In a striking display of art and technology fusion, New York design firm Atelier DNA has re-envisioned the wind turbine, replacing the blades with Windstalks.

Second prize winner in the Land Art Generator Competition, this ingeniously surreal landscape is safe for humans to use as they would a park, while energy is generated and stored underground. Mimicking nature’s cattails or reed marshes on a giant scale, the proposed project consists of 1,203 stalks, 55 meters high, anchored on the ground with concrete bases that range between 10 to 20 meters in diameter. The stalks are made of carbon fiber reinforced resin poles, 30 cm in diameter at the base and 5 cm at the top. Each hollow pole is actually made up of ceramic discs and electrodes stacked vertebrae-like, to facilitate the kinetic swaying that creates energy.

The top section of each pole is lit up by an LED lamp, which glows and dims according to how much they sway in the wind, and when there is no wind the lights will go dark. We very much hope that this Windstalk dream can become a reality.