KarunaNews Story

As electrification infrastructure expands across Europe, Austria encountered a problem: the general public is not fond of how the new pylons — which resemble traditional power lines — look. So, the Austrian Power Giants were born. A concept devised by Austrian Power Grid, GP design partners, and BauCon, these power line towers are shaped into giant animal sculptures representing nine states across the country. There’s the stork, which represents Burgenland for its annual stork migration. And the stag, an animal symbol representing the wooded foothills of the Alps in Lower Austria. These two are prototypes; the plan is to install these across nine federal states in the country. “This nature-inspired design is ultimately intended to become a symbol for nature-friendly infrastructure projects, strengthen the economic and tourism location in the regions, and ultimately lead to increased acceptance of grid expansion projects by the general public,” a statement from Austrian Power Grid said. “Austrian Power Grid is betting that regional pride and visual interest can shift that calculus. If a community sees a pylon as a landmark rather than an eyesore, the theory goes, acceptance follows.”