Land of giants

Boston Society of Architects (BSA) has honoured Jin Choi and Thomas Shine of Massachusetts-based architectural practice Choi & Shine with the 2010 Unbuilt Architecture Award for their ‘Land of Giants’ project.

The ‘Land of Giants’ project was originally submitted for the ‘Icelandic High-Voltage Electrical Pylon International Design Competition’, where it received an honourable mention. The competition was to find a new typology for Iceland's high voltage power lines and pylons.

Choi & Shine have transformed mundane electrical pylons into statues on the Icelandic landscape by making small alterations to the existing pylon design. Making only minor alterations to a well-established steel-framed tower design, the architects have created a series of powerful and variable towers.

The pylon-figures can be configured to respond to their environment with appropriate gestures. As the carried electrical lines ascend a hill, the pylonfigures change posture, imitating a climbing person. Over long spans, the pylon-figure stretches to gain increased height, crouches for increased strength or strains under the weight of the wires.

The pylon-figures can be placed in pairs, walking in the same direction or opposite directions, glancing at each other as they pass by or kneeling respectively, and head bowed at a town. Despite the large number of possible forms, each pylon-figure is made from the same major assembled parts such as torso, fore arms, upper legs, and hands, they also use a collection of pre-assembled joints between these parts to create the pylon-figures’ appearance.

Source: WIDN