Rotating Wind Power Tower to begin construction in Dubai

by Mahesh Basantani, 06/09/08

filed under: Architecture, Solar Power, Sustainable Building, Wind Power

Dubai has garnered much attention in recent years with a never-ending supply of
architectural wonders being built, or proposed, at a head spinning pace. Mostly
these towering structures are grand and tall, but some are also green. We ve cover
ed many an ambitious Dubai skyscraper scheme here at Inhabitat, including David
Fisher s Rotating Tower, but there is new news from Fisher s Dynamic Architecture fi
rm. This self-sufficient, sun and wind powered design is making headlines once a
gain as the Italian-Israeli architect has just unveiled the latest design for hi
s twirling tower, and construction is set to begin this month!

The Dynamic Architecture building has been aptly named Rotating Tower as the flo
ors would be capable of rotating around a central axis. It will be continually i
n motion, changing shape and giving residents the ability to choose a new view a
t the touch of a button. The form of the building would constantly change as eac
h floor rotates separately giving a new view of the building as it turns. Accord
ing to Fisher, the building ensures a very high resistance to earthquakes as eac
h floor rotates independently.
The new tower is the first building of its size to produced in a factory. Each f
loor, made up of 12 individual units, complete with plumbing, electric connectio
ns, air conditioning, etc., will be fabricated in a factory. These modular units
will be fitted on the concrete core or spine of the building at the central tow
er.

The 59-floor building will be powered entirely by sun and wind energy. And, the
architect claims that the building will generate 10 times more energy than requi
red to power it, thus making it a positive energy building. Solar panels will be
fitted on the roof to harness sunlight, and a total of 48 wind turbines will be
sandwiched between the rotating floors, placed so that they are practically inv
isible. Each wind turbine could produce up to 0.3 megawatt of electricity, and i
t is estimated that 1,200,000 kilowatt-hours of energy would be generated every
year.
Construction is going to start soon, with an official launch later this month, a
nd plans are also afoot to build a similar tower in Moscow.
+ Dynamic Architecture
Via BDOnline and GizMag
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