LAGI 2016

site typology: coastal

The LAGI 2016 design competition invited teams to design a site-specific public artwork that, in addition to its conceptual beauty, has the ability to harness energy cleanly from nature and convert it into electricity and/or drinking water for the City of Santa Monica.

The 2016 design site offered participating teams the opportunity to utilize wave and tidal energies as well as wind, solar, and other technologies.

As California faced severe water shortages that year, it served as a sign of future droughts. The amount of energy required for water production and transmission is sure to increase over time as rainfall becomes more volatile. For this reason we expanded our definition of sustainable infrastructure artwork to include proposals in 2016 that produce drinking water—either in addition to, or in place of—clean electricity.

LAGI 2016 fit well into the context of the ongoing efforts being made in Santa Monica to increase efficiency of water consumption and to harvest water sustainably. The Santa Monica Pier is currently investigating ways to drastically reduce the use of potable water on site, like the use of recycled seawater for toilet flushing, to take one example.

The City of Santa Monica has demonstrated the ability of sustainable infrastructures to provide an aesthetic and educational amenity for the community through its Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURFF), located just next to the Pier. Visitors to the facility can learn about stormwater runoff, water-borne particulates, filtration processes, and large-scale rainwater reuse at the facility, which treats an average of 500,000 gallons per day of urban runoff (and looks nice too).

Proposals to LAGI 2016 serve to push the conversation even further and provide new ideas for innovation. By elevating the vital urban systems that provide our energy and water to the level of public art, we can challenge those who would disapprove of these important infrastructures on aesthetic grounds, especially at sites that are cherished for their cultural value and identity (like the Santa Monica Pier Breakwater).

As California works to achieve its important renewable energy portfolio goal (raised to 50% by 2030 in the governor’s January 5, 2015 State of the State Address) large-scale exurban generation will be increasingly augmented by urban micro-generation. As the infrastructures that will cleanly power our future productivity become more prevalent in our commercial and residential centers, the issue of their aesthetic integration becomes more important.

The LAGI 2016 awards were presented by
Eric Corey Freed at Greenbuild 2016 in Los Angeles. LAGI 2016 exhibitions included Greenbuild at the LA Convention Center (Los Angeles), the Annenberg Community Beach House (Santa Monica), and SXSW ECO (Austin).

Supporters

Thanks to the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation for support of the 2016 LAGI Prestel Publication

Individual supporters include:

Rhonda Hauff, Anita Monoian, Peter Coombe, Lance Diernback, Geoffrey Glick, Dan Hughes, Michael Ferry and Susie Boucher, Rebecca Ehemann

LAGI 2016 Partners

The City of Santa Monica
Santa Monica is an 8.3 square mile city situated at a gateway to the Pacific Ocean on the west side of Los Angeles County. Offering an environment of unparalleled natural beauty, the city is home to a mix of residential communities, commercial districts, and recreational and art venues. The City is a national leader in environmental, economic and social sustainability. Santa Monica also operates Big Blue Bus, Santa Monica Pier, CityNet, Santa Monica Airport, Woodlawn Cemetery five community libraries, and water department.

Green Public Art Consultancy
Green Public Art Consultancy teams with progressive public and private agencies, artists, architects and urban developers in the U.S. and abroad, to increase the aesthetic appeal of new construction and city planning with site-specific public art. Green Public Art specializes in the integration of public art into green building projects and provides comprehensive project management services for both public and private spaces including conceptual programming, artist and material selection, community engagement strategies, as well as oversight of fabrication, installation and maintenance of artworks.

USGBC LA
A non-profit environmental organization made up of over one thousand architects, designers, engineers, students, property managers, builders, consultants, and lawyers. USGBC-LA offers a variety of events including tours of green building projects, LEED workshops and customized trainings, conferences, networking mixers, and volunteer appreciation events.

MOAH Museum of Art & History
The Lancaster Museum of Art and History is dedicated to strengthening awareness, enhancing accessibility and igniting the appreciation of art, history and culture in the Antelope Valley through dynamic exhibitions, innovative educational programs, creative community engagement and a vibrant collection that celebrates the richness of the region. MOAH was instrumental in supporting the LAGI 2016 Youth Prize, which was won by Quartz Hill High School, Antelope Valley Union High School District. Since 2016 the LAGI Youth Prize has gone through a number of iterations with the most recent being held for the SEE MONSTER site in the U.K. Learn more at https://youth.landartgenerator.org/.

County of Los Angeles Dept. of Public Works
LA County Public Works is responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of roads, traffic signals, bridges, airports, sewers, flood control, water supply, water quality, and water conservation facilities. Its diverse operations fall within six core service areas: Transportation, Water Resources, Waste Management, Public Buildings, Development Services, and Emergency Management.

Santa Monica Pier

The Bay Foundation
The Bay Foundation (TBF)—also known as the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Foundation—is a 501(c) 3 non-profit environmental group founded in 1990 to restore and enhance the Santa Monica Bay and local coastal waters. TBF is staffed by science and policy experts who are passionate about understanding and protecting the Bay and the Bay watershed, and all the benefits that a healthy ecosystem can provide all those who use and enjoy it.

Los Angeles County Arts Commission
The Los Angeles County Arts Commission fosters excellence, diversity, vitality, understanding and accessibility of the arts in Los Angeles County, encompassing 88 municipalities, and provides leadership in cultural services. lacountyarts.org.

Shawati’ Magazine
Shawati’ cares about serving readers with information that empowers, inspires and creates change as we promote and support the principles and practices of intellectual freedom. Shawati’ is not a podium comprised of fast-paced news blurbs written for the masses; it is an in-depth and timeless visual manuscript comprised of; new innovations and inspirations, creative explorations, insightful interviews, as well as multi-cultural dialogues provoking a global exchange of ideas, additionally we examine each aspect related to life and environment.

Design Brief

Follow this link to find the > LAGI 2016 Design Brief Document

Publication

Powering Places, Prestel Publishing
Purchase >