The European Union has committed to deriving 20% of its total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. The Guarantees of Origin (GoO) system has created a new tradable good within the EU: renewable energy.

Norway carries the geographical and economical potential to surpass its own goals and become a major exporter of GoO energy.  It alre...

The European Union has committed to deriving 20% of its total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. The Guarantees of Origin (GoO) system has created a new tradable good within the EU: renewable energy.

Norway carries the geographical and economical potential to surpass its own goals and become a major exporter of GoO energy.  It already possesses everything it needs: the longest, windiest, unsaturated coastline in Europe, expertise in offshore installations, immense investment capital from the state oil industry, and a battery of hydropower plants to partner wind power.

This potential is no secret; Norway has already begun speculation on an ambitious 8000MW, $44 billion venture. Yet offshore wind farms are meeting strong resistance, mainly due to misinformation and ungrounded skepticism.

What Norway needs to propel wind power is a flagship wind farm to promote and celebrate its newest investment.

The wind turbine, the fastest developing renewable energy, has reached a scale that can accommodate architecture within.  A mast with a diameter of 10 meters is no longer a mere pole, it is a tower.

Events like European Wind Day have proven that public acceptance grows with firsthand contact and understanding of the technology.  By combining tourism with turbines, the discussion is taken out of town halls and is instead contextualized within the majestic ocean-scape of wind farms.

The Turbine City, off the coast of Stavanger, integrates a hotel, spa, and museum with an offshore wind farm.  Only 1 MW from one of these 8MW turbines is enough to power the entire facility.  By bringing tourists, sailors, offshore oil-workers, and cruise ships to Turbine City, people are able to experience the advantages and spectacle of turbines firsthand, thereby increasing awareness and support.

Stavanger lies precisely at the point where the Norwegian coastline kisses the high-strength winds. 

The 4th largest city in Norway, Stavanger is a well-connected tourist destination.  Although known as the oil capital of Norway, it could use this economic momentum to rebrand itself in time for the “sustainable revolution,” to create a landmarks among the ranks of architectural symbols of the world, without clashing with the historical image of the city.