Dynamic Tower
Encyclopedia
The Dynamic Tower is a planned 420 metres (1,378 ft), 80-floor moving skyscraper
in Dubai
, United Arab Emirates
, designed by architect David Fisher
.
The tower is expected to be architecturally innovative for several reasons:
Uniquely, each floor will be able to rotate
independently. This will result in a constantly changing shape of the tower. Each floor will rotate a maximum of 6 metres (19.7 ft) per minute, or one full rotation in 90 minutes.
It will also be the world's first prefabricated
skyscraper with 40 factory-built modules for each floor. 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 only part of the tower that will be built at the construction site will be the core. Part of this prefabrication will be the decrease in cost and number of workers (90 at the work site and 600 in the factory instead of 2,000 needed). The total construction time will be over 30% less than a normal skyscraper of the same size. The majority of the workers will be in factories, where it will be much safer. The modules will be preinstalled including kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The core will serve each floor with a special, patented connection for clean water, based on technology used to refuel airplanes in mid-flight.
The entire tower will be powered from wind turbine
s and solar panels
. Enough surplus electricity
should be produced to power five other similar sized buildings in the vicinity. 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.
In 2008, the designer of the Dynamic Tower said that he expected it to be completed in 2010. Due to the global financial crisis, delays in acquiring land in Dubai, and patent issues , in 2009 Fisher claimed to finish construction late 2011. However, construction has not started yet, and there has been no official announcement of the building site. Fisher did not "say where the tower would be built, [...] because he wanted to keep it a surprise."
in New York". No such institution exists, and Columbia said it had never awarded Fisher an honorary degree. Fisher acknowledges that he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn't practiced architecture regularly in decades.
Moving skyscraper
Moving skyscrapers are tall buildings in which individual floors can rotate on its axis. The world's first such building, the Dynamic Tower, will be built in Dubai.- The Dynamic Tower :...
in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, designed by architect David Fisher
David Fisher (architect)
David Fisher is an Israeli-born Italian architect in Florence. He graduated from the University of Florence and also was a lecturer of architecture and structural engineering at the same university. He has designed buildings and proposed schemes for the restoration of ancient monuments. He has...
.
The tower is expected to be architecturally innovative for several reasons:
Uniquely, each floor will be able to rotate
Rotation
A rotation is a circular movement of an object around a center of rotation. A three-dimensional object rotates always around an imaginary line called a rotation axis. If the axis is within the body, and passes through its center of mass the body is said to rotate upon itself, or spin. A rotation...
independently. This will result in a constantly changing shape of the tower. Each floor will rotate a maximum of 6 metres (19.7 ft) per minute, or one full rotation in 90 minutes.
It will also be the world's first prefabricated
Prefabrication
Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located...
skyscraper with 40 factory-built modules for each floor. 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 only part of the tower that will be built at the construction site will be the core. Part of this prefabrication will be the decrease in cost and number of workers (90 at the work site and 600 in the factory instead of 2,000 needed). The total construction time will be over 30% less than a normal skyscraper of the same size. The majority of the workers will be in factories, where it will be much safer. The modules will be preinstalled including kitchen and bathroom fixtures. The core will serve each floor with a special, patented connection for clean water, based on technology used to refuel airplanes in mid-flight.
The entire tower will be powered from wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s and solar panels
Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics is a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect. Photovoltaic power generation employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells containing a photovoltaic material...
. Enough surplus electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
should be produced to power five other similar sized buildings in the vicinity. 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.
In 2008, the designer of the Dynamic Tower said that he expected it to be completed in 2010. Due to the global financial crisis, delays in acquiring land in Dubai, and patent issues , in 2009 Fisher claimed to finish construction late 2011. However, construction has not started yet, and there has been no official announcement of the building site. Fisher did not "say where the tower would be built, [...] because he wanted to keep it a surprise."
Criticism
Fisher distributed a biography which said he received an honorary doctorate from "The Prodeo Institute at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York". No such institution exists, and Columbia said it had never awarded Fisher an honorary degree. Fisher acknowledges that he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn't practiced architecture regularly in decades.
External links
- Dynamic Architecture - Rotating Tower Official website
- Profile and images from Specifier Magazine
- The Da Vinci, Upward Spiral - slideshow by The First PostThe First PostThe First Post is a British daily online news magazine based in London. It was launched in August 2005. It publishes news, current affairs, lifestyle, opinion, arts and sports pages, and it features an online games arcade and a cinema featuring short films, virals, trailers and eyewitness news...