Rotating Solar-Powered Skyscraper 