More multifunctional infrastructure that transcends into art with several design proposals for the electrical transmission pylon of the future. Not to say that fractal triangulations of most transmission towers don’t have an inherent beauty, but most are engineered only for cost, durability, and installation ease – not aesthetics. There have been several notable design competitions around the world, from Iceland to the UK.
the RIBA / DECC/ National Grid Pylon Design Competition
Winners were announced Sept 14th, 2011, it’s worth looking through the entire competition gallery or visiting the exhibit on view at the V&A Museum until Wednesday 05 October 2011.
Gustafson Porter with Atelier One and Pfisterer
Plexus (Al-A with Arup), UK
Architect: New Town Studio Engineer: Structure Workshop
ESBI, Roughan O'Donovan & Knight Architects
Icelandic High-Voltage Electrical Pylon International Design Competition 2010
Organized by Landsnet and the Association of Icelandic Architects.(No single gallery of the winners – so here are a few picks gleaned from the web).
Land of Giants by Choi + Shine got Honorable Mentions, but most of the press.
Dietmar Koering of Arphenotype seems a very dated bit of parametric blobitecture.
Other pylon projects worth sharing:
Hugh Dutton 'innovative single-pole pylon' (The Rosental Group), Italy
Norman Foster for the Italian utility ENEL
More on the Pylons of the Future [pdf]
related post: Infrastructure Art
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More writings about infrastructure art:
http://islandsinstitute.pbworks.com/w/page/20166711/Infrastructure
[UPDATE 10/27] the NYtimes reports on the winning entry to the RIBA Comptetion by bystrup architects:
