Exhibition in Glasgow to show stunning designs for energy project on canal banks

A new exhibition at The Lighthouse in Glasgow will showcase stunning designs, created collaboratively by Scottish and international agencies, for a potential renewable energy project to be located at Dundashill in Port Dundas, on the banks of the Forth & Clyde canal in the city.  

The designs were based on the idea that such a project would be developed through a collaboration between local artists, architects, landscape architects and urban planners, working in collaboration with engineers and scientists.  The aim of the project was to 'explore different ways in which energy generation can be beautiful and iconic as well as practical and integrated into communities and placemaking'.

The exhibition - LAGI Glasgow - runs at The Lighthouse between 9 June - 29 July.  LAGI is an acronym for Land Art Generator Initiative, and the designs on display at the exhibition were created through an open design competition in 2015.  Previous LAGI competitions have taken place in the United Arab Emirates (2010), New York (2012), Copenhagen (2014) with another in Los Angeles this year.

Port Dundas was chosen as the potential location for the project by Glasgow City Council and the founding directors of LAGI, and the site is currently being developed through the Canal Regeneration Partnership, made up of Glasgow City Council, Scottish Canals, and Igloo Regeneration.  The partnership plans to create an area with new homes as well as creative and leisure industries to complement neighbouring existing facilities such as the Whisky Bond and Pinkston Watersports.

Following a briefing session on the Port Dundas LAGI project at the Whisky Bond, high quality expressions of interest were received from 12 teams comprised of different practitioners, including landscape architects, architects, artists, poets, engineers and science educators.  A selection panel, comprising representatives of the Canal Regeneration Partnership, Ian Gilzean, Chief Architect for Scotland, and others, selected a shortlist of three teams to move to the project's next stage.

Shortlisted teams

The shortlisted teams were then paired with a past international LAGI competition team to finalise each proposal.  Stallan Brand, Pidgin Perfect, Glasgow Science Festival/University of Glasgow worked with Matthew Rosenberg of M-Rad (Los Angeles); ZM Architecture, Dalziel+Scullion and Qmulus Ltd renewables engineers worked with Peter Yeadon of Yeadon Space Agency (New York); and ERZ, Alec Finlay and partners worked with Riccardo Mariano of Studio Olafur Eliasson (Berlin).  All made site visits to Port Dundas and presentations at a three-day workshop held in Glasgow in November 2015.

The first of these teams developed a proposed titled Dundas Dandelion; the second developed Windforest; and the third developed Watergaw.  Each of these were very strong proposals that would have made a great contribution to the regeneration of Port Dundas, and Windforest was selected as the proposal to be taken forward at this stage.

This next stage will see the Canal Regeneration Partnership work with the selected team to move to a detailed design proposal, undertaking a business plan, developing a fundraising strategy and delivery model, and engage with relevant partners.  The outcomes of the overall design process will be shared with other regeneration projects, as well as schools and other education programmes.

Councillor George Redmond, Executive Member for Jobs, Business and Investment at Glasgow City Council, said: "The regeneration of the canal in Glasgow offers the opportunity to look at achieving our aims for the area in new ways, and the fantastic designs on show at this exhibition will illustrate what could be done by local talent as we continue the renaissance of the canal banks.  Recent development of the canal in this part of the city has been defined by innovative approaches to housing and cultural spaces, and LAGI Glasgow is very much in the spirit of this."

Steve Dunlop, Chief Executive of Scottish Canals, said: "The nation's inland waterways are catalysts for renewal in North Glasgow and as such, it's great to see them being used in exciting new ways which benefit local people. The canals were imagined by bold, innovative thinkers 250 years ago but today they are diverse places where leisure, tourism, sport, renewable energy and works of art thrive."

Chris Brown, Executive Chairman of Igloo Regeneration, said: "Port Dundas is fast becoming a place for the pioneer. LAGI fits perfectly with this philosophy and demonstrates a truly innovative way of green energy and public art helping to shape a regeneration project from the start, whilst stimulating real debate amongst participants and project partners about the roles of architecture, art, urban design and planning."

LAGI

The Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) is an international design process which has created a new portfolio of ideas for cities and urban landscapes by providing a platform for interdisciplinary teams to conceive of renewable energy power plants as creative placemaking opportunities for public space.  The installations designed have the ability to offer added social, cultural and economic value to neighbourhoods and cities, in addition to producing carbon-free electricity.

LAGI Glasgow is part of the city's contribution to the Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design.