Sculptor Chris Navarro saving old wind turbine blades from landfills and creating monumental art. Turning trash into art.
The blades of wind turbines can be from 120 feet to 219 feet in length. The 120-foot blades weigh 12,OOO lbs. and cost $125,000 each and have an estimated life cycle of 20 years.
Obsolete wind turbine rotor blades are a problem because they are made with use of glass and carbon fiber and are extremely difficult to recycle at the present time. Thousands of tons of rotor blade waste materials are expected to arrive at waste reception centers in the next few years.
‘’I want to make beauty out of trash and inspiration out of regret.’’
Five designs created using obsolete wind turbine blades.
- ‘’TOMORROW THE SUN WILL RISE AGAIN’’ a monumental sculpture symbolizing a rising sun. That will shine the light of a new day, filled with limitless possibilities and hope for the future.
- "STARBURST" The blades are diverging up and outward, like that of a flash of light produced by an exploding star.
- ‘’WIND CATHEDRAL’’ at over 100 feet in height would be a social space where people come together.
- ‘’WINDHENGE’’ inspired after the famous Stonehenge. The 5000-year-old prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England.
- ‘’WIND LODGE’’ is my fifth design I have created that would be constructed with the use of obsolete wind turbine blades. The overall abstract design of ‘’WIND LODGE’’ is inspired by the standing circular lodge poles of Native Tipis.
Navarro has created a short video to explain his ideas and concepts on saving wind turbine blades (see below)
"Seeing large blades being buried in the landfill caused my artist mind to find a way to repurpose these obsolete blades. I wanted to turn them from unwanted garbage into a beautiful piece of art’’.”— Chris Navarro