Lowy’s newest work in ‘solar sculpture’ is an outgrowth of his longstanding interest in alternative energy and is also in keeping with his business lineage — his family owned and operated an electrical contracting firm which recently celebrated their 103rd year. (Lowy & Donnath Electrical Construction, Inc., founded by Lowy’s grandfather in 1919 and still in operation today, holds license #1 for electrical construction in New York City.) The son of an electrical engineer and interior designer, Lowy became excited by the notion of applying aesthetics to solar installations to create solar structures that would be pleasing to the eye while generating usable energy.
After several years refining designs, building models and applying for US design patents, Lowy was granted a Design Patent in 2019. Paying close attention to improvements in photo-voltaic technology and new efficiencies in LED lighting, Lowy has since completed a number of SOLAR NIGHT sculptures, each of which, in addition to its inherent beauty and interest, can power landscape lighting, small fountains and other manner of low voltage equipment. The first iteration of these sculptures,
Butterfly Effect, was a winner in the SUNY Oswego sculpture competition in 2018 and was installed on the campus for three years.
Sculpture number five titled
T-Square, and referencing the architect’s tool, is Lowy’s first corporate commission, selected by Harlan Stone, the CEO of HMTX to grace the roof garden of his new, world corporate headquarters in Norwalk, CT. With its ethos of sustainability, it is a perfect complement to this Jason F. McLennan, designed, Living Building Challenge, sustainably sourced building,
T-Square boasts two 86 inch Alaskan Cedar arcs which are also sustainably sourced, and the sculpture incorporates some of the most innovative PV (photo-voltaic) and low voltage products on the market. While these sculptures are not meant to replace solar arrays, they can be coupled with more traditional solar installations to help offset private or commercial electric consumption, while meeting 1% for art requirements for public art projects. Future projects will incorporate not only solar energy, but also wind energy to facilitate energy generation in a wider range of weather scenarios. The sculptures can also be placed in locations where it is not economically efficient to hook up to the publicly available electrical grid.
Inquiries welcome.
