UAE Community Blog: Dubai rotating tower

25 June, 2008

Dubai rotating tower

I wouldn't want to live in it, and I don't for a moment believe it will end up looking anything like this if indeed it is ever built at all, but the 3D animations in this video are stunning. It looks like something from another universe:

47 comments:

BuJ said...: hi SD.. long time.. anyway you might find this interesting:

blog; 25 June, 2008 15:20
Keef said...: Is this really happening? It looks insanely impractical, but when you come to Dubai, never say never...; 25 June, 2008 17:46
Tainted Female said...: "I don't for a moment believe it will end up looking anything like this if indeed it is ever built at all"

Because Burj AlArab looks nothing like the blueprints, nor do the Palms, or Burj AlArab - right?

I think a lot of those commenting on the blog bujassem linked are putting their feet in their mouths. Unfortunately, most of you must have no access to or bother to watch television channels like Discorvery where they've shown rotating buildings built successfully on smaller scales time and time again. It's just like Dubai to try and do things bigger and better than anyone else.

I think there's a good chance this will be the next big project and if it is... I'm thinking it will look very similar to the draw up we see in the film.; 25 June, 2008 20:20
Anonymous said...: I woulnd't stay or even invest in something like this...sorry!; 25 June, 2008 20:51
Anonymous said...: My God BuJ, you linked it to my site ?!
Anyways.. sure most of the comments on my post weren't as 'formal' as expected since the three of us " IYM, BuJ, and Rosh " are more like blog friends than just bloggers..
Looking forward to more ' scientific ' discussions here..
Good day all..; 25 June, 2008 20:52
Susan said...: Imagine your view changing every so often!; 25 June, 2008 21:13
Kyle said...: CNN has a feature on this project just about now.

I don’t think this project’s any bit cooler than the Burj Dubai ;)

I think it’s more like ad absurdum especially considering it’s 4-40 mill-greenback tag a unit.

Ah, but what the hell, in today’s age sensibility ends up on the backburner – so why not encash it, absurdity, per se!; 25 June, 2008 21:15
Anonymous said...: It will look ugly if each habitant chose a different angle, so the wave shape in the picture won't be for real... there are other websites that show some of its possible shapes and the random-angles position looks a bit ugly for a building...
Maybe they will have a common agreement to make a nice shape :)
Keefie: nice photo :); 25 June, 2008 23:39
BuJ said...: Keefie, you got an amazing picture! is it really you? wow.. dashing looks!

Tainted, you say quiet for so long then you ravish us with these morsels of greatness!

Can I ask if you've seen the Burj blueprints? Do you know that the Burj had no bluepirnts.. they stopped using that technology in the 1980s coz it was crap and dangerous. We use something called AutoCAD now.

I really believe in opinions and everyone has the right to one. However your qualification is watching the discovery channel, and my qualifications are an engineering degree and a decade or so of experience in buildings.

If you took the trouble to read my previous comments on IYM's blog you would have noticed that i raised issues, rather than just criticised the subject.

After all engineering is all about pushing the boundaries, and specifically for the advancement of humans. To engineer is to out-perform. We do not like impossible things, and we always aim to make the impossible possible.

Viva la Discovery :)

IYM, do u want me to delete the link? pls give the order and it's done.; 26 June, 2008 03:18
Anonymous said...: The only reason I can think for not living in there is because I wouldn't be able to afford it.; 26 June, 2008 04:18
Anonymous said...: No BuJ.. you're not deleting the link..

It was fun discussing that on my blog.. no one was insulted, and I rarely regret anything I say.. you know me well by now..

Good luck with your engineering career BuJ..; 26 June, 2008 05:54
Tainted Female said...: BuJ...

Do you have any idea how much I love you? And I say that with no sarcasm intended. I love the fact that you can disagree or debate (better word) with someone here without making an ass out of yourself or the person you're talking to.

In no way am I doubting your qualifications, nor implying that by watching television I know more about engineering or architecture than you or anyone else.

I'm simply stating the fact that similar structures have been created on smaller scales time and time again all over the world.

