| NIMBY to YIMBY: The Aesthetics of Wind Turbines |
| Written by Philip Proefrock | ||
| Thursday, 27 July 2006 | ||
 Wind turbines. EcoGeeks love 'em. Environmentalists do too. Unless they happen to be in their back yard.
We've been considering this and we think maybe it's because wind tubines are kinda ugly.
Well, the American Wind Energy Association thought of this too. Recently they set up the first National Wind Art Exhibit in conjunction with their annual conference in Pittsburgh earlier this year. Although the conference has ended, the exhibit is still online. The idea here seems to be to celebrate the wind farm in art so that we can see how pretty they actually are. I think they're doing a pretty good job.
The first real-life foray into wind turbine aesthetics that we've seen is a Dutch proposal for "trees" with up to eight turbines on a single base stalk. These turbine trees have the potential to be the first visually interesting and pleasing wind power plants.
Did the people of Cape Cod complain when they put up light houses on their rocky points? No, because light houses are pretty. Well, if pretty's what they want, maybe it's about time to make wind turbines pretty too.
Comments
(6)
Do a comparison
written by a guest , July 28, 2006
I have to admit I love the look of Turbines, even in their present state and design. There is something hypnotic and fantastical about them, at least to me. If you do a simple side by side comparison of the aesthetics of the turbines, say to the Drax Coal plant, (just scroll down) there is no doubt which is more beautiful. They both represent energy and jobs, but the Wind is clean, elegant and in my humble opinion the future. Coal, Oil, and Nuclear had their days, but it is time to realy start pouring money into Wind, Solar, Tidal etc. create more efficient (and aesthetically pleasing if you need) designs and we wont need the old methods to create energy. It is time for a changing of the guard.
In plain sight.
written by a guest , July 29, 2006
My bedroom overlooks a wind farm and I quite like to see them turning away.
Contrary to negative reports in the press, they do keep turning 99% of the time, in fact there has only been one very calm day in the last two years that I have noticed them not spinning and I wouldn't regard my area as very windy. Usually they are spinning around at quite a rate, producing lots of emission free energy. I say lets build more, although I prefer the appearance of the standard design, to the "tree" design featured in the article. Rob. 
well....
written by a guest , July 31, 2006
I don't think they are that ugly in their original forms.
...
written by SP , September 21, 2006
I think they get "uglier" the more turbines there are. The simple 4-turbine one is not ugly at all, and it still only takes up the same footprint as 1 single normal windmill. I love the idea, but there might be a limit of 4-6 turbines before it starts looking like a dead tree in winter.
Swooshing Giants -- Wind Towers
written by Pier Johnson , April 28, 2007
Swooshing Giants, Wind Towers stand tall as positive symbols of man's touch upon the earth.
Towerlines give us the same warmth as any skyline can. Besides, how can anyone say a wind tower is ugly compared to smokestacks of oil fired or coal fired plants -- or worse, nuclear.
Questions that need to be answered
written by Maia , February 26, 2008
How many Wind turbines needed to power a city?
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