Discourse
ENERGY ISLAND: FEDDES-OLTHOF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Public Programme of POWER
The need to develop renewable energy sources on a vast scale pressingly forces us to think about how to shape power landscape typologies that are desirable, not just the technical result of engineering constraints. In 2018, the Dutch landscape architecture practice Feddes-Olthof responded to this challenge by developing the Energy Island project, treading new paths in the creation of innovative landscapes for sustainable energy supply. Designed as an artificial ring-shaped island of 5 km in diameter, it combines offshore windfarms, floating solar panels and seawater batteries for energy storage. The artificially created dunes will eventually turn into ecosystems such as mudflats and salt marshes hosting a diverse range of birds, with the potential to become an attractive destination for sustainable tourism.
Parallel to the exhibition POWER, the Goethe-Institut Brussels supports the event series POWER Talks - a public program of lectures, roundtable discussions, and film screenings which among others features Thomas Auer, Daniel Barber, BC Architects, Oana Bogdan, Arno Brandlhuber, Koenraad Danneels, Andrés Jaque, Jeanette Kuo, Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, Philippe Rahm, Bas Smets, Paulo Tavares, Ola Uduku and many more.