Why wouldn't Dubai be the first to outdo this? Dubai is famous for taking others 'carbon copies' (used in the same way I used the word blueprint above, as I am aware there are no actual carbon copies) and blowing them up to bigger, better realities?

I find it amazing that so many people are quick to say it won't happen, couldn't happen, with such certainty when we all should know by now, in Dubai... Anything is possible.

Do hope you and yours are well.; 26 June, 2008 06:06
Tainted Female said...: BTW BuJ, you may find some of your answers on the official site for this, and if not... you can contact David Fisher and ask him about it.

here

And a quick google search shows these rotating buildings are planned for Dubai & Moscow.; 26 June, 2008 06:18
Stained said...: hmmm.....every argument made by Buj makes sense (in IYMs blog)....

With so much sand in the air most of the time, how are they going to manage to keep sooo many moving parts to keep moving....Lubricants or whatever may help but we all know what sand does to our cars even with perfect lubrication....Sand can be such fine particles, it is almost impossible to keep it out and will accumulate sooner or later....

Wind power....if we had so much wind here, the summer months would have been so much more pleasant but we all know how nice summer is here, what then?? Are they going to use generators, think about the power needed to move each floor....

And will a single Pillar in the middle allow the building to survive an earthquake???

It'll be cool if it was made....but I have my doubts....but in Dubai anything is possible....remember the days when 33 floors was tall!!!; 26 June, 2008 10:24
uaeiyah said...: When I live there,whenever I'm sleepless I will ask them to speed it up.; 26 June, 2008 20:01
Anonymous said...: The thing is: is it worth all the huge expenses? be it construction expenses or living expenses !

If I'm living there, I'll be bored in less than a month seeing all scenes over and over again.. constant repitition will kill its amuzement for sure ..

I'd rather go for that building in Chicago under construction.. give me few seconds..will link it here..
chaw; 26 June, 2008 23:37
Anonymous said...: Here.. the chicago spire.. amazing; just amazing.. this is a building to go for.. gives you that feeling of dynamism and has all the view as well:

http://www.thechicagospire.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc; 26 June, 2008 23:42
Anonymous said...: Here is an interview with the master architect Calatrava:

http://www.thechicagospire.com/architect/interview/; 27 June, 2008 00:01
BuJ said...: hi tainted.. thanks for everything.. and for your kind words :)

I see your point and concur.. i guess sometimes we have to accept that different people can say the same thing in a different way to us. We have to learn to be more sensitive and more perceptive.

I learnt something new today, so it ain't bad, eh!

Anyway I don't like to say things are impossible.. coz that is not constructive.. especially from an engineer.. where it's our job to make things possible.

I just have some questions regarding how simple they make this look. In my opinion this is more challenging than even Burj Dubai.. buildings perform well coz we make them stiffer to have less movement. Once buildings move, things start to get really difficult.

Btw, what irritates me is they get a big ass architect to talk about this, yet there is no mention of any engineers or even contractors who have to make it work then to build it. how very typical..

IYM.. btw, Calatrava is a big-ass spanish architect.. very famous for expressing the structure within the architecture which is rare.

hi Stained..thanks.. but i got another one for u. the windows need to be 100% movement proof.. i.e. like the windows on a ship.. coz all the movement from the wind will make them vibrate and they will rattle.. so it's be a huge rattling building.. i can see this being a serious prob.

still it can be built if you pump enough cash in it.. i'm fairly sure about it.. let's see.

have a nice day everyone.; 27 June, 2008 01:47
BuJ said...: Nou7, is it you? :); 27 June, 2008 01:57
Anonymous said...: Sleepless in Muscat passed away :(
May he rest in peace.; 27 June, 2008 02:34
Anonymous said...: Oh No.. that's a blogger who died ? How and when ?

May his soul rest in peace.. how sad :(; 27 June, 2008 03:36
nick said...: I love how there's a sports car parked right there in the middle of someone's apartment!

Again, one of the dumbest and most impractical ideas yet - I have a better suggestion. Why don't we just make an entire tower out of Play-Doh? That way, we can shape our own apartments however we want! Wheee!; 27 June, 2008 09:19
Stained said...: One more questions.....how do you expects any Muslim to be able to pray???

