1. WINDSTALK Atelier dna (collaborative design laboratory)
2. Windstalk starts out as a desire, a whisper, like grasping
at straws, clenching water. It takes clues from the way the wind
sways a field of wheat, or reeds in a marsh.
3. Windstalk consists of 1203 stalks, 55 meters high, anchored
on the ground with concrete bases that range between 10 to 20
meters in diameter. The stalks are made of carbon fiber reinforced
resin poles, 30 cm in diameter at the base and 5 cm at the
top.
4. The top 50 cm of each pole is lit up by an LED lamp that
glows and dims depending on how much the poles are swaying in the
wind.
5. When there is no windwhen the poles are stillthe lights go
dark.
6. The bases that support the poles are laid along the site
following a logarithmic spiral, the kind we see in the center of a
sunflower. The bases all touch each other, forming a kind of
carpet, a kind of fabric.
7. The bases are shaped like vorticesno two vortices are
identicalwhen it rains, the rain water slides down the slopes of
the bases to collect in the spaces between, concentrating scarce
water. Here, plants can grow wild.
8. Within each hollow pole is a stack of piezoelectric ceramic
rods. Between the rods are electrodes. Every other electrode is
connected to each other by a cable that reaches from top to bottom
of each pole. One cable connects the even electrodes, and another
cable connects the odd ones. When the wind sways the poles, the
stack of piezoelectric rods is forced into compression, thus
generating a current through the electrodes.
9. force force Current (Piezoelectricity /piezoilktrsti/ is the
electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materialsnotably
crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter such as bone, DNA
and various proteinsin response to applied mechanical stress.)
10. Within each concrete base is a hollow chamber that houses a
torque generator. The generator converts the kinetic energy of the
swaying poles into electrical energy by way of an array of
current-generating shock absorbers. The shock absorbers convert
energy produced by the forced movement of fluid through the shock
absorbers cylinders.
11. The electricity that Windstalk generates isnt constant, it
depends on the wind. To compensate, we make a kind of battery, a
capacitor, a way to store energy:
12. Below the field of poles are two very large chambers,
chambers as large as the whole site. The chambers are shaped like
the bases of the poles but inverted, then inverted again, and again
and once more. Theres an upper chamber and a lower one beneath.
When the wind blows, part of the electricity generated powers a set
of pumps, the pumps move water from the lower chamber to the upper
one. When the air is stillwhen there is no windthe water from the
upper chamber flows down again turning the pumps into
generators.