We Harvest Wind — Woven Studio

INTRODUCTION

The transition to electric mobility is often framed as a technological shift, yet the true environmental benefit depends largely on the energy used to power the vehicle. Charging an electric car with fossil-based electricity significantly reduces its advantage, while using renewable energy, especially wind, can transform its lifetime footprint. We Harvest Wind makes this relationship visible, tangible, and participatory.

Instead of presenting renewable energy as an abstract concept, the installation allows visitors to generate clean power themselves, revealing how the source of electricity fundamentally shapes the sustainability of electric vehicles.

Based on insights from Polestar’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) report, which shows that using renewable energy can halve an electric vehicle’s lifetime emissions. By embodying this insight through movement, energy, and interaction, the installation reframes wind not as a distant resource, but as something people can engage with directly.

CREDITS

Artistic Lead
Thijs Biersteker

Scientific Sustainability Lead
Fredrika Klarén (Polestar)

Studio Director
Sophie de Krom

Technical Lead
Ian Considine

THE EXPERIENCE

The interactive installation allows visitors to activate the fans and bring the wind-powered world to life themselves.

Visitors activate the installation by directing airflow toward the sculpture using three large fans. As the wind reaches the structure, it generates clean energy that brings the artwork to life, illustrating, in real time, the relationship between renewable power and sustainable mobility.

The installation positions visitors not as observers, but as participants, as agents of change. By creating wind and witnessing its immediate effect, they experience firsthand how shifting to renewable energy can meaningfully reduce carbon emissions.

In an era where climate solutions can feel inaccessible or abstract, We Harvest Wind highlights one of the few impactful actions individuals can take: choosing clean energy whenever possible. The work transforms the act of generating wind into a metaphor for collective agency, showing that small shifts in energy choice accumulate into substantial environmental gains.

3D recycled printing
The New Raw

Soundscape
End of Time

Material development
in collaboration with Polestar. Under the lead of Ross Kelk and Paul Foster

Engineering
BerkelaarMRT, ID-Huis

MATERIALISATION

The sculpture incorporates materials that reflect ongoing innovation in sustainable design.

The outer blades are crafted from flax fibres combined with a biodegradable corn-based biopolymer (PLA). Flax, already used in Polestar vehicles, was further developed for the artwork, and is now shortlisted for potential use in future cars due to its strength and low environmental impact.

The inner blades are made from 60 kg of recycled PETG, an industrial plastic reused through advanced 3D-printing techniques. The structural components use recycled steel, forming a durable and fully recyclable framework.

A 3D generative soundscape accompanies the movement of the blades,enhancing the installation’s multi-sensory depth.

IMPACT

We Harvest Wind clarifies how the environmental performance of electric vehicles depends not only on the vehicles themselves, but on the energy systems that support them. By allowing visitors to generate clean power directly, the installation transforms a technical insight into a sensory, memorable experience.

Rather than advocating for a single solution, the work highlights a practical pathway already within reach: choosing renewable energy where possible. By linking everyday charging choices to long-term emissions, the installation creates space for a more informed and empowered understanding of sustainable mobility.

  
    Flax fibres with biodegradable corn biopolymer (PLA)
  
    Recycled 3D-printed PETG plastics
  
    Recycled steel structure
  
    3D generative soundscape

  
    EXHIBITIONS
  
    LLUM Barcelona (SP), 2023
  
    Gent Design Week (BE), 2022
  
    Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (NL), 2021

SCIENTIFIC INSIGHT

According to Polestar’s Life Cycle Assessment, the lifetime climate impact of an electric vehicle is strongly determined by the energy used to charge it.

If powered by fossil-based electricity (“grey electricity”), an EV typically reaches its break-even point, the moment it becomes cleaner than a petrol vehicle, around 80,000 km. When charged with renewable wind energy, that break-even point drops to approximately 40,000 km.

This means the car becomes a lower-emission choice twice as quickly, effectively halving its lifetime footprint. These findings underline a crucial scientific insight: electric mobility is only as clean as the energy that powers it. Wind energy, with its low carbon intensity and steady output, offers one of the most impactful pathways for reducing transportation emissions.

With special thanks to
Jochem Esser, Tom Bekkers, Robin Vrugt, Cécile Garcia, Theo Rekelhof, Lode Dijkers, Ed Douwes, Valéry Gresnigt and the wind

Credits images
Janus van den Eijnden, Generatie Alles

Credits video
Arno Stevens, Generatie Alles