Also some Hindus also follow a direction thing about what is kept where....what about them also....I think its also known as feng shui....; 27 June, 2008 10:18
BuJ said...: Stained, this is a simple one :)
The central lift core + staircases is concrete and won't move or rotate.. well it will deflect horizontally by h/500 or so, but it's irrelevant.

They will build separate male and female prayer rooms in every floor just outside the lifts :); 27 June, 2008 10:19
Dubai Jazz said...: Stained,
I heard most of the towers' residents are atheists.
The few Muslims will be given a dynamic pray mat, which will rotate reversely and keep in alignment with the qibla.; 27 June, 2008 11:55
Anonymous said...: Salam :)
Is it gonna use a lot of electricity (energy)? High maintenance, perhaps? Still, interesting project! الحمد الله; 27 June, 2008 14:07
Keef said...: Buj, Hatem: yepp, almost a year out of the Sandlands and I've stopped looking like a Kamal and now look like a normal person!; 27 June, 2008 18:07
BuJ said...: Ah for a Keith to leave the Island for the Sandland, then to complain that it's sunny is ok.. but then to say that the land of Carlos and Xavier is better is an understatement!; 27 June, 2008 18:11
rosh said...: Hmmm, who's gonna endorse this project? Maria Sharapova perhaps given obvious glamour - she can twirl & prance around a model of the building. And perhaps Pam Anderson (who btw is coming into UAE) could direct attention to assets (of the building of course) and share a few thoughts, like you know, how to divorce and marry the same man, over and over again - and again - and then again. Which is why she'd love to live in a revolving *home*, 'cause life goes around in circles or something.

Seriously, can't phantom who'd want to live in a revolving *home*?; 27 June, 2008 18:23
Tainted Female said...: Is UAE still blocking entrance to anyone who has an Israel stamp in their passport?

If so, this is interestingly hypocritical.

The Florence-based Israel-born architect(...); 27 June, 2008 18:26
Dubai Jazz said...: To blame this kinda crap solely on architects is unfair to say the least.
Most of these funny ideas are sprouting from developers' minds. For an architect it's like what the hell? If they can provide the engineering capacity to keep this building erect and revolving at the same time, sure as hell I can design it for them. And the animations are a marketing technique to lure people into buying them….

Shouldn't you say that the structural, electrical and mechanical designers are equally guilty of not serving the purpose of efficiency and practicality?; 27 June, 2008 18:29
Dubai Jazz said...: lol, Rosh, that was a funny comment.

btw, you meant to say fhantom fathom? :); 27 June, 2008 18:31
BuJ said...: habibi rosh you need to take a break this weekend and relax. enough work wallah.

DJ.. sorry to lash out on architects. but u know here in the uk i can be taken to court if i design something that is dangerous to build or unsafe to operate, even though the architect is the lead designer and my role will be forgotten 1 week after topping out?; 27 June, 2008 18:35
Dubai Jazz said...: Mr. Bu Jassem, the kind of recognition an architect receives goes both ways. It's bitter-sweet if you ask me. I sometimes envy structural engineers or even quantity surveyors, because despite the ostensible boredom; you guys have it simple most of the time. Simple in the sense that 1+1=2. While architects are required to argue for anything but the simple equation. Of course, it comes with the territory, so I am not complaining. All I am saying is that each discipline has its own pros and cons.; 27 June, 2008 18:46
nzm said...: Tainted: that article you link to in your last comment is brilliant.

On the second page, did you see who is going to be an Engineering consultant for this project?

LMFAO!

If I hadn't agreed with BuJ's comments before reading this, I agree with him now!; 28 June, 2008 06:44
Tainted Female said...: lol nzm, yes... I'd seen it - and giggled. Still... I don't doubt the buildings may be built in Dubai.

There are just so many different things to discuss when it comes to this... it's fascinating.; 28 June, 2008 06:57
BuJ said...: lol you guys crack me up.. i read Tainted's reuters link and it cracked me up more.. the guy is israeli and a jew and his engineer designed buildings that collapse.. hmm.. plus the biggest worry is this guy lives in lala-land..

