“Back in November, Meg and I went to the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum to check out the Design Triennial. Of course, I meant to write more about what I saw, but never got around it. Yusuke Obuchi’s project popped into my head this morning, probably my favorite piece from the show. Obuchi’s Wave Garden is a prototype for an ocean-powered power plant. The motion of the ocean causes flexible tiles to bend, the mechanical stress of the bending generates electricity (via the piezoelectric effect), and the electricity is collected to run blenders for making Californians’ beloved smoothies. And that would be fantastic by itself, but if Californians wisely use energy during the week, the power plant becomes a floating public park on the weekends…”
Link:
http://www.kottke.org/04/06/wave-garden-obuchi
