Flower Power
Regine Debatty, 12 Jul 06
The Dutch advisory for the landscape asked designers to come up with a new generation wind mills. 100 MW mountains, a cooperation between One Architecture, Ton Matton and NL architect, suggested that grouping up to 10 turbines into a kind of flower bouquet would add a nice touch to the landscape:
"Flower arrangement with windmills. Landscape pollution to monumental statement. From candleholder to tree, from Eifeltower to St Louis Arch; Energy production turns 'heroic". The Atomium, but productive: Flower Power!"
(Thanks David!)
Ooh, now that's something I like! Looks better and if it can help make windmills more "accessible", I'm all for it.
Posted by: Papilionoidea on 13 Jul 06
This looks like something I designed for fun a while ago.
Check out my Wind Tree at the Halfbakery:
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Wind_20tree#1149442556
Posted by: Lorenzo on 13 Jul 06
On second thought, I think this guy really stole my idea. I'm sueing him. I'm going to be rich.
Posted by: Lorenzo on 13 Jul 06
Um... Nice try, but I fear this is rather impractical. Wind turbine nacelles are pretty heavy, and subject to some severe forces: a support structure like the one pictured would have to be heavily engineered and unlikely to be cost effective. Plus, on the assumption that the nacelles turn to face the wind direction (if they don't then they would lose a significant proportion of the wind energy), at least one of the turbines pictured looks like it would have blades clashing with the support structure. And you would get shadowing effects from the towers that would play merry hell with blade fatigue loadings. OK, I'll stop being a killjoy there, but there are reasons for wind turbines looking like they do. With my sneaking respect for Modernist aesthetics, I like them on form-follows-function beauty grounds.
Posted by: Doctor Edge on 13 Jul 06
It's been done, with not much success: the Lagerwey Four-in-One. (scroll down a bit)
Posted by: scruss on 13 Jul 06
For all the drawbacks pointed out by comments above, this is one of those lovely Worldchanging images that has the potential to tweak the way people think about their lives, the landscape, and the future. Bravo!
Posted by: Ted on 14 Jul 06