1-car lifts? can't u see that cars are set to become extinct.. especially with the price of oil going up sixfold in the last 5 yrs!

2-this architect has no high-rise experience. if i were him i'd build a 20 story or 10 story rotating dildo first.. then goto 80

3- the NYC twin tower engineer is retired, and he is not famous at all (internationally).. perhaps they know him in NYC.. but in the uk he's unheard of.. and i think his only claim to fame is his fallen towers.. now he wants to relight that spark.. that last flickered in the 1970s... by designing a rotating dildo.. hmmm
i'd get a second opinion if i were the developer. both from an architectural and engineering viewpoint.

3- i'm a structural eng.. but i think there are serious challenges with mechanical and electrical engineering.. how do you fix a water supply to a rotating appartment? electrical wiring? etc.. looks impractical..

by the time the design reaches site, the rotating bit will shrink so much, it will be just a 1m x 1m balcony that rotates.. so much for dynamic architecture.; 28 June, 2008 12:38
Anonymous said...: I am not an engineer, so I will not venture to question the feasibility of the project. My only question is, do apartments constitute a full floor or do tenants of a floor have to coordinate the rotation?

If I were to have a full top floor for an apartment, I would live in it (granted it actually happens).

I certainly don't mind switching my view at will.; 28 June, 2008 22:28
Anonymous said...: The idea of car lifts is not new as well..

This huge International Jewellary building in Chicago ( can't recall it's name but I have it's pictures ) has private car lifts given how expensive the Jewels are and how mega-rich the owners are !!; 28 June, 2008 23:50
Anonymous said...: If I were in charge of the project, I'll consult a trusted figure like Calatrava to give an opinion on how feasible the project is and all..; 28 June, 2008 23:53
BuJ said...: many people make the mistake of confusing the word "trusted" with "famous" or even "knowledgeable".; 29 June, 2008 01:05
Anonymous said...: whom do you suggest then ? since you know all about it more than us BuJ..

Getting a second opinion for sure wouldn't be a bad idea..; 29 June, 2008 01:51
nzm said...: No well-known architect is going to risk his/her reputation by getting involved in this project. They must have paid Fisher a lot of money to front up for this.

As an avid lover of architecture and structural design, I'll be watching with interest for published details on how they will overcome the engineering challenges associated with building a rotating residential tower.

Here's the official website: Dynamic Architecture

Here's Fisher's Wikipedia entry. Looks very new to me.

Here's an article that's been Google translated from Italian to English on the project.

Here's another article about Fisher where he acknowledges that: he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn't practiced architecture regularly in decades.

Frankly m'dear, I'd rather trust this David Fisher.

But kudos to Dubai Inc for the ingenious way in which they have managed to get the media and blogs once more focussed on Dubai with yet another far-out scheme. My Google Alerts on Dubai and the UAE have been mentioning nothing but rotating towers for the past week!

I wonder what evil doings have been gotten away with while all our attention has been diverted to focus on rotating towers? ;-); 29 June, 2008 05:26
J. Edward Tremlett said...: I'm just wondering if the rotation is going to be governed by the wind.

If so, what are they going to do when a sandstorm hits? : D

I foresee a number of sudden vacancies after a good one.; 29 June, 2008 18:33
Anonymous said...: Enough of your criticisms, you killjoys! You're always sneering about one thing or another duh!

This is something I for one sure don't wanna miss! When can I move in?; 30 June, 2008 16:31
B.D. said...: My main gripe with this project is all the talk of how "green" it's going to be. One article I read says that it will produce enough energy through some wind mechanism to power not only itself but some adjacent buildings as well. That is such a load of...

Besides that, it is a great idea which doesn't even need to bother with all the green nonsense. If it does become a reality, I would imagine the rotation would be for the most part centrally controlled so that they could achieve all the interesting shapes. They might agree to have a few days a month or one day a week when they let the owners go at it and arrange the floors independently.

I think the animation is misleading in suggesting that people will be able to actually see the building changing its shape in real time as such speeds would cause discomfort to occupants.; 06 July, 2008 00:42