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!"
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 July 13, 2006 8:38 AM
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 July 13, 2006 2:05 PM
It's been done, with not much success: the Lagerwey Four-in-One. (scroll down a bit)
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!
worldchanging was founded on the idea that real solutions already exist for building the future we want. it's just a matter of grabbing hold and getting moving.
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:
