He continues, "We are delighted to celebrate its official opening today. With the Palace of Peace and Khan Shatyr, we are proud to have designed the two landmark structures for such prominent points along the city’s main axis – their forms express the change of emphasis and function, from religion to entertainment, as you pass along this grand new boulevard.”
Weather changes in Kazakhstan are extreme — the climates drops down to -35 degrees Celsius in winter and can reach +35 degrees in summer. The Khan Shatyr is designed as a sheltering environment that provides a place to have fun and get away from the heat or the cold. To achieve an energy-efficient climate-controlled area, the tent is covered in three layers of ETFE, which allows light to filter into the tent below. In the winter, ice formation is prevented on the inside layer through temperature control and directing warm air currents up the inner surface of the fabric. Then during the summer, fritting on the outermost foil layer provides solar shading and cool air is directed across the space and vents at the top allow hot air to escape.
I’m curious if something like this could be used for a portable if not permanent Solar Updraft Tower installation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_updraft_tower