Argentina-based designer Santiago Muros Cortés has taken out the 2014 Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) design competition with his plan for a gigantic solar hourglass that could produce enough electricity to power hundreds of homes.

The annual LAGI competition asks designers to envision how public art and renewable energy can be combined to engage citizens, nature and the urban environment.

Santiago Muros Cortés' ‘The Solar Hourglass’ was chosen from three hundred entries submitted by interdisciplinary teams from 55 countries.

Planned for a former shipyard site in Copenhagen’s Harbour, the hourglass structure comprises two curving dishes built majorly out of recycled steel and aluminum extrusion.

The sun-tracking mirrors (heliostats) in the upper dish direct light toward a central reflector, which produces a concentrated beam of solar heat that radiates down to the lower dish.

The 1960 square-metre energy generator is expected to concentrate enough heat to produce an annual capacity of 7,500 MWh, while also serving as a visual reminder that “energy is just as important as time” and should not be wasted.

Second place in the LAGI competition went to Poland’s Mateusz Góra and Agata Gryszkiewicz for their biofuel and wind-flutter based tower ‘Quiver’.

Antonio Maccà and Flavio Masi from Italy came in third-place with their 'eMotions' project, which features ten energy producing generators.

Santiago Muros Cortés' winning entry ‘The Solar Hourglass’

Secong place: Mateusz Góra and Agata Gryszkiewicz's ‘Quiver’

Antonio Maccà and Flavio Masi third-place proposal, 'eMotions'

Courtesy Inhabitat & LAGI

Architecture & Design Team

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