Designer Starck turns to micro wind turbines

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60Q37820100127

French designer Philippe Starck gestures during a news conference to present a new line of Micro Wind Turbines in downtown Milan January 27, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Alessandro Garofalo

MILAN | Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:10am EST

MILAN (Reuters) - French designer Philippe Starck, creator of chic hotels, high-tech lamps and modern-style furniture, has turned his attention to energy with the design of two sleek micro wind-power turbines aimed at domestic use.

Starck on Wednesday unveiled the "Revolutionair" turbines, made by Italy's Pramac, which makes power generation equipment, after two years of work on the project.

The turbines, which will be made in the Tuscan city of Siena and can be placed in the garden or on the roof, consist of the quadrangular 400W WT model with a power output of 400W and the helicoidal shaped 1KW WT, which can generate power of 1 KW.

Their Italian reference prices will start from about 2,500 euros ($3,515) and 3,500 euros respectively.

"We have to help people to produce energy, to be part of the fight," Starck told a news conference at the unveiling in Milan.

"Energy should not be a punishment, we should create a desire (among people to produce it)."

Starck is famous for interiors that have included the private apartments of former French President Francois Mitterrand as well as products such as transparent chairs and the spider-like Juicy Salif fruit juicer.