In May 2011, the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change and National Grid, launched a competition inviting architects, designers, engineers and students to rethink one of the most crucial but controversial features of the British landscape: the electricity pylon.
There are more than 88,000 pylons in the UK but the familiar steel lattice tower has barely changed since the 1920s. So the competition called for designs for a new generation of pylon; setting a challenge to design a pylon that has the potential to deliver for future generations, whilst balancing the needs of local communities and preserving the beauty of the countryside.
The competition attracted 250 entries from all over the world; 6 of these were shortlisted and subsequently displayed at the V&A Museum with the winner announced as the T-Pylon by Bystrup. This exhibition focuses on 90 entries which didn’t make it to the shortlist but whose ingenuity we would like to celebrate.
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