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

[veracity]

Wow! Impressive!! The amazing thing is that Dubai sits on all that oil wealth, but is not an oil exporter in and of itself.

This amazing concept of building highlights a couple of historical points:

#1. The history and development of art has always been the history of wealth and power.
When we visit Egyptian sites and gaze on Egyptian art, we are looking at the works commissioned by the wealthiest, ruling families (the pharaohs and their allied noble families).
The same for the Rennaissance, and most other artistic eras.

#2 So much for the "New American Century"! With even PNAC NewAmericanCentury.orgg) signer VP Dick Cheney throwing in the towel, and moving the headquarters of his "former" company, Halliburton, to Dubai, we should just call it the "New ARAB Century" or maybe "the New Mid-east" or "the New Mideast-Asia Century."

[ClevelandTom]

Seems to me I have read about some people who work in those rotating restaurants you find atop skyscrapers suffering from a spacial disorientation because of the movement . In some cases, it led to insomnia, hallucinations and all sorts of other problems.

I hope the building owners have good liability insurance.

[openhand]

A constant reminder of a world that doesn't care.
Perverse, these architects and clients have no clue about the relationship between buildings, the city and the community. They might as well call it the Paris Hilton.

Technology is the answer but what is the question.

[beekeeper]

Well we sure dont lead by example

[WIpatriot]

Almost coffeed my screen....

[ICanHasDemocracy]

why am I reminded of the Tower of Babel......the building rotates just like the SA government rotates around terrorists.

Dubai ( Do-Buy)
Built with American blood money.

[expatwing]

You do realize that Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates... NOT Saudi Arabia, don't you??

[Mygirl]

I have to say that my first thought was the Tower of Babel also.

[Brooklynindy]

Dubai's economy is quite diversified and petroleum revenues account for less than 5% of total GDP. Inform yourself.

[mergina]

AMAZING. like the jetsons.

[MKJeeves]

"Jane! Stop this crazy thing!"

[WIpatriot]

"Ruh-roh, Rorge."

[jubo]

That's a toy. Free your women and I'll be impressed.

[nomadicexpat]

dubai is very cosmopolitan. when i was there there were arab women dressed in western clothes and drinking in bars. check your facts and quit lumping the entire arab world into one category

The New York Times listed Dubai as its travel choice for partying in 2008.

[WandaBooneshaft]

Dubai is only ONE of the "states" of the Emirates. It is very cosmo and they pay for EVERYONE'S college in FULL. It is the exception not the rule of the UAE.

The rest of the Emirates DO hate women and are very fundamentalist. You wouldn't want to go there on vacation or otherwise ... especially if you are a woman.

[liya]

Cosmopolitan, place for partying, yippee. However, about 50 migrant workers that work there for construction companies fall off skyscrapers they're building each week, and the government could care less.

[spiderbucket]

We could never have a city like that in the US cause we do not allow slave labor.

[nolabels]

Hang out at a mall in Dubai and you feel like you are on the casino floor at the Bellagio. I don't think there is equality in Dubai but it is unfair to say that they aren't free.

[cinattra]

Architects are full of it most of the time, but they have to push design or we're still building log cabins. Engineers don't care because they are in it for the challenge.

Anyway, I wonder how fast the building will actually rotate? How will the plumbing work?

I'm not sure the building will be people proof. I just imagine people coming home drunk and needing to park their car on their floors and doing loads of damage. Or the drunk who passes out in his car while his car is on the way up to his floor hogging the car elevator.

Will I be limited in the size of car I can own? Will they have at least 2 car elevators because 80 floors and one car garage may not be enough? Can you imagine the wait required just to park your car or to unpark? Talk about serious elevator rage.

Every morning you get up you will have to figure out which direction in your circular hallway to walk to get to the elevator because every morning it will be in a different place, possibly.

[veracity]

"Architecs are full of it most of the time" - Sad but true, most architects would pave over and build on top of Old Faithfull (or any of Mother Nature's other natural treasures) , if they got the contract and commission.
As far as "people proof" rotating floors or car garage, thos are not much of a problem - many restaurants (on entire floors) rotate today, and of course the parking garages could built underground.

[eden4barack08]

Why aren't these guys taking care of world poverty instead?

[beekeeper]

Because they dont have to. We have given them all the values they need and we ourselves have shown them what priorities we value as well.

[bola47]

or how about giving money to the palestinians. no, they would rather keep them in poverty so they can rant against israel. none of the arab countries want anything to do with palestine or their people.

[mphalen]

"Fisher acknowledges that he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn't practiced architecture regularly in decades"

This building looks like a rip off of the Spire, being built in Chicago. Of course the Spire doesn't rotate.
It does seem that this guy is trying to pull a scam on Dubai.

[eden4barack08]

That's the OIL revenue right there!

[Jason357]

Does that mean it's going to have a big EXXON sign on top spinning around?

[revwilliam]

Nice to see somebody doing well.
America is now a third world country.
Heckuva job, Dumb-ya.

[wolfgangmo]

America is NOT a 3rd world country. We are still the largest market in the world and it is still growing.

That is not to say that there are not problems to be fixed. The good thing is that we CAN easily afford to fix these problems with the money we already have. It is a matter of priorities and will.

[Whys]

Notice the way it moves. Were I to see it without scale or context, I just might think it a living thing. Not unlike cilia.

[WIpatriot]

Awesome, eh?

[grimm]

Rims for big boys.

Incredible design.

Like a pyramid, built on slave labor.

[munkii]

the pyramids weren't built by slaves

[VictorLudorum]

http://www.geocities.com/greatglobalist/redden.GIF

[VictorLudorum]

Conceptually speaking 'towers' no landscape-ing sensation is coming from architects like a few hundred feet laid out hillock with a artificial rainforest ...but any piece of asignment/employement is blessing ....even sleeping in tea cup like penthousdes and revolving rooftop floors......i should be visiting UAE this season...before flying to west to face the rotten 'jews'/'secularists' world that just wont stop operating nuisance and follery allover the world...

[popecorvo]

What building are you spinning in?