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A national jury of artists, architects, landscape architects, and environmental or renewable energy advocates recently selected the award-winning entries to “WindsCape/An Ideas Competition Envisioning Renewable Energy for Cape Cod”. The BSA sponsored this competition in response to ongoing public debate about the proposed development of America’s first offshore wind farm in Massachusetts’ Nantucket Sound. Three young Boston designers — Tom Collins, Assoc. AIA of Payette Associates, Marcel Graeff of the DiNisco Design Partnership, and Kathy Wislocky of William Wilson Associated Architects — proposed and organized this ideas competition.
The jurors included Boston architecture critic Robert Campbell FAIA, New York City architect Winka Dubbeldam of Archi-tectonics, Massachusetts architect Bill Reed LEED, AIA of Integrative Design Collaborative, Vermont artist Michael Singer, and Cambridge landscape architect Laura Solano of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The jury gathered at the BSA in December and selected these award-winning entries:
Click banner to view project images and jury comments. |
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Click banner to view project images and jury comments. |
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Click banner to view project images and jury comments. |
Over 180 individuals and teams registered for the competition and ultimately the BSA received 65 submissions from eleven nations (Australia, Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, Scotland, the Netherlands, and 27 states in the U.S.). The diversity of the registrants provided for many distinct presentations and illustrated the encompassing nature of the subject matter.
The BSA asked entrants to submit proposals that envision how a wind farm could be more than just a utility to generate electricity. Could a grid of offshore wind turbines be a park? a sculpture garden? a sailing and water-sports venue? a tourist destination? a center for scientific research? a place to educate the community about the impact of wind energy on the environment?
The jurors’ comments are available at architects.org/windscape. An exhibit of the winning entries and several other entries will be on display at The Architects Building in downtown Boston through March 3. The exhibit will be displayed again on March 7–9 at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association’s “Building Energy” conference at Boston’s Seaport Hotel and at Residential Design 2006 , Build Boston’s Spring Convention and Tradeshow, April 5-6 at the Seaport World Trade Center, Boston.
The BSA is particularly grateful to the co-sponsors of this competition — BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, Patagonia, The Green Roundtable, and The Urban Arts Institute at the Massachusetts College of Art.
Competition Premise:
Cape Wind Associates has proposed the development of America’s first offshore wind farm, 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, intended to supply 70% of Cape Cod and the Islands with clean and renewable power. Those who oppose the project prefer to preserve the natural beauty of Nantucket Sound as it is. Those who favor the project profess, “it’s not the view, it's the vision” and claim the environmental benefits outweigh the visual impact.
Competition Challenge:
- Can a wind farm be more than just a utility to generate electricity?
- Could a grid of off-shore wind turbines be a park, a sculpture garden, a sailing and water sports venue, a tourist destination, a center for scientific research?
- Can a wind park be a place to educate the community about the impact of wind energy on the environment?
- How do we address the proposed addition of wind farms to our physical and cultural landscape?
Competition Criteria:
- Address the view without losing the vision.
- Design an educational experience to connect public visitors to the wind park. Through this experience, visitors can learn about wind power as a renewable energy source and its impacts on the environment. This can be achieved through either a centralized visitor’s center, a planned experience around or through the park, or a combination of both.
- A suggested visitor’s center site is Kalmus Beach, Hyannis. While entries are not limited to this site, it is a location in good viewing proximity to the proposed wind park and is close to Hyannis harbor ferry terminals for boat access.
- Visions for secondary uses of the turbine field are also encouraged. Recreational uses, research provisions, tours, viewing points, lighting, exhibits and installations are just some of the ideas entries could consider as part of the experience.
- Entries must respect Cape Wind’s economic viability and engineering criteria proposed for the wind park itself. Details will be provided to registered entrants.
- Entries will be judged on innovation of the designed experience; a balance of public planning, art, and education; and an overall understanding of the environmental and visual issues concerning the subject of wind power.
Boston Society of Architects:
The BSA is neither a proponent nor opponent of the proposed wind farm. Rather, the BSA is a facilitator, a professional association of design professionals and others in the building industry that regularly administers programs — including competitions such as this — as educational opportunities for the public and for the professions that constitute the building industry.
Sponsors:
Boston Society of Architects
BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts
N.E.S.E.A
The Green Roundtable
The Urban Arts Institute at the Massachusetts of Art
Jury:
Click here to view the Jurors' Comments (pdf)
The selection of winning entries will be made by a distinguished national jury of artists, architects, landscape architects, and environmental or renewable energy advocates. Invited jurors include:
Robert Campbell FAIA, Architecture Critic, The Boston Globe
Winka Dubbeldam, Principal, Architectonics, New York City
William G. Reed AIA, LEED, Integrative Design Collaborative
Michael Singer, Artist
Laura Solano, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates
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Sponsored by:
Boston Society of Architects/AIA
BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts
An Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
Northeast Sustainable Energy Association
The Green Roundtable
The UrbanArts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art
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Competition schedule:
January 25, 2006
Prize Ceremony and Display of Entries Begins
February 6–March 8, 2006
Exhibit Display at The Architects Building
March 7–9, 2006
Exhibit display at NESEA Building Energy 2006 Conference, Seaport World Trade Center in Boston
April 5–6, 2006
Exhibit display at the Residential Design Conference, Seaport World Trade Center in Boston
June 12-30
Exhibit display at Doric Hall, the State House in Boston
Aug. 14-Sep. 1
Town of Wellfleet
Town Hall
Aug. 24-Sep. 7
Zuiderkerk Amsterdam
Click for location information
Sep. 1-Sep. 15
Sandwich Public Library
Sep. 7-Oct. 7
Provinciehuis Haarlem
Click for location information
Sep. 15-Oct. 6
Truro Center for the Arts
Oct. 6-Oct. 21
Cape Cod Community College (in conjunction with the annual NESEA green building tour)
Oct. 7-Nov. 1
Ministry of VROM
Atelier Rijksbouwmeester Den Haag
Click for location information
Feb. 11-Mar. 20
2007
Massachusetts College of Art
President’s Gallery
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