Architect Plans To Turn Battersea Power Station Towers Into Giant Tesla Coils

Plans have been unveiled to convert Battersea Power Station’s four iconic chimneys into pedestrian-powered Tesla coils to create stunning lightning effects in the skies of South London.

Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is overseeing the redevelopment of the space next to the disused Art Deco building.

While a public plaza is planned, the architect used a lecture at the Royal Academy to unveil an audacious plan to develop the building’s famous smokestacks into the world’s tallest Tesla coils.

Invented around 1891 by Nikola Tesla, these are used to produce high-voltage, low-current displays of lightning bolts.

According to Dezeen, Ingels said: ”We’re working with experts in Tesla coils, looking into how to incorporate it into the chimneys so essentially we might celebrate the transformation from carbon footprint to human footprint.”

Piezoelectric paving - which uses mechanical pressure to build up electrical charge - would allow the gradual build-up of energy from pedestrians to power the towers.

Roughly 50,000 people are set to pass through the plaza - known as Malaysia Square - every day.

The idea is that that the energy would be stored and then used in periodic bursts to power up the towers, such as every hour on the hour.

While the ambitious idea has yet to be approved, the architect is adamant that it can be done.

(Image credit: Bjarke Ingels, Wikipedia)