Any effort to markedly reduce greenhouse gases in the 21st century must include design as part of its collective strategy. In 2016, 34% of the global greenhouse gas emissions came from the energy supply sector(1), a fact that reflects the urgent need for design disciplines to provide workable proposals and solutions. At the same time, the subject of infrastructure has gained visibility; infrastructure projects have emerged as support systems that can generate dialogue between architecture and the landscape.

Ocean Energy Landscapes 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, despite the fact that 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.

(1) United Nations Climate Change Secretariat, “Climate Action and Support Trends,” 2019.