Design beautiful Pylons? - A Real Challenge!
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| Ugly pylon days numbered? |
A new competition has been launched, run by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and National Grid, that calls for designs for a new generation of pylon.
There are more than 88,000 pylons in the UK, including 22,000 on National Grid’s main transmission network in England and Wales. These stand some 50 metres high, weigh around 30 tonnes and carry up to 400,000 volts of electricity over thousands of kilometres of some of the most exposed, weather-beaten parts of Britain. But the familiar steel lattice tower - long considered a blight on our natural landscape - has barely changed since the 1920s.
This new competition challenges designers to create a pylon that can help "preserve the beauty of the countryside".
With the equivalent of twenty new power stations needed by 2020, and the costs of underground connection being prohibitive, then pylons look like being part of our countryside landscape for generations - so congratulations to the National Grid and the Government for launching this competition!
Ruth Reed, President of RIBA, said: “Design has never been far from our energy network. The current pylon design was chosen by Sir Reginald Blomfield, a leading architect of his day back in 1927, but the familiar steel lattice tower design has barely changed since then. This is a technically challenging but exciting competition, with the potential to improve our landscapes for decades to come, and I expect it to generate widespread interest.”
The competition closes on 12 July 2011, with shortlisted candidates notified at the end of July.
A prize fund of £10,000 will be shared amongst the winning candidates and National Grid will give consideration to developing the winning design for use in future projects.
The competition is now live and open for registration at www.ribapylondesign.com.
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1 comments:
I was delighted to be informed by RIBA that my Rebel-Relic Pylosaur pylon was the runner up to the six finalists. I was also at the presentation at the V&A. My vote goes to the T pylon, it is as minimal as can be, practical, half the price of a regular pylon and is the only pylon created by specialist pylon designers. They are Danish and fun guys, they deserve to win. I was commissioned to design a clock for Lego so I love Denmark. The worst you can say is it’s dull but who cares, it's a pylon not a diamond ring. However the T Pylon does lack maintenance gantries as do all the others so I guess any maintenance has to be done by crane or helicopter.
I don’t think any of the others stand a chance of going into production on costs alone, in my view all are style over content and most seem to me to be incapable of mass-production, unless you want to risk going bankrupt trying. If you want a quick idea of what the brief was all about go to my site, it’s all there, easily explained and it is a fascinating brief.
I'm not an architect but a product designer who has worked extensively with Disney, Warners, Hasbro and Mattel character merchandise and I hope it shows. Whatever else they are, Pylosaurs are the only killer pylons in the contest - check them out.
Who knows what will actually be produced but pray that Pylosaurs aren’t unleashed to roam the Earth, they are far too dangerous and despite what you may think they actually encourage alien invasion. However they are as cheap as chips, assemble faster than an Ikea wardrobe without the need for a telescopic crane and are portable. You can't buy them in B&Q yet but be warned, pet Pilosaurs are not just for Christmas.
http://www.pylosaur.com/
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