Windshape
Submission to the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative Copenhagen design competition
Artist Team: Manon Robert, Martin Le Carboulec, Marc Antoine Galup
Artist Location: Seoul, South Korea
Energy Technologies: piezoelectric fabric, rotating electromagnetic generators
Wind speed is transformed into energy with Windshape. The 302 poles, each supporting several piezoelectric textile banners, reshape and transform the site according to the natural wind direction.
As the wind can come from any direction and change quickly, the site will never look the same from one visit to the next. To engage the public in the process, the dimensions of each sail panel are imagined at human scale. Visitors will enjoy getting lost in the changing spaces and observing others as they pass between the sails.
Some sails are intentionally fixed in order to create a passage through the site to the entrance and water taxi terminal. The others are completely free, but can be temporarily fixed by users who would like to modulate the space. These outdoor rooms created by the sail rotations can be both intimate and public.
Several factors inform the design of the sail. The main inspiration was a study of windsurfing sails and their fabrication. A succession of different types of layers on the surface of the sails (aramid fiber scrim and mylar protection) provides tensile strength and protects the piezoelectric fabric layer.
The fabric provides an estimated output power density in the range of 1.10–5.10_W /cm2 at applied wind pressures in the range of 0.02–0.10 MPa. In addition, the dynamo system at the base converts rotational energy with an estimated peak output power of 3.5W. LED lights located in the poles softly illuminate the area at night, making it visible from the opposite shore as a reminder of the power of Copenhagen wind.
