"Please in My Back Yard": Mitigating the aesthetic effects of wind turbines

by Jennifer A. Haugh (MDes ’14)

Exploring and analyzing the potential for artistic interventions with wind turbines, this thesis (1) establishes a foundation and background of the United States’ proposed energy portfolio, as well as describe the challenges that wind developers have confronted with communities resistant to their inclusion; (2) provides a literature review and examine the role of public art in a problem-solving context within the built environment; (3) illustrates eight examples of public art in a functional, mitigation, and/or educational role; then (4) examines the possibilities and challenges of creating public art with wind turbines in different contexts.

The work focuses on existing wind turbines in the State of Massachusetts, where land-based turbines have been installed in urban, suburban, coastal, and mountainous regions. Ultimately, the purpose is to achieve a better understanding of what tools may advance alternative energy solutions in the U.S.

More information is available at www.iconicenergyco.com.