal park road and path system as well serving as a look-out point as indicated in the Draft Master Plan. An additional 10 units can be installed on the East Park mound when it reaches completion in 2036. To mitigate negative effects on the mounds fragile cap, the choice was made to use a lightweight tensegrity structure. Large invasive structures that might become obsolete overtime are avoided. Instead the design responds to the history of change on the site by proposing a structure that is both flexible and adaptable.

Tensegrity is a combination of tensile-integrity as coined by R. Buckminster Fuller, who described these structures as, “small islands of compression in a sea of tension.” A tensegrity structure was chosen for its inherent and unique capabilities that are not found in traditional structures. They are highly adaptable and can be easily erected and dismantled making them ideal for reusable, modular structures. In the case of Freshkills, the mounds are in constant flux as a result of the decomposition of waste under the cap. This differential settlement is difficult to quantify and therefore requires a structure that is tunable to prevent possible damage and collapse.

The need to minimize the impact on the natural environment and preserve the landfill cap requires that the weight of the structure be distributed. The structure consists of 10 load bearing points organized in a circular array. Connecting to the ground at multiple points evenly distributes the weight allowing for the use of smaller foundation and reduces the risk of puncturing the cap. There are 10 structural tubes that are interconnected through a series of cables suspending the structure in a state of tension and compression. To help reduce the overall weight of the structure and minimize the emission of greenhouse gas, the tubes are made of 100% recycled structural plastic lumber. In comparison to traditional materials, recycled plastic structures have a lower embodied energy. They require less energy to produce and due to their weight require less energy to transport them to the site. Additionally, they do not leach toxic chemicals into the soil and water and will outlast treated wood products in harsh outdoor environments.

While tensegrity structures serve a technical purpose through their ability to distribute structural loads, they can also be considered works of art as seen in the sculptures of Kenneth Snelson. The visitor can be stimulated and challenged by the contrast between compressive and tensile members that evoke a sense of weightlessness and fragility. On the other hand the cylindrical form chosen for the structure is intended to convey a sense of cyclical movement that is also found in the integrated vertical windpsires used to capture energy.

Energy production in this installation is made possible by the incorporation of a series of VAWT windspire wind turbines. These turbines were chosen for various reasons. The turbines are made of light weight aircraft grade aluminum; therefore, reducing the overall load on the landfill cap. They can be placed lower to the ground and grouped together reducing required surface area for the installation. They are also designed to be safe and silent enough to not bother visitors. Additionally, these turbines benefit from an integrated transformer allowing for a direct connection to the grid.

The group of windspires is surrounded by an envelope that provides various functions. Its conical form and open slits concentrate the wind, increasing the wind speed inside the cone by up to 1.4x allowing for more energy to be generated. The cone also acts as a shield to protect wildlife from flying into the turbines. Finally, the cone is clad in “solar ivy” allowing for a second means of capturing energy, while at the same time providing shade for the visitor. Solar ivy is locally made in Brooklyn and is a customizable system for renewable energy generation made from thin-film photovoltaic’s that mimics the form of ivy and its relationship with the environment. The combination of systems for collecting energy and the climatic factors found at Freshkills will allow a single A.W.E. unit to produce 29,000 kWH/year.

According to the Freshkills Park Environmental Impact Statement, one of the challenges is how to offset the new demand for energy resulting from new park services and structures. There are two dates, 2016 and 2036, representing when areas of the park will be open and create a new demand for energy. The program through 2016 includes both North and South Parks and a portion of Creek Landing with an energy demand of 12,258 kWH/day. The 2036 program includes East and West Park and an energy demand of 30,589 kWH/day. The goal of the current plan is to offset this demand using different sustainable strategies including powering 10% through the use of wind power. To achieve this, the plan calls for two mid size wind turbines to be located in off-mound areas. The A.W.E. units, which are much smaller in scale, can be located on the mounds and provide a space for visitors to rest and take in the views. In addition, locating wind turbines on top of the mounds takes advantage of the speed up effect created by the movement of wind over a smooth hill. The units can produce 3.25% of the energy demand for 2016 and 3.90% of the total demand by 2036.

