London-based architect Margot Krasojevic has just unveiled a futuristic art gallery that runs on hydroelectric power. Slated for the coastal Russian region of Sochi, the Hydroelectric Sculpture Gallery will harness enough wave energy to not only be 100% self-sufficient, but it will also be able to channel surplus energy back into the grid, powering around 200 nearby houses and businesses as a result.

The art gallery will be located on Sochi’s coastline, where it will use the exceptionally strong coastal swells from the Black Sea to power a water turbine system. Krasojevic’s vision depicts a sculptural volume that rises out of an existing wooden promenade. The building, which will be partly submerged into the sea, will be strategically angled at 45 degrees to the coastline for maximum wave exposure.

According to the design plans, the building will “use the environment’s characteristics to generate clean, sustainable energy, without affecting the quality and nature of the landscape.” State-of-the-art engineering will allow the structure to harvest wave energy through oscillating water columns as the waves crash against it. Generating up to 300kW, the system will enable the gallery to operate completely off the grid and channel surplus energy back into the grid. It could supply clean energy to approximately 200 households and businesses in the same area.

Visitors to the futuristic gallery will enter through a long walkway stretching out from the shore. The robust exterior of the building will comprise various walkways and ramps that wind around the steel structure. Sinuous volumes will conceal the building’s many turbines, which will also be partially submerged underwater.

Inside, the spaces will reflect the building’s functions. The various galleries will be laid out into a power plant format, with steel clad ceilings that mimic the rolling waves that crash into the exterior. Irregularly shaped skylights will also create a vibrant, kaleidoscope show of shadow and light throughout the day.

Source: INHABITAT