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Tag: mural

Turbine House Mural Unveiled

07/06/202116/06/2021 Chris BrookLeave a comment
Reading Hydro Mural
Our mural was commissioned following an open competition, with our winner chosen from 11 fantastic entries

Another Step forward

READING, UK: Reading Hydro CBS formally unveils our Turbine House Mural as the latest addition of public artwork to the burgeoning art scene in the town. With the screws now installed and commissioning underway, unveiling our new mural denotes two important points for our project; the return of the weir footpath for public use and another step towards electricity generation on the Thames in Reading. As such, with users returning to the weir, it’s thrilling that there is a new feature for the public to enjoy on their way past our site.

Designed by artist Guglielmo Miccolupi, of the solarpunk collective Commado Jugendstil, ‘Community Energym’ represents the Reading Hydro community and the sustainable power the project will generate. Chosen from a impressive selection of entries, the judges noted the artwork’s inspiring design and exceptional presentation. The application process to the walls took place over May 2021, with the assistance of over 20 volunteers. The end result is a high-quality and visually stunning artwork, enjoyable and appreciable to the Reading community from Hills Meadow and the Caversham Weir.

The Mural at our site by Caversham Weir

‘THE COMMUNITY ENERGYM’

The piece makes full use of the brief for a fun, engaging artwork about community energy and sustainability. Featuring Archimedes, Mother Thames and droplets from the river, the mural shows how our turbines will generate community power. The droplet’s movements in Archimedes’ gym, generating electric bolts to power our community light, is “…a fun and powerful metaphor to show the interaction between the river and the turbines…”. Mother Thames, sitting beneath the clear message about our project; “This Energy is By the people, for the People”, signifies our wide community of shareholders and volunteers. Without their combined effort, our project would not be the success it has become.

The Reading Hydro Board therefore passes on its sincere thanks to Guglielmo & Laura for their superb efforts and the wonderful gift they have given Reading. We hope the unveiled mural helps bring the community together regarding sustainability and hydropower for many years to come. Thank you!

You can find out more about the mural on its dedicated webpage.

Gallery of mural images taken on site

  • Mural was painted using paper stencils and tracing
  • Painting of our Motto
  • Layering of the mural details
  • Joint meeting with Technical group
  • Painting took place throughout all of May

COMPETITION WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

03/05/202104/05/2021 Chris BrookLeave a comment

Reading Hydro are pleased to announce that the submitted design of Guglielmo Miccolupi, of Commando Jugendstil, has been selected as the winner of our competition to design a new community mural on our Turbine House by the Caversham Weir, in Reading, UK. Commando Jugendstil will be familiar to many in Reading as the collective leading the Transition Network workshops exploring the sustainable future of our local community out to 2045. Reading Hydro are thrilled to be working with the collective to add to the growing public art scene in the town.

The entry, entitled ‘Community Energym’, conceives of the water of the River Thames going to the gym and using the machines to exercise and generate energy, with help from both Archimedes and Mother Thames. The design appealed to our judging panel for its universal attraction and extremely high quality execution. The full design will be publicly unveiled in the coming weeks both jointly at our site and on our website.

“We wanted to create a visual that could be both playful and engaging, so we played with the concept of water generating energy, and we came up with the idea of drops of water going to the gym, doing sports and using the machines to generate energy. We thought this could be a fun and powerful metaphor to show the interaction between the river and the turbines”.

Commando Jugendstil

Our warmest congratulations to Guglielmo and the collective for winning, and our sincerest thanks to the 10 other artists who provided such strong and beautiful submissions. Reading Hydro firmly believes that the high standard of submissions received reflects a strong and growing artistic community within the town, and that our mural will contribute to the bright future for cultural works and opportunities in Reading.

The Directors
Reading Hydro CBS

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