Normally, overhead lines and their towers were designed to meet it’s technical requirements and not much more than that. However, nowadays the public opinion becomes more important, so from some countries it is known that they take aesthetics into account too. In some (local) cases even very remarkable tower designs have been used. At All Electron, we have (randomly) listed some of the most famous or most remarkable designs on this page. Which one do you like?
“Source” – Amnéville les Thermes, France [1]
The artwork “source” was built in 2004. It is a monumental art installation on the 225kV high voltage power line ‘Amnéville – Montois’ in France. The design was made by environmental artist Elena Paroucheva. Photo credit: Art-Elena.com.
Update: The line has been removed in 2022 [15]
“Leuchtturm (Lighthouse)” – Hattingen, Germany [2]
Back in 2010, a trio of art students from Klasse Löbbert in Germany took it upon themselves to transform a boring electrical tower into a translucent, stained glass installation. Titled Leuchtturm (Lighthouse) the urban artwork in Hattingen, Germany was conceived by Ail Hwan, Hae-Ryan Jeong and Chung-Ki Park, who used cut triangles of Acrylglas to mimic the function of traditional stained glass pieces. Photo credit: Thisiscolossal.com and https://portfolio.fotocommunity.de/pilger
“Coloso (Colossos)” – Buenos Aires, Argentina [3]
In Buenos Aires, the DOMA collective has transformed a standard electricity pylon into a striking 45 meter illuminated giant. This art installation features neon lights and a robot-like figure with expressive features that bring it to life at night. DOMA’s work emphasizes the concept that every action generates a reaction, turning the ordinary into something playful and fantastic. The project invites creativity and imagination, bridging the gap between urban infrastructure and art. Photo credit: https://www.instituteforpublicart.org/case-studies/colossus and https://elojodelarte.com.
“Shall we dance?” – Doetinchem, The Netherlands [4]
This tower is designed by a Dutch artist. The tower was build next to a 150kV high voltage overhead line with the idea that it asks the towers of the line to dance. Unfortunately, for this art piece, the part of the overhead line next to it was brought underground early 2018. Instead of removing it, the municipality placed lights on it, to make it even more visible. Photo credits: https://www.xbrightfx.nl/project/shall-we-dance/
Clown towers in Úljartyán, Hungary [5]
Driving along the M5 motorway in Újhartyán, Hungary, one will encounter a couple of electrical pylons shaped like a clown or a jester. These unconventional towers were installed by MAVIR, the Hungarian electricity transmission system operator. The pylons follow a worldwide trend in trying to make large industrial objects more attractive.
“Geometrische Durchdringung (Geometric penetration)” – Bochum, Germany [6]
In 1990, the Vereinigte Elektrizitätswerke (VEW) Dortmund organised a competition to beautify 220kV high voltage towers in the Ruhrpark. Heide Kemper won the competition with her design “Geometric Penetration”. The spheres emphasise the three-dimensionality of the pole and its design. The penetration of the linear, strict architecture of the mast by the seemingly soft spheres proves that this process does not have to be disruptive, but harmonious, opposing, but complementary, expanding.
Bog Fox (‘Soorebane’) – Risti, Lääne County, Estonia [7]
This tower is Estonia’s first high voltage designer tower. It is the corner tower of the Harku–Lihula–Sindi high-voltage line, which is a 330kV/110kV combined overhead line. This corner tower was built in the summer of 2020.
The towers foundation is also remarkable. As the ground is wetland, the designer tower foundation is anchored to the ground with 25 pegs. Each peg is 19 metres high and therefore their total height is almost 500 metres.
Landsnet ‘Land of Giants’ – design concept [9]
This design is from Choi+Shine and was never realized. The pylon-figures can be configured to respond to their environment with appropriate gestures. As the carried electrical lines ascend a hill, the pylon-figures 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.
Deer shaped towers – design concept [10]
This design is from Design Depot and was never realized. Given the shape, the design would require a lot of additional material compared to ‘standard towers’. However, it is a truly remarkable tower design.
Øygardstølen in Rogaland, Norway [11][12]
Close to the well-known tourist destination Kjerag in Rogaland are 3 special design towers. Statnett is the client, EFLA is responsible for engineering/project planning and Widenoja Design, Eva Widenoja, is responsible for the design concept.
The masts were finished in 2018, at 32, 35 and 39 meters respectively, are exposed to heavy loads from wind and ice on the current-carrying lines in long and heavy spans, in addition to the forces of nature on site.
