Some pictures are being shared widely on social media with a claim that they show human-shaped pylons carrying electricity across Iceland. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Pictures of human-shaped pylons carrying electricity across Iceland.
Fact: The human-shaped pylons in the posted pictures are just proposals by the Choi + Shine architects. They are yet to be constructed. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the pictures were run through Google Reverse Image Search, they were found to be designed by the Choi + Shine architects. The same pictures can be seen on their website. They are labelled with the following description – “The Land of Giants™: Proposal for Landsnet, Iceland”. Landsnet is an electricity transmission company in Iceland. On clearly observing the pictures, one can find that they are 3D visualisations, not originally built structures.
The Choi + Shine architects posted the pictures on their Facebook page in August 2010. In May 2021, they have posted the human-shaped pylon picture on Instagram and wrote – “Current proposals include locations in Iceland, Norway, France, Korea, Canada, and the USA.” When one of the Instagram users asked – “Has this project been approved? Where can I see them?”, in the comments of their post in 2021, the Choi + Shine architects have replied – “Hopefully soon in Iceland and Norway”. So, they are yet to be constructed in Iceland. Also, talking to AFP in January 2022, the Choi + Shine architects have said that they are yet to construct them.
In 2015, ‘The Reykjavík Grapevine’ has reported that when they reached out to Landsnet officials regarding the human-shaped pylons, the officials said – “It has not been decided whether or when the pylons, which won a recognition award in the 2008 Icelandic High-Voltage Electrical Pylon International Design Competition, will be built.”
To sum it up, the human-shaped pylons in the pictures are just proposals; they are yet to be constructed.
