Malaysia may have won first place in
eVolo 2010 Skyscraper Competition but it’s Polish firm
Mode:lina Architecture & Consultingi getting our attention. 'GESTERBINE' skyscraper is creating the future for next generations to live in and their experimentation in designing leads to new untaken paths. The name itself stand for GESture+waTER+turBINE. Our favorite part of this project is the use of human body kinetic energy. Gesterbine is in fact a device that helps to stop steppisation in Wielkopolska, (Greater Poland).
"(Wielkopolska) is the specific location – the area between oceanic and continental climates characterized by a small amount of precipitation (even less than 500 mm a year, the country’s average of 600 mm), while high evaporation (the difference between rainfall and run-off, on average 400-450 mm per year). It’s also affected by high permeability of the soil in the central part of the Warta River bed.
The other reason of steppisation is decreasing area of forests in the last century due to agricultural needs. As a result of new field division a lot of ponds and swamps surrounded by green oasis disappeared. In addition Warta river due to the inland navigation has been drastically regulated – (straightened) – which shortened the river bed over 100 km – this means that water flows faster through the land and the hydration is smaller. This tendency has quickly lead to lowering of ground water level so important for water circulation in nature.
In terms of wind energy resources Wielkopolska is classified as “very good” due to high average wind speed and good topographical conditions – mainly flatlands.
During the day, when there is a high electricity demand, GESTERBINE looks like typical power plant supplying average households, farms, small offices etc. During the night, when the demand for electricity is rather low, GESTERBINE works as a self- sufficient water pump which transports river water into the land.
This water if further used to support or even create small retention water reservoirs across the land. This action should go along with planting new trees to keep the surface water as long as possible within the land in order to raise ground water mirror. Relationship between energy resources and height above the ground level is directly proportional: for distance 10m above the ground 73 W/m2, 40m above the ground 198 W/m2. That is the main reason to use a skyscraper as a platform for wind turbines plant.Instead of using one huge windmill,a vast number of smaller turbines was chosen, to get the ability to make them work separately when one turbine get broken the energy flow is kept thanks to others.
Human energy into energy for humanity. The form is an effect of experiments on human gesture kinetics. The idea is to transpose human body kinetic energy into vectors. These vectors are used afterwards to build an energy producing skyscraper.
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