PRESS RELEASE: Where Art Meets Infrastructure: Fiji’s Marou Village Unveils Global Model for Climate Resilience Through Community Co-Design

Marou Village, Yasawa Islands, Fiji — The Village of Marou, in partnership with the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI), proudly announces the winners of the LAGI 2025 Fiji design competition. These two visionary artworks in the landscape are designed to generate clean energy and water while reflecting the hopes of Marou residents for a future grounded in environmental stewardship and cultural identity.

The global competition invited designers from around the world to respond to the context and challenges of this remote South Pacific village. From 205 submissions representing 45 countries, two proposals were chosen by a local and international jury for their ability to listen to the land, climate, and community.

“We never imagined that people from across the world would be designing with us in this way,” said Ilisari Naqau Nasau, Acting Chief (Sau Turaga) of Marou. “On behalf of myself, the elders, and the entire community of Marou, I wish to extend our deepest and most heartfelt thanks to all of the designers who participated in the LAGI 2025 Fiji competition. These solutions for energy and water systems will not only benefit us today, but will also support our future, and the futures of our children and grandchildren.”

Winning Proposals

Shaped as a perfect circle, The O by Alberto Roncelli is a solar-powered pavilion that unites clean energy, rainwater harvesting, and cultural gathering beneath a 40-meter-wide timber canopy. Merging spatial harmony with community resilience through collaborative design, the installation generates 150 MWh of electricity and 1.2 million liters of filtered water annually while providing a flexible public space for Marou Village.

“LAGI Fiji represents a unique opportunity to explore renewable energy in a meaningful and poetic way,” said Roncelli. “I’m honored to develop this vision over the coming months and look forward to working closely with the Marou community.”

Rising from the landscape as a gesture of open palms offering yaqona (kava), Ligavatuvuce (“Hands that Offer and Uplift”) by Young Kang is a sculptural system of solar energy, rainwater harvesting, and cultural gathering. Drawing from Fijian tradition and local craftsmanship, and built collectively, the structure generates 120 MWh of electricity and provides 4.5 million liters of water annually, while creating a shaded ceremonial space that supports both community life and sustainable tourism in Marou Village.

“LAGI 2025 was an incredible opportunity to create something deeply connected with the Marou community, while advancing sustainability-focused art through concepts rooted in cultural traditions that link present and future generations,” said Kang.

Each team will now receive $100,000 USD to prototype their ideas. Prototypes will be exhibited at the Fiji Arts Council in Suva in early 2026, with one project ultimately selected for full-scale construction in Marou Village.

With climate impacts intensifying globally, the winning projects demonstrate how renewable infrastructure can deliver clean energy and water while also serving as spaces for gathering, learning, and sustainable economic development.

“These projects establish a new model for the co-creation, implementation, and operation of renewable energy and freshwater systems,” said Elizabeth Monoian and Robert Ferry, LAGI co-founders. “Once operating, the pilot project will provide electricity and water, generate economic opportunities, and serve as a replicable model for other coastal communities across the Pacific.”

LAGI 2025 Fiji is working in coordination with the Fiji Department of Energy and the Fiji Rural Electrification Fund (FREF), supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Marou Village was identified through FREF’s feasibility study with support from Arizona State University. Operations and maintenance for the final installation will be informed by the FREF program as implementation moves forward.

In the lead-up to construction, the winning and shortlisted projects will be showcased this November at an exhibition hosted by the Fiji Arts Council and the residents of Marou Village. The opening event on November 6, 2025 will launch a new publication celebrating these innovations in place-based energy and water systems.
LAGI 2025 Fiji also aligns with the Ministry of Tourism and Tourism Fiji’s sustainability agenda and is envisioned as a future national landmark—an enduring model of co-design and climate resilience.

For more information, visit https://lagi2025fiji.org.

Media inquiries: Elizabeth Monoian, LAGI Co-Director.
Email: [email protected] Phone +1 412 996 4906

LAGI 2025 Fiji Jurors
Ilisari Naqau Nasau
Sau Turaga (Chief Maker) of the Village of Marou, of the Mataqali Koro (Koro Clan), Representing Marou Village

Oliver Broughton
Energy Portfolio Management, Renewables and Efficiency, Elemental Group

Deb Guenther
Landscape Architect and Partner at Mithun, FASLA, LEED AP, SITES AP

Elena van Hove
Director, Global Energy Access, Laboratory for Energy and Power Solutions, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University

Fenton Lutunatabua
Storyteller and Climate Change Activist

Dr. Ramendra Prasad
Senior Lecturer, Department of Science, The University of Fiji

Jale Samuwai
Manager, Global South CFAN Program, RMI

Paula Schaafhausen
Artist

Setoki Tuiteci
Architect and Director of Ethos Edge Design Studio, General Secretary of the Fiji Association of Architects

Residents of Marou
Local Community

LAGI 2025 Fiji Project Partners:
The University of Fiji
Arizona State University
Fiji Arts Council
Crystal Island
HIRMER