[HN Gopher] Can electricity pylons ever be beautiful?
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       Can electricity pylons ever be beautiful?
        
       Author : gdrift
       Score  : 26 points
       Date   : 2023-11-21 12:32 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bbc.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bbc.com)
        
       | fnord77 wrote:
       | "No."
        
       | mchanson wrote:
       | I kinda like all of them. My kid, when they were little, starting
       | calling them robots. e.g. "Dad, look at that robot!"
        
         | AnonCoward42 wrote:
         | Yeah the articles premise is already speculation, but phrased
         | as a fact.
         | 
         | > Most people seem to view electricity pylons as a blight -
         | ugly landmarks towering over the landscape.
         | 
         | I don't view them as ugly either. There is some beauty in truly
         | functional design imo.
        
       | smegsicle wrote:
       | that law of headlines is safe if those images are anything to go
       | by
       | 
       | the one with the color panels would look fine if they removed the
       | color panels
        
         | xanderlewis wrote:
         | For those who are unfamiliar:
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headli...
        
       | CharlesW wrote:
       | As a kid, I was awed by these stick-figure mechs. I suppose
       | beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
        
       | Prickle wrote:
       | I was fully expecting cost or safety being an issue, but I did
       | not expect this: (Specifically for the "Land of Giants" project.)
       | 
       | > A proposal in Norway faltered after a local mayor - spotting
       | the visitor attraction potential of the structures - agreed they
       | could be built in his town, as long as they weren't built
       | anywhere else in the country.
       | 
       | Quite sad that alternative shaped (?) Pylons do exist, and some
       | of them are really neat; yet are hampered by politics.
        
       | kazinator wrote:
       | I took a look; Betteridge's Law holds up here.
       | 
       | The most important thing is to make them all the same as much as
       | possible so that people who have to maintain them don't have to
       | deal with annoying variations.
        
       | twobitshifter wrote:
       | I love this idea. Look at The Sejourne Viaduct for a strong case
       | of beauty in infrastructure.
       | https://c8.alamy.com/comp/K6YGA0/france-pyrenees-orientales-...
       | 
       | People decry the loss of views in suburbs when a train might run
       | next to the freeway. They hear train tracks and think ugly. But
       | we can build sightly infrastructure that does not detract from
       | the world's most beautiful places.
        
       | exabrial wrote:
       | I think the harder you try, the more it becomes an eyesore. My
       | favorite are Corten steel (a self protecting steel that rusts a
       | nice natural red color) pylons personally... They just look
       | "right" in a landscape, or at least as much as you can for humans
       | planting wind turbines everywhere.
        
       | Clamchop wrote:
       | I just kind of generally like the aesthetics of infrastructure,
       | but I can see why others would think utility pylons are ugly.
        
       | crazygringo wrote:
       | A++ for creativity! (But still no.)
       | 
       | It makes me wonder: all underground power lines are still laid by
       | digging up the ground, laying them down, and then filling the
       | dirt back in. Which is super-expensive. Right?
       | 
       | Are we trying to develop any technology for "microboring" in
       | tunnels through dirt and clay, and maybe bedrock when
       | occasionally necessary? E.g. just a two-inch diameter tube or
       | something, that's even able to go underneath rivers and things?
       | Solely for laying underground wires?
       | 
       | I dream of a world without electricity pylons...
        
       | freitzkriesler2 wrote:
       | Yes but you must construct additional pylons.
        
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       (page generated 2023-11-21 23:00 UTC)