Beautifying Electric Towers
searching for a marriage of art and function
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)—a professional body for architects in the United Kingdom—has decided to do something about the eyesores created by the distribution of electricity in the UK. The steel lattice design of the electrical towers has not really changed since 1927. Some feel the towers, which are spread across many otherwise pleasant fields and valleys, spoil the visual appeal of the landscape. So RIBA is running a competition seeking creative designs to make the towers more visually appealing.
The UK will need to add many new power stations in the next ten years, and not all locations will be viable spots for underground electricity distribution. Running cables underground costs much more than using electricity pylons (as the towers are called in the UK). Therefore, more pylons will have to be erected in the future. The National Grid is supporting the effort to develop the most visually acceptable solutions.