Dubai has garnered much attention in recent years with a never-ending supply of architectural wonders being built, or proposed, at a head spinning pace. Mostly these towering structures are grand and tall, but some are also green. We’ve covered many an ambitious Dubai skyscraper scheme here at Inhabitat, including David Fisher’s Rotating Tower, but there is new news from Fisher’s Dynamic Architecture firm. This self-sufficient, sun and wind powered design is making headlines once again as the Italian-Israeli architect has just unveiled the latest design for his twirling tower, and construction is set to begin this month!
The Dynamic Architecture building has been aptly named Rotating Tower as the floors would be capable of rotating around a central axis. It will be continually in motion, changing shape and giving residents the ability to choose a new view at the touch of a button. The form of the building would constantly change as each floor rotates separately giving a new view of the building as it turns. According to Fisher, the building ensures a very high resistance to earthquakes as each floor rotates independently.
The new tower is the first building of its size to produced in a factory. Each floor, made up of 12 individual units, complete with plumbing, electric connections, air conditioning, etc., will be fabricated in a factory. These modular units will be fitted on the concrete core or spine of the building at the central tower.
The 59-floor building will be powered entirely by sun and wind energy. And, the architect claims that the building will generate 10 times more energy than required to power it, thus making it a positive energy building. Solar panels will be fitted on the roof to harness sunlight, and a total of 48 wind turbines will be sandwiched between the rotating floors, placed so that they are practically invisible. Each wind turbine could produce up to 0.3 megawatt of electricity, and it is estimated that 1,200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy would be generated every year.
Construction is going to start soon, with an official launch later this month, and plans are also afoot to build a similar tower in Moscow.
+ Dynamic Architecture
Via BDOnline and GizMag
Hi Inhabitat,
There is a symphony video of this perhaps on youtube. Please do find the link. It’s amazing.
This is insane. If it works, probably will be the most impressive piece skyscraper yet (even better than the Burj Dubai, which will be the world’s tallest building)
Dubai is the ultimate sandbox for architects! That building got to make power enough to large parts of the city! Nicest powerplant I’ve seen too
Here s the YouTube link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=RzQazjw-4jI&feature=related
On picture 4, you see how they construct it. The apartment is constructed in modules and raised like an “elevator”, part for part. I don’t think your flat needs to move the hall day either because that would make me sick.. I think you’re able to control what direction it should be facing.
So each floor has 12 apartments, and each owner can choose when to rotate? I forsee big fights over those controls!
I just signed up for this. The whole idea seems amazing and if more countries would have architects like these (US primarily) then we’d be in better shape. The only downside I see is where it said “..and giving residents the ability to choose a new view at the touch of a button.” What about conflicts with residents on the other side of your module who like their view? I can imagine being a little upset while I’m sitting on my sofa, reading a book then my whole place rotates because the person across from me got bored.
I do hope they work out the kinks though, the between-floor turbines are brilliant…
I foresee plumbing and transportation issues. They’d have to be really creative to have non-centralized plumbing, non centralized transportation seems nigh impossible… Fire escapes might be a little tricky as well, but given enough engineers, they probably can over come these.
Hehe =P You’re right.. How could that work?! Think it is slownly rotating then. A TV tower in Trondheim/Norway has a resturant with a rotating second floor(1 round pr. hour). Maybe that’s how it kinda works…
But the view will be unfair =P when looking to south is currently more boring right now since they haven’t really focused on building southwards.
Norway should have some of those towers.. We’re currently dependent of Hydro power(99.7%, produced in Norway to own use) but there haven’t been rain in several weeks now =/ So that building could catch upp for some of the losses.
Looks very costly, disorienting and high potential for mechanical failure. If it can break down, it will, and never get repaired properly or even at all. I read an article the other day describing NYC and Paris as cities of the past, sentimental relics. Perhaps. But both are real cities culturally based. Dubai appears to be founded on pricipals of entertainment where its buildings are mere carousels. Im not interested in taking the ride. Are you?
wow, how would they do the plumbing? im horribly worried that the cool turbines are going to get poo’ed on!
This is not as complicated as you’re all making it, Psuedo and PaTrond. Buckminister Fuller designed and built a rotating house, the Dymaxion House. Hell, there’s even a rotating restaurant in Covington, Kentucky, not to mention many far more cosmopolitan cities. Plumbing and electrical connections are not a problem. Rotation is typically no more than once per hour.
As for the orientation issue, Schuper, there is only one tenant per floor, with is comprised of 12 prefabricated segments. These connect together to form rooms of one dwelling. Face the bedrooms toward the east for morning sunrise, then rotate your kitchen away from the sun to keep down the glare while you have breakfast, etc. Sounds wonderful to me.
I’d like to point out to mistawak that many of these designs come from European and American architects. The problem is not the architect, so much as the extreme cost of building these marvels. Only the money of Dubai can afford these!
As for sustainability, though, I’d bet my 1920′s abode consumes less energy over its life than is required to fabricate one of these dwellings. Still, it’s a terrific solution for a highrise!