Yggdrasil, Uppsland Väsby, Stockholm [13][14]
The transmission line towers with the design name Yggdrasil are a Swedish landmark. They were designed for a competition for Svenska Kraftnät. The contribution consists of two 40 meter high transmission line towers with a scalable design concept titled ”Yddrasil”, a sculptural expression that highlights the importance of the infrastructure. The towers were completed in 2014 in Upplands Väsby, Stockholm.
“Germoglio“, Italy [16][17]
Terna wished to improve the environmental impact of their pylons on the landscape, so they invited the competitors to specifically address these issues. The winning design was aiming to change the current ‘industrial soldier’ image of today’s pylons, by creating an elegant shape whose form is inspired by nature. So the form of the steel mast and arms give the Germogli (or Germoglio in Italian, which stands for ‘first green shoots / seedling’ – their characteristic image. The contest was held in 2007 and concluded in 2009. Terna installed the pylons along a major “energy highway” in Northern Italy, the “Trino-Lacchiarella” extra-high voltage power line, and has them in operation since 2014
Landsnet “Arphenotype”, Iceland – design concept [18]
This design was also sent in for the Landsnet design competition in 2008. For maximum strength and stability the construction method is based on the idea of a Tripod. The 3D data is optimally suited to adapt the change of the landscape. The main material proposed for the towers is an aramid-fibre-matrix bounded with eco resin through thermosetting, which gives the material stability to degradation, UV, weathering and wind. The thickness of the material should be changed through the whole system, calculated by software to adapt the stiffness to site + location and natural forces like wind. Truly a remarkable tower design!
“Foster” tower, Terna – Italy [19][20]
The tower was designed by Arch. Foster, who won the international Tender “Environmental Supports”, announced by Terna in 1999. The aim of the Tender was to design high voltage overhead line supports, to be installed in the countryside for a more harmonious interaction with the Italian landscape. The futuristic shape of the Foster tower requires new construction technique and PROJECT was in charge to develop the structural design and to find the best construction and maintenance procedures.
Monopole towers of Penang Malaysia [21]
A total of 31 monopoles were constructed, with six featuring a unique betel nut style design to reflect local culture and add aesthetic appeal. Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) has build this 275kV line of 8.5km monopole transmission tower, connecting the Perai Power Station (SJ) Main Inlet Substation (PMU) to The Light PMU in Penang. It runs parallel to the Penang Bridge [22].
Summary
As you can see there are quite some examples of remarkable tower designs for transmission lines, where the owner of a tower takes extra effort to beautify a high voltage tower. On the other hand, one can legitimately ask whether such beautification campaigns on technical devices make sense. What is the purpose of this “beautification”? Is it mere decoration to disguise reality or, beyond that, art?
For us it does not matter. We like to see tower designs that make a difference and some of them are really beautiful!
[1] https://www.art-elena.com/projects/monumental-art-work-source/
[2] https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/stained-glass-electrical-tower/
[3] https://www.instituteforpublicart.org/case-studies/colossus/
[4] https://www.xbrightfx.nl/project/shall-we-dance/
[5] https://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/02/playful-electrical-pylon-designs.html
[6] http://www.artibeau.de/1610.htm
[7] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_Fox
[8] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_pylon
[9] https://choishine.com/Giants.html
[10] https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/deer-hydro-towers-by-design-depot/
[11] https://www.efla.no/nyheter/5-ting-du-ikke-visste-om-designmastene
[12] https://www.statnett.no/vare-prosjekter
[13] https://www.svk.se/press-och-nyheter/temasidor/tema-att-arbeta-med-kraftsystemet/lar-dig-stolparnas-abc
[14] https://www.nopicnic.com/yggdrail-svenska-kraftnt
[15] https://amneville.com/depose-des-pylones-de-la-ligne-rte-225-000-volts-de-la-cite-des-loisirs/
[16] https://www.hda-paris.com/project/germogli-italy-2/
[17] https://renewables-grid.eu/
[18] https://www.arphenotype.com/?mies_portfolio=high-voltage-transmission-line-towers
[19] https://www.cdcsrl.it/en/project/foster-tower/
[20] https://eepublicdownloads.entsoe.eu/
[21] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chandradeo-mehta-%F0%9F%87%AE%F0%9F%87%B3-414b99200_iconic-towers-of-penang-malaysia-love-this-activity-7258668364649168896-M3O5/
[22] https://globaltransmission.info/malaysias-tnb-to-complete-275-kv-monopole-transmission-line-by-november-2024/