B9_#095 // SUBSTATION // AGOSTINO NICKL

Substations are mere transformations of electric current and originate from a time, in which the electricity amount steadily pumped into the net matched the amount of coal taken from the ground and burned. Now, that renewable energies withdraw our agency from production and provide electricity in tune with nature – its tides, winds and clouds – an addition to our electrical infrastructure is desperately needed: storage. The Domulator, short for domestic accumulator, uses the mass of our houses to store potential energy in times of overproduction by winching it up and releasing it in times of electricity shortage through a generator. Without the need of toxic batteries, our cities become animate structures, finally reflecting the energy landscape in which they are embedded.

Agostino Nickl is an M.Arch Graduate from The Bartlett School of Architecture