This article talks a little more about the technical stuff such as how the architects plan to tackle issues of plumbing etc. and is a little more informative- they do admit that there are technical issues that have NOT been solved yet regarding construction. While not impossible, I think you need a developer with a huge leap of faith to back this project
I blogged about this sort of idea a while back after seeing an advert which used a lot of these ideas: http://24hourtourguide.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/rubiks-city/
Great to see this sort of architecture becoming a physical reality. Until stuff like this is built nobody knows how great idea it really is. Nice you tube video too, clever the way the building time is also reduced!
Inhabitat and other journals have documented this fellow’s work before, and if people are interested they may learn more about the tower from Fisher’s website http://www.dynamicarchitecture.net/ He’s job many of the World’s best minds working for him, and from my Masters research he was a former Graduate student of Architecture in Florence, Italy. Additionally his company or ‘club’ has Engineer Leslie E Robertson, former Designer of the World Trade Centre on board through LERA Associates. You may all log onto the website to view the names of the other leading compabies involved.
As for the plumbing aspects, he already has that solved with one of his companies former inventions addressing these general concerns. The real money is in the design for the wind turbine mechanism that drives the assorted floors rotation, and power generation. There are apparently plans to build a tower in each of the major cities around the world, with one planned for Chicago in the near future.
I m SAQIB ULLAH KHAN 100RANI BANNU FROM PK (0092333-9748477).
I bcom very happy to read about this astonishing building…
very very very ………………………………………………………….. interesting…
Leave it to Dubai to do something like this..excellent!
I’m deeply skeptical about the energy production of the building which is overstimated of around 50 times. But the design is quiet good and the technical problems for plumbing, electricity etc in my opinion are resoluble. For the plumbing i would make two tanks one for fresh water and one for stained water, i would put eight or sixteeen columns with fresh water/dark waters in the concrete core. The tanks will be provided with a computerized valve and a flexible pipe only a few meters long that will connect to the nearest water column when the movement of the floor ends. For electricity i’s only a problem of electromagnetic coupling and induction, two halves of a little transformer can be holded few millimeters apart, one half on the moving part of the house, the other half on the fixed part of the house. This system will have only a few more losses than a solid transformer. For electical supply you can use in a simpliest way brush contacts. For internet: wireless. No gas, only induction cooking devices.
Bye
GB
[...] you have not already heard of “Dynamic Architecture”, it’s a new movement that is quite amazing; it moves, it rotates and its sustainable. The [...]
faboulus
To answer some questions
“why cant we have architect’s like this in the United States?” Well we do- I’m one of them… and they don’t really. The architect is Italian, not Middle Eastern. And nearly every firm designing in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and the other cities there are american and european firms providing work for us american and european archtects. We do have foreign architects like Spanish born santiago calatrava designing the Chigago Spire which will be an incredible architectural marvel. There is also word of one of these rotating buildings set for design in New York City, so no worries about anyone getting singled out of the rotating building business.
As for elevators and staircases… It is centralized and does not move. The hallway circling the core does not move either. The entrance doors leading to the rooms move around an unobstructed circular hallway.
As for plumbing, sewage, and electrical, it moves around a ring pipe. Imagine plumbing and electrical working like branches on an artificial christmas tree. The “branches” or plumbing are connected to a ring that rotates about the center, so all connections can be solid ones.
As for the People fighting over controls of who sees what view… only the top 10 floors that cost in the tens of millions of dollars will be able to change their view and each one of those floors has only one occupant, so there are no fights!
As for the wind turbines, im not concerned about poo hitting them, but I am concerned how they will sound when they are spinning in a crazy wind both above and below your room. There will have to be a lot of sound insulation which increases the weight on the building.
This building would also need a large tuned mass damper on every floor. If, possibly one resident moves in and wants to put his gym set, boulder collection, and a couple ice sculptures against his window, that plate would sag to one side just like if everyone stood on one side of a small boat.
Other than that this will be impressive to see get constructed.
What happens if its night time and there is no wind? how does the building power itself?
I dont think there is a battery big enough to power 80 stories with air conditioning, elevators, lights, waterpumps, and other stuff
hey guys does anyone know if the first level of the tower rotates too
hey guys ,you guys should have no worries about the plumbing or the electricity I’m 100% shure that what these amazing Architects are doing have planned this project for years so lets all sit tight and enjoy for the mission to accomplish, by the way great idea great work dubia.
its building have a unique touch of architecture in the world.construction of building under water,shifting technology of building from one place to another and now to design an rotating building on each floor is biggest success of the human in the engineering field.i wish them success in their future life who try to search new ways in any field.
i am so so impressed by the architect, & i have a dream of being like that someday & i am on the way.
I like this unique idea of rotating towers and like the following things:
It can rotate its each floor independently is the most interesting thing in it.
The second interesting thing is that 90% of the tower will be built in a factory and shipped to the construction site. This will allow the entire building to be built in only 22 months. The majority of the workers will be in factories, where it will be much safer.
The third interesting thing in rotating towers is that entire tower will be powered from wind turbines and solar panels. Enough surplus electricity should be produced to power five other similar sized buildings in the area. The turbines will be located between each of the rotating floors. They could generate up to 1,200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy. The solar panels will be located on the roof and the top of each floor.