Research in Practice Grant (RPG) Report
Ocean Energy Landscapes: Energy infrastructures towards greater local sovereignty in Patagonia, Argentina analyzes the intersection of renewable ocean energy infrastructures and landscape architecture in the unique Patagonian milieu through the lens of design. By incorporating both theoretical and pragmatic literature related to the topics of infrastructure, landscape architecture, ecology, and renewable energy, it proposes four case studies based on different energy technologies, scales of intervention and coast sites. Interestingly, even though energy generation serves as an important driver of the study, the opportunities that these infrastructures represent for the community foregrounds the question of design.
The multiscale approach of this research focuses on the question of Local Sovereignty, which requires an understanding of the historical, environmental, political, economic, and social context of each site selected, and how this problem can be addressed through design by the relationship between infrastructures and landscape architecture. At the same time, the study raises awareness about the importance of energy infrastructures in achieving the decarbonization goals of this era, and in the necessity to rethink their relationship with the environment.
