Italian architect Dr. David Fisher announced on Tuesday the launch of a revolutionary skyscraper in Dubai dubbed as 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 Dubai's futuristic skyline.
At a news conference in New York, Rotating Tower Dubai Development Ltd headed by the Dynamic Group, revealed the design and floor plans of the rotating building.
The one planned for Dubai will rise 1,380 feet into the air. Sales of individual apartments will begin in September, with asking prices of around $3,000 per square foot. The smallest, at 1,330 square feet, would cost about $4 million and the largest, a 12,900-square-foot villa, $38.7 million.
Fisher also said a second Dynamic Tower planned for Moscow is now in the advanced design phase, with preassembling of the units to start soon and completion scheduled for 2010. The Moscow tower, which will have 70 floors and be 1,310 feet tall, will be located in the Moscow City area, the new prestigious part of the Russian capital.
"Our intention is to build the third rotating skyscraper in New York," Dr. Fisher said. "Additional Dynamic Towers will be built around the world, following an expression of interest from developers, governments, and public officials to construct a Dynamic Tower in Canada, Germany, Italy, Korea and Switzerland."
So all this begs the question: Is it real or science fiction?
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.
Fisher declared that his tower will revolutionize the way skyscrapers are made -- a claim that might strike some as excessively bold.
Fisher acknowledges that he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn't practiced architecture regularly in decades. But he insisted his lack of experience wouldn't stop him from completing the project, which has attracted top design talent, including Leslie E. Robertson, the structural engineer for the World Trade Center and the Shanghai World Financial Center.
"I did not design skyscrapers, but I feel ready to do so," Fisher said.
Twisting floors are just one of several futuristic features in the building; the first of several Fisher hopes to build with a similar design.
Giant wind turbines installed between every floor, he said, will generate enough electricity to power the entire building, and lifts will allow penthouse residents to park their cars right in their apartments.
The Moscow version of the tower would also have a retractable helicopter pad. Both structures, at over 1,300 feet, would be taller than the Empire State Building.
Even the method of construction would be unorthodox.
Fisher said each floor will be prefabricated in an Italian factory, and then shipped to the site to be attached to the core. Assembling a building in this fashion, he said, will require only 80 technicians and take only 20 months, saving tens of millions of dollars, for a total cost of $700 million to build.
On its face, the project seems to pose a number of complicated engineering puzzles.
How would the plumbing hookups work in an apartment that is constantly moving? Fisher said the pipes will connect to the core via attachments similar to the ones used by military aircraft for in-flight refueling.
Wouldn't people get dizzy? No, says Fisher. The rotations will be slow enough that no one will notice.
With so many moving parts, wouldn't the building be a maintenance nightmare? Fisher said the building's modular construction will allow easy access to parts that need to be replaced.
Robertson, who attended Tuesday's news conference, said that the skyscraper might be unusual, but is "absolutely" buildable.
"You can build anything," he said, smiling.
Fisher declined to say exactly where in Dubai the tower will be built or when site work might begin. He insisted, however, that factory production is set to start within weeks and that the tower, which will contain office space, a luxury hotel and apartments, will be complete by 2010
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