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Hou de Sousa's latest iridescent art installation "Atomic" is another delightful pick-me-up

2019-12-16T16:15:00-05:00

In their latest art installation, New York-based practice Hou de Sousa colorfully reinterprets the building blocks of our universe: Atoms. Simply titled "Atomic," the installation was designed for this year's Georgetown GLOW, Washington D.C.'s only curated exhibition of outdoor public light-art installations during the holiday season.

Photo: Hou de Sousa.

Suspended above festival-goers, Atomic is an iridescent canopy made of hula hoops and fishnet fabric. The project is a physical manifestation of the photographic bokeh effect, the designers say, and its multi-hued facets are a visual reference to the stained glass windows of Grace Church.

Photo: Hou de Sousa.

Hou de Sousa participated in last year's Georgetown GLOW with the kaleidoscopic "Prismatic." And fairly recently, they designed another delightful public art installation in their New York home base called "Ziggy," which was the winning proposal for the 2019 Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday D...

How a small, conservative Texas town became a key player in the renewable energy revolution

2018-04-20T14:33:00-04:00

Georgetown (pop. 67,000) last year became the largest city in the United States to be powered entirely by renewable energy. Previously, the largest U.S. city fully powered by renewables was Burlington, Vermont (pop. 42,000), home to Senator Bernie Sanders, the jam band Phish and the original Ben & Jerry’s. Georgetown’s feat is all the more dramatic because it demolishes the notion that sustainability is synonymous with socialism and GMO-free ice cream.

In his piece for Smithsonian Magazine, Dan Solomon tells the story of Georgetown, TX's green energy transformation and its unexpected champion, Republican mayor Dale Ross—who is now friends with Al Gore and was even featured in his An Inconvenient Sequel documentary.

First Texas town makes longterm plans to switch to solar and wind energy

2015-03-30T20:45:00-04:00

Because of its size and intense radiation, Texas leads the nation in solar energy potential, but the solar industry has long struggled to get a foothold in the state... and solar energy currently makes up a tiny percentage of the state’s energy portfolio. That’s beginning to change. Improving technology has driven down the price of solar power, making it more competitive with other resources — even without incentives, developers say.

The municipal utility of Georgetown, a Texan city of about 55,000, recently signed a 25-year contract with SunEdison to buy 150 megawatts of solar power as well as 144 megawatts of wind power from the EDF Renewables wind farm through 2039 -- reportedly being the first city-owned utility to take action on such a plan (and not long after the end of former Texas governor Rick Perry's tenure). While eco-conscious benefits were taken into account, Georgetown signed the deal primarily for financial reasons.