Producing renewable energy can become an opportunity to create works of art and spaces for reclaiming the city. What the Lagi 2016 competition is and how it works.
A city transformed into a sprawling work of art, powered by clean energy, capable of reclaiming spaces and breathing new life into them while improving quality of life. This is what Land art generator initiative (Lagi) makes possible — a public competition held every two years to promote the beauty of renewable energy and to imagine solutions that redesign green energy infrastructure by putting people and their quality of life back at the centre. The 2016 edition takes place in Santa Monica, California, one of the coastal destinations of Silicon Beach to the west of Los Angeles, where major tech companies such as Snapchat, Whisper and many others have set up base.
Lagi 2016 calls for the design of a site-specific public artwork that, beyond its conceptual beauty, must be capable of harnessing the energy of nature in a clean way and converting it into electrical energy or drinking water for the city.
This year's theme, alongside clean energy generation, is the production of drinking water. This is a particularly pressing issue in an area like California, which is experiencing severe drought for the fifth consecutive year — decimating the Sierra Nevada forests at a record rate and battling the risk of wildfires that frequently threaten residents.
The projects proposed by artists, architects, landscape designers and other creative professionals who have worked alongside engineers and scientists are all aimed at generating energy by harnessing waves, tides, wind, sun and other renewable sources. The competition winners will be announced on 6 October at Greenbuilding in Los Angeles.