Abu Dhabi /Land Art Generator Initiative-Energy & Art – 2010

Project Team:

Boguslaw Witkowski, Maciej Starewicz, Elmar Hess, Tim Thornton.

“SAND DUNE CLOUDS”

Concept:

The aim of proposed structure is to harmonize existing landscape formed by existing on site sand dunes and vegetation perturbed by presence of the road running along.

The depth of the sky in Abu Dhabi almost blue without any cloud during nearly all the year could be enhanced by the created cloud-like forms, producing for us electrical energy instead of the rain water. This energy based on natural resources (sun and wind) is as necessary for our every day life as the rain water is.

The natural forms of proposed “Sand Dune Clouds” shaped as a cocoon by several levels of optic fiber web fabric composing external skin should appear in the existing landscape as an ephemeral structure softening the hard and artificial image of the existing road.

Purposely we do not extend our composition to the water limits to respect the natural existing condition of the shoreline and aquatic ecosystems but we offer an opportunity of observation of this unique natural area from the integrated to the Sand Dune Clouds volumes and from the extended bridged timber footpath network.

Sustainability:

The ambient environment of the UAE creates extremes within which comfort conditioning needs to be made, and this will require a large amount of energy.  In the current age where fossil fuel stocks are quickly disappearing, it is imperative that being energy lean, sustainable and generating onsite energy is a first-consideration for the “Sand Dune Clouds”.

- Placing vegetation between the road and “Clouds” will allow for oxygenation of the road side air before prevailing winds carry the air through the installation.  This will provide a fresh feeling to the space and can provide a natural air filter, thereby extending the lifetime of the internal fabric filters.  Irrigation of this green filter will be via wind- and PV-driven pumps.

- It is proposed that natural ventilation and its associated passive cooling will be designed into the structure with appropriately positioned and sized openings.  With the openings activating in tune with the ambient conditions (see Memory Metals section - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_memory_alloy), this massively reduces the energy consumption for driving fans and actuators.  The solar gains can be used to create a lateral buoyancy effect that will cause hot air to expel from one side of the building thus driving cooler air into the building through the opposite side.