Milano, Italy
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Italo Rota have succeeded to explore multiple forms of energy production and consumption by transforming a botanical garden in the area of Brera into an “energy park” using copper pipes for their temporary energy-generating installation.
The Feeling the Energy installation, as the project is named, employs over 500 meters of digitally bent copper pipe with antimicrobial properties allowing safe contact between visitors joining the experience.
The installation invites visitors to wander through Milan’s historical Botanical Garden, in a sequence of six main stages: Energy Carousel, Garden Orchestra, The Leading Logo, Powering Vibrations, Blinds in the Sun, and Solar Garden.
All six stages make it possible to directly experience how energy can be produced from the sun, wind, and people’s movements.
Visitors encounter different stages and each step features a different object, all made of copper.
Feeling the Energy harvests and stores energy during the day, using it to illuminate the Botanical Garden in the evening, while also powering water vaporizers that will cool the garden pathways while at the same time nourishing the vegetation.
“The installation is inspired by the functioning of plant organisms,” states Carlo Ratti, founding partner at CRA and director of the MIT Senseable City Lab.
“As trees in a forest draw energy from different sources and then use it locally where they need it – in a certain branch or the end of a leaf – the long copper tube of ‘Feeling the Energy’ absorbs energy in its entire length and then uses it in specific points of the installation path,” Ratti adds.
Upon entering the Botanical Garden, visitors immediately discover a majestic carousel where they can experience the energy in motion.
After that, people can walk under a series of portals that plays sequences from the renowned Four Seasons symphony by Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, performed by the Ensemble Strumentale la Barocca of the Symphony Orchestra of Milan.
The exhibition path also includes a giant vibraphone which people are invited to play.
Moreover, a tunnel with colored diaphragms laden with organic photovoltaic panels can be opened or closed by those wandering through it, while a canopy features sensors that can detect people’s presence and activate a cool mist.
The installation was created for Plenitude, a branch of power company Eni that functions as the “outpost” for its decarbonization strategy.
The project illustrates what a self-sufficient energy infrastructure looks like, where discrete points are connected in a microgrid.
The installation reproduces, on a small scale, what happens with urban, national, and even transcontinental energy networks: complex distribution channels are able to connect and supply each node over a long journey.
Finally, following the principles of circular design and sustainability, copper will be reused at the end of the event.
Project: Feeling the Energy Park
Architects: CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Studio Italo Rota & Partners
Partner in Charge: Antonio Atripaldi
CRA Design Team: Mykola Murashko, Carlo Turati, Yasser Mohamed Harris, and Lorenzo Capra
Italo Rota Design Team: Italo Rota and Francesca Grassi
Client: Plenitude
Copper Manufacturing: KME Italy SpA
Photographers: Marco Beck Peccoz