The Solar Cairn
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Julianne Brown, Christian Brown, Onion 3D Design
Artist Location: New York City, USA

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As a softly shining pattern of arching, translucent shapes by day or a subtle glowing form on a distant hilltop at night, the Solar Cairn represents a meditative landmark for human visitors while Freshkills’ more indigenous inhabitants will find cover within its bounds. Positioned on the north side of East Mound, it is located on 5 acres of the design site affording maximum sunlight per year. Borne from the concept that humanity is inexorably linked to the earth and sun, the Cairn gently rises out of the summit of the human-made landform. It is developed in parallel to the idea of cairns found in Europe through the ages as navigational guideposts, or commemorating a cemetery outside community boundaries. The Solar Cairn as an acknowledgement of Freshkills Landfill’s 60+ year history; it is a landmark serving as a reminder of the consequences of over-consumption as well as the advantages and disadvantages of a throw-away society. It also stands as a guidepost on Freshkills’ long journey back towards a more natural state.


The Solar Cairn is constructed of photovoltaic thin film (amorphous silicon) installed over arching frames ranging from 5.3 to 22.4 feet in height, positioned in concentric circles.

The varying heights simulate the heights of natural shrubs and trees which would provide cover to wildlife at an altitude within Freshkills Park which will not be forested for many years to come. The highest row of arcs is to include a roost bar for flighted animals positioned on the underside of the structural armature. The 17-foot wide pieces are secured to the ground via meshed grid footings which allow drainage and reduce erosion. The circular caverns created by the vaults create opportunities for transformers to be safely housed within physically secured locations. A motion-activated sound system will sound should a visitor cross into a restricted area. Because the Solar Cairn is modular, it is scalable and may be tested. The Solar Cairn will not involve impact and/or disturbance to sensitive ecological receptors (i.e. freshwater or tidal wetlands, water quality, aquatic habitat, air quality, natural and native vegetation). Panel position may be negotiated around passive venting system and drainage infrastructure. 

Several approaches leading to the Cairn ascend through East Mound’s fields of native grasses and vegetation. The visitor begins the slow transformation from spectator to active participant through the desire to explore what lies inside the shining circular structure on the hilltop. The journey to the center of the site, similar to hiking to the top of a mountain to enjoy its sweeping views, requires effort and curiosity. Repeating layers of crystalline vaults lift skyward, capturing the varying light of day and entreating the visitor to gaze deeply into the long circular corridors, perhaps to catch a glimpse of a fleeting animal. As the visitor enters the Cairn through the eastern corridor, they become aware of subtle isolation from the wider landscape and the arrival into a tranquil place creating a harmonious balance between nature and human. The sounds of small birds flitting high above on the panel edges betray their presence, while native animals wind through the shade created by the Cairn and the growing and changing plants beneath; affirmation of nature’s constancy and its ability to renew.

Arrival at the center of the Cairn completes the physical journey; separation from the wider natural environment into a space defined by a crescendo of billowing translucent vaults which safely and passively convert sunlight into 810,069 kWh annually.

The central space of the Cairn is delineated into three distinct areas; past (south), present (center walkway and sundial) and future (north). In acknowledgement of humankind’s environmental desecration of the area in mere decades, the Solar Cairn draws us into contemplation of our integration within this landscape; past, present and future. By design, the visitor enters the Cairn through the eastern hallway in the ‘present’ both existentially and physically. The placid open interior surrounded by a native vegetation border allows the visitor serene reflection of Freshkills unfolding history as well as its ongoing metamorphosis and recovering ecosystem slowly turning to towards its pre-landfill state. The interior space is surfaced with different types of recycled materials which will allow for even drainage across the area and not interfere with the landfill cap drainage system or venting systems.

By standing on the sundial in the center of the interior space, the visitor becomes the gnomon in order to tell time; witnessing their own existence in time and physical relationship to the earth and sun. The visitor becomes an integral part of the Cairn, their very existence in that time and space playing an important role in the functionality of the sundial. Benches aligned with the edge of the open air space allow the visitor further opportunity to reflect on the juxtaposition of nature and technology at the site as well as our responsibility as a society to restore and steward this area into the next century. At the Solar Equinox, the rising sun streams through the eastern hallway, penetrating through the interior space of the Cairn to produce inspiring light play at sunrise.

The western side of the Cairn is integrated with a grove of Dwarf Chestnut Oak Trees planted in Fibonacci series as nature’s contrast to the placement of the panels. Acorns from the grove serve as a source of food for native wildlife in autumn. Exiting the Cairn through west side, the visitor may experience an egress through the serene natural intimacy of the grove and again return to the park footpaths. After dark, the Cairn glows softly via LED lighting designed into the panel support structures.

Designed to harmonize with Freshkills’ recovering ecosystem and park visitors, the Solar Cairn is a landmark of renewal, transforming sunlight, as well as perceptions, of one of the largest inactive landfills in the United States.

