Dubai's Moving Skyscraper "Dynamic Tower" Planned For 2010

NEW YORK -- An Italian architect said he is poised to start construction on a new skyscraper in Dubai that will be "the world's first building in motion," an 80-story tower with revolving floors that give it an ever-shifting shape.

The spinning floors, hung like rings around an immobile cement core, would offer residents a constantly changing view of the Persian Gulf and the city's futuristic skyline.

A few penthouse villas would spin on command using a voice-activated computer. The motion of the rest of the building would be choreographed in patterns that could be altered over time.

Speaking at a news conference in New York on Tuesday, the building's designer, David Fisher, declared that his tower will revolutionize the way skyscrapers are made -- a claim that might strike some as excessively bold.

Read more about the swirling skyscraper or scroll down for photos and video.

Comments

[AgentMacGyver]

08:31 AM on 07/01/2008

Dubai is going to be the coolest ghost town once the oil era ends.

[CaptainHowdy]

05:09 AM on 07/01/2008

Yeah, a building with moving parts should be a joy to keep up the maintenance on.

Good luck!

[SaraPulis]

05:40 PM on 06/28/2008

How beautiful and original, but it comes with very mixed feelings, too. I wonder how it'll be powered. Will there be solar panels in some of the windows? It looks as though it could catch a whole lot of sun. To think there are people starving not so far from this place. Also, how will people find their apartments? Wouldn't it be odd to have to check apartment numbers every time before going in?

[RobtBrock]

12:49 PM on 06/28/2008

The desk clerk provides a bottle of Dramamine at check-in. American-style ingenuity.

[Raymondf]

08:44 AM on 06/28/2008

Nothing unusal about these buildings, from the richest country in the world.

[Triangle1]

01:33 AM on 06/28/2008

Typical American jealousy. If we were building this to replace the Twin Towers, we'd be so proud. Someone else is building something better, and we have nothing good to say. There are skyscrapers in every major city in the US. I've never heard anyone complain about one in my life.

[CaptainHowdy]

05:08 AM on 07/01/2008

Yeah, I'm so jealous that we aren't making imaginary and impractical buildings that will never exist.

[chimpette]

11:17 PM on 06/27/2008

I think this absolutely amazing and brilliant! I will definitely be following this story.

[mimsnpips]

09:58 PM on 06/27/2008

I recently heard Wolf Blitzer say he has been to Dubai. He didn't say business, I think it was pleasure. How many other msm "journalists" chill in Dubai for 2500 a night and up? And for sure it's all coming out of our pockets at the gas pump. Where are our brains in this country?? W*F?

[chimpette]

11:19 PM on 06/27/2008

I suspect, as others have said, that Dubai will soon become the capitol of the world.

[AnnaList]

06:43 PM on 06/29/2008

Not necessarily. In fact, I think over time, "Oil" will become the fuel of the past. In the best interest of the planet alternative sources of fule will dominate. That is what is so frightening to the "Oil folks." The thing that does worry me though, is that other nations such as China, or India will take the lead in innovation, developing technologies leaving the United States in the dust. As we fight among ourselves about the reality of global warming, and the politics of it all, we will end up as followers instead of leaders in these new industries. If we don't get smart and serious about "Green technology" we will end up buying solar, electric cars, fast speed trains, etc., from either China or India. Tom Friedman has written a new book, "Hot, Flat and Crowded," to be released in September. He reminds us of the world's over-population in relationship to accessible energy, food and water and its consequences. It's going to be difficult for us, particularly as Americans, to adjust to totally different life-styles, but we must. It is truly a new frontier for all of us, but we have succeeded in overcoming every other obstacle, and we can, if we're smart, and if we serious about it and get started soon enough, we will meet these challenges too.

[adorable]

12:17 AM on 06/28/2008

I doubt it. During Ramadan, they cut themselves, as a foreigner it's not safe to be around them. They have issues with the way women dress, especially if you are a woman of color. Dubai may be very comspolitan but their ways are very much Islam.

[collprof]

09:32 PM on 06/27/2008

For years we 5% of world's population drank up 30% of the oil while the rest of the world said the very same things we are saying now about excess.

They are laughing all the way to the revolving building on our trillion and more per year for fossil fuel while we sit here and witch and moan about their building. Hey America..how much did our government spend on alternative fuel research in 2006?

$3.2B. That's about 150 hours of Iraq funding.

[LeBelAge]

06:16 PM on 06/27/2008

Dubai is run on slave labour and prostitution. How many men, women and children are going to be hurt and exploited in the process of building ridiculous looking skyscrapers?

[Huffyfan]

05:12 PM on 06/27/2008

Breakfast
You are not far from the truth . Islam tells them to be fair and just to workers and that cheating a work is like committing a sin but they dont care , they got obsessed with dollars and financial gain .
they have become only 20% of the population , 80% are Asians . English is the Most widely spoken language there , in taxis , hospitals , restaurants , schools . Many people are worried about the future of their Culture and arabic heritage etc.. their kids are raised by Sri lancan and phiillipino nannies so the kids learn English and can not use Arabic . Most Emiraties shun the Local education system , and prefer to send their kids to American schools , so teens do not use Arabic and many say their children are losing their Identity and copying the west too much . Others worry if there are elections in the next 5 years , the Majority (Asian ) may control the country and the emiraties will become the Minority . too many issues that are worrying them at the moment .
One guy on tv said he found dozens of english papers for sale , and punjabi, urdu , Sinhalese, hindi but only One paper in Arabic .

[munkii]

10:27 PM on 06/27/2008

while, yes, 80% of Dubai's population is asian, they don't have full citizenship, the government prohibits giving immigrant workers citizenship for one reason or the other, no matter how long they stay in the country, they will never get to 'vote' anytime soon, once Dubai is out of ideas/space there will be a mass deportation.

as for the Arabic culture it's pretty much all but lost in Dubai so don't go looking for it..

[nomoredead]

10:15 PM on 06/29/2008

Nor, can newcomers own any business without a local partner who owns the controlling interest.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

03:19 PM on 06/27/2008

How the heck will plumbing and electrical connections work? With pre-existing rotating restaurants, etc., the plumbing is in the stationary core; only electricity is in the wheel.

Next, imagine getting home after a late night. You exit the elevator core. Now, where did I leave that apartment again?

Tres cool.

[Axolotl]

09:22 PM on 06/27/2008

the sh*t takes and 80-story drop. splish.

[NYC07]

01:42 PM on 06/27/2008

"Jane !!! Stop this crazy thing "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cynth]

12:02 AM on 06/28/2008

LOL!

[wm1066]

01:37 PM on 06/27/2008

I saw this on a chinese news station and since I don't understand chinese I thought it was just a cartoon, but when they showed how the floors would move and the elavators would work I realized it was a real building. Made me wonder how much energy it would take to constantly move the building.
The heat build up has got to be tremendous.

[munkii]

10:28 PM on 06/27/2008

according to the architect, it's self sustained, i wouldn't take him for his words though

[WasteNJ]

01:05 PM on 06/27/2008

Amazing engineering accomplishment. Hey, they've got money to build manmade islands, why not this? Imagine if they put two of these down at 1 World Trade plaza. All the groundbreaking architecture is overseas now, American architecture used to be a thriving industry. We just don't set those trends anymore.