Galicia, A Wind Portrait
MIT
Cambridge MA, US
2023
Galician windscapes account for 13% of Spain's total wind energy capacity. Exceptionally situated amid the Atlantic Ocean's winds, they play a crucial role in Spain's energy transition toward a decarbonized economy by 2050. Since their introduction in the late 1980s, wind energy has been instrumental in stimulating economic growth, generating jobs, and enhancing energy security by reducing dependence on imported fuels. However, social and environmental concerns such as biodiversity loss, ecological disruption, land acquisition, fishing and farming disturbances, community displacements, and social disputes threaten rural areas and communities. This visual essay examines how this energy-driven urbanization is radically reshaping specific territories in both rural and urban, coastal and interior, common and private geographies in Galicia. It delves into five specific territories, revealing ongoing conflicts, tensions, and oppositions, while speculating on their imminent expansion in line with the 2030 EU goals. According to Dirk Sijmons, if the formula kWh/m² indicates the relationship between energy and space, what role do designers (defined by the "/") play in mediating the coexistence between these engineered geographies and their underlying human and wildlife habitats?
Author & Editor:
Manuel Bouzas
Advisor:
Roi Salgueiro
Program:
Architectural Politics for the Cosmos. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sponsors:
La Caixa Fellowship
Dimensions:
116 pages, 21.6x13.9 cm
