The prize for the winning design of Land Art Generator Initiative’s (LAGI) first international design competition, which was held this year in the UAE, will be sponsored by Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s multi-faceted initiative advancing the development, commercialisation and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions.
LAGI is a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary collaboration that has brought together global artists, architects, scientists, landscape architects, and engineers to design energy-generating public art installations to be constructed in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The international competition, which closed on June 4, 2010, received entries from over 40 countries.
Commenting on Masdar’s support to the initiative, Elizabeth Monoian, Principal, Land Art Generator Initiative, said: “Masdar is leading the way to a renewable energy future. The architectural design of Masdar City has consistently set a standard of visual creativity in the methods of integration of both passive sustainable design and active renewable energy systems. Masdar’s support for the integration of renewable energy systems with public art shows their continued support for the cultural aspects of the renewable energy future—a great compliment to the scientific research that Masdar is conducting which is so necessary to achieve that future.”
The winning team will be awarded the prize at the 2011 World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi (January 17-19, 2011) with the award ceremony taking place as part of the Land Art Generator exhibition at the Masdar stand.
“The 2010 LAGI design competition was launched earlier this year on January 18th at the most recent World Future Energy Summit, and so it is fitting that the award should be announced at the WFES 2011 summit,” Monoian added.
Commenting on the support to LAGI, Nawal Al Hosany, Associate Director, Sustainability for Masdar commented: “We are extremely proud to be supporting LAGI’s important initiative for UAE. Sustainable design solutions play a vital role as we actively pursue the challenges related to renewable energy, energy efficiency and climate change.
Sustainable design is key to many of our projects, indeed the wind tower featured at the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology building in Masdar City is a living example of how it is possible to combine a traditional cooling system with modern, sustainable and functional design solutions.”
Once constructed, the selected design will be the first ever in the world and will become a tourist destination that draws people from around the world to experience the beauty of the collaborative art creation. At the same time,
the art itself is a working piece of technology and hence has the potential to produce power.
Robert Ferry, Principal, Land Art Generator Initiative, said: “We live in a world that cross-culturally puts a high emphasis on design. As energy generation necessarily comes in closer proximity with the real estate that it powers, issues of aesthetics that drive public acceptance are becoming more and more debated. We believe that it is not only possible, but also necessary that renewable energy generation be integrated into the fabric of our constructed environments. In so doing, these installations must react responsibly to their role as permanent additions to our shared experience. In their most lofted role, they will also serve the more cultural function as works of art that can inspire and educate.
“The residents of the communities in which these artworks are constructed will be pleased to know that some percentage of the power that is being used by the lights in their home has been generated cleanly by works of art. Sustainability in communities is not only about resources, but it is also about harmony.”
A select jury panel consisting of 20 local and international artists, architects, academicians, industry leaders and writers have reviewed the entries. All the designs will be posted on the Land Art Generator Initiative blog site (http://www.landartgenerator.org/blagi/)—about three per week during the autumn.
