Can a Skyscraper Really Change Its Shape?

[AhmedEzz]

US architecture and structural engineering is responsible for many of the signature buildings around the world. This is a much better way for the world to see us.

Quite agree, I hope the stupid wealthy Arabs could get that in their heads.

 

[Kurdt]

I was under the impression the architect was Italian.

 

[DaveC426913]

Why is everyone so bothered that its not being built in the US first?

Because much of America, due to their insular culture and media focus, are convinced that they're the greatest nation in the world?

 

[Chi Meson]

I was under the impression the architect was Italian.

YOW! Totally correct, he is Italian. His company, Dynamic Group, is based in New York, so I made an erroneous assumption. I guess I should have recognized that classic Italian name

So, an Italian architect's American company is going to build revolutionary towers in Dubai, Moscow, and New York... The whole nationality thing is absurd isn't it?

 

[Chi Meson]

Quite agree, I hope the stupid wealthy Arabs could get that in their heads.

Dubai has a lot of wealth, that's for sure, and they are using that wealth to create the most amazing, modern city on Earth. I don't think that's stupid.

 

[AhmedEzz]

How about investing their money in something that is really worth it? universities, schools, cultural education, research & development, finding alternatives to oil, etc... they are so stupid they can't even look for 50 years ahead.

 

[Chi Meson]

Hey, we RE-elected Bush. We got as much stupid as anyone else.

Dubai has established itself as hub of commerce that goes beyond oil. This is a city that will last. Their public education has gone from zero to, well, something in only ten years. Back to the OP, here's a video on the tower with popup info. Get this: YOU CAN PARK YOUR CAR IN YOUR APARTMENT! (EDIT: Ignore the last popup which says "courtesy of Americans paying $4/gallon for gasoline.")


I totally love this building!

 

[DaveC426913]

How about investing their money in something that is really worth it? universities, schools, cultural education, research & development, finding alternatives to oil, etc... they are so stupid they can't even look for 50 years ahead.

I don't understand your viewpoint. Do you not understand capitalism? This is a profit-making venture. The city/country will reap money from it, (not just local buyers, but from the usual international attention and tourism).

Are you next going to suggest Royal Cruise Lines shouldn't build cruise ships?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Are you next going to suggest Royal Cruise Lines shouldn't build cruise ships?

I think he's saying Royal Cruise Lines should have a ship level for math tutoring and reading lessons

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

There's nothing wrong with American technology. The local bar spins around plenty. I found that if I put one hand on the bar and wrap my arm around my wife, I can keep the whole thing stable. Beat that Dubai.

 

[Chi Meson]

There's nothing wrong with American technology. The local bar spins around plenty. I found that if I put one hand on the bar and wrap my arm around my wife, I can keep the whole thing stable. Beat that Dubai.

I've been to that bar. Freakin weird how the bathroom moves around too. How does that plumbing work?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

How does that plumbing work?

Not so hot after some idiot parked his car in it.

 

[Moonbear]

I don't understand your viewpoint. Do you not understand capitalism? This is a profit-making venture. The city/country will reap money from it, (not just local buyers, but from the usual international attention and tourism).

That's precisely what I see when I look at this too; they are building a tourism economy. When the oil wells run dry, they will have tourism to support them. A building like this is way of parting the filthy rich of the world from some of their money. Think of the ingenuity of it...no longer are they limited to charging a premium for apartments on one side of the building with the good view, they can charge a premium for ALL of the apartments that all get that good view for some part of the day. It's the same reason countries or cities compete for things like the tallest building, strangest building, most distinctive building in the skyline, etc., it's to bring in tourists to gawk at the building, pay to stay in local hotels and eat in local restaurants, buy trinkets from the gift shop, have cruise ships dock at their ports to allow more tourists to do the same, improve the cash flow for the local pickpockets who will then spend more in local shops, etc.

 

[AhmedEzz]

I don't understand your viewpoint. Do you not understand capitalism? This is a profit-making venture. The city/country will reap money from it, (not just local buyers, but from the usual international attention and tourism).

Are you next going to suggest Royal Cruise Lines shouldn't build cruise ships?

I wasn't reffering to that building in particular. I was saying that oil money could be spent elsewhere; in a more beneficial way.

 

[mgb_phys]

I wasn't reffering to that building in particular. I was saying that oil money could be spent elsewhere; in a more beneficial way.

It does make a certain amount of sense.

I think it's aim is to be Monaco with sunshine. Monaco is just a sleepy little fishing village on the south coast of France, but by a series of historical accidents it is now the rich things playground and has been for 100years. The local population aren't doing bad out of it!

 

[lisab]

Does Dubai allow alcohol or gambling?

 

[AhmedEzz]

I think yes, but I'm not sure. Egypt does and I hear that Dubai is more liberal than Egypt so it would make sense.

 

[Moonbear]

How much daily fluctuation in temperature is there in a place like Dubai? I know it gets goshawful hot during the day; does it stay hot all night, or drop down to chilly temps then? I'm wondering what added impact there will be of thermal expansion of the building with all this motion going on? Maybe Dubai is a place with consistent enough temperatures that that's less of an issue than other places?

I'm thinking beyond that to whether this is a design that, if it is feasible in Dubai, would be equally feasible in other locations. In a city like NYC, where there are already so many buildings, would the wind turbines between floors even work? Can updrafts move them as well as an off-shore breeze would? Would the seasonal and daily temperature fluctuations be too much of a stress on such a design?

 

[Vagrant]

Nights are chilly in winters and tolerably warm in summers.