Italy – Architects Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rato are transforming Milan’s Botanical Gardens into an energy park during Salone Del Mobile Milano 2022.
Feeling the Energy is an immersive installation that uses 500m of digitally bent copper pipe to form a path where people can explore different forms of sustainable energy production and consumption. As visitors wander through, they can explore six areas, including an Energy Carousel, Garden Orchestra, Powering Vibrations and a Solar Garden. Each section spotlights the experience of producing energy using the sun, wind and human movement.
Using the copper pipes, the installation harvests and stores energy during the day, powering water vaporisers that cool down and feed the garden's vegetation. ‘The installation is inspired by the functioning of plant organisms,’ suggests Carlo Ratti. 'As trees in a forest draw energy from different sources and then use it locally where they need it, the long copper tube of Feeling the Energy absorbs energy in its entire length and then uses it in specific points of the installation path.’
Envisaging the future of self-sufficient architecture, the installation breaks down the production of energy into a tangible and community-focused exercise. To read more about how infrastructure will be reworked to produce green energy for neighbourhoods, read our macrotrend Equilibrium Cities.
Strategic opportunity
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