Can a Skyscraper Really Change Its Shape?

[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 referring 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 referring 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.