Fresh Clouds
Submission to the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative NYC design competition

Artist Team: Thomas Kosbau, Joseph Hines, Brendan Warford, Chris Smith, Sergio Saucedo
Artist Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
www.oredesign.org

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The Fresh Clouds project is built upon the concept of harvesting the byproducts of human consumption, through an innovative use of today’s technology and materials, into a resource stream.

From 1947 through 2001 the Fresh Kills Landfill received up to 29,000 tons of garbage a day*. Following the closure and capping of the Landfill, the original plan to build a recreation area over the 2,200 acre site was resumed.
The buried garbage is slowly digesting into poisonous and volatile methane gas deposits. The LAGI Competition Site, Area 3/4, is currently producing 19,000 cubic feet of methane gas per minute (CFM)* and is estimated to continue producing large amounts of methane through 2050. Currently a large portion of Fresh Kills Methane is piped to a 1988 era National Grid power generator. Even with the current generator burning 5 million cubic feet each day, enough methane to heat 25,000 homes, they cannot handle the methane load**. The resultant methane is burned off locally in onsite flues. Although the existing generator and flues dispose of the poisonous methane, current methods of burning convert it into greenhouse gases and air-pollutants such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide.

Fresh Clouds offers a scalable system that not only converts methane, but also cleans and converts the byproduct hot exhaust directly into energy at a local level. Creating energy directly at each well will reduce the required amount of infrastructure to ecologically convert methane to energy. Rather than building or maintaining a large network of gas infrastructure to a single distant electrical plant, Fresh Clouds propose installing micro-turbines at each passive well head, to continuously convert methane into electricity. The hot off-gassing of each micro-turbine flows into high temperature/pressure ETFE balloons.

The geometry of Fresh Clouds was created with a Weaire-Phelan packing script to mimick the structure of methane gas molecules under high pressure. The resultant shape provides optimal structural strength and minimum surface area for the hot gasses produced by the micro-turbines. The exterior layers of the Smart Clouds are composed of high strength ETFE. The interior, receiving high temperatures directly from the micro-turbines, is composed ETFE coated with titanium dioxide and PTFE, which absorbs the CO2 from the exhaust.

The high, internal temperatures of the Fresh Clouds, in comparison with ambient air temperature, result in a tremendous amount of lift. The base of each Cloud is tethered to three steel cables which run through flywheels that are arrayed around the micro-turbines, under an earthen enclosure. These tethering cables are pulled by the Cloud’s lift, causing the flywheels to generate a large amount of electricity. As the cloud approaches a FCC allowable maximum height of 500 ft, the cables pull taught and a series of vents open at the top of the cloud to release the cleaned hot exhaust. The internal temperature of the cloud returns to equilibrium and the cloud descends to the ground to repeat the process.

The electricity from the micro turbines and flywheels are fed directly into the NY metropolitan grid. The estimated sum of the 120 smart clouds, is enough to power 30,000 amount of NY households, which, given the smaller acreage of site 3/4 versus the entire site is over six times more power provided than the existing generator.

Of the 120 Fresh Clouds on site 3/4, dispersed along the existing pathway are 7 larger Clouds that function as floating Ecological Learning Centers. These also rise and fall due to the burning of methane but at a slower rate, pausing for 5 minutes of visitor loading/unloading at the ground level, and 15 minutes of interactive exhibits. Each of the learning has its own unique, but related ecological theme (Freshkills Renewal Project Interpretation; Local vs Global Consumption; Climate Change; Local vs Global Water Polution; New Technologies; Local vs Global Air Polution; and The Earth’s Future). During the ascent the visitor is engaged with interactive projections on the translucent and transparent skins of the Fresh Clouds. The ecological theme of each center is juxtaposed with the present day revitalization of Fresh Kills and the metropolis of the New York Metropolitan area beyond.

Like the smart grid, the smart cloud system not only supplies energy but also monitors energy usage in the NY metro area which is reflected in the color of leds, projecting an ambient glow in each cloud. The more energy used the brighter red, the field of occulting clouds will glow at night providing real time feedback visible to all in a 25 mile radius. As the metro NY area evolves into a more efficient ecological center in the years to come, the clouds will glow a cleaner white.

*Determination of Landfill Gas Composition and Pollutant Emission Rates at Fresh Kills Landfill; Carol Bellizzi; EPA – 1995; DCN 95-654-028-011

**Methane Brings New York $12 Million A Year As Dump Becomes Park; Mike Di Paola – Bloomberg – Aug 24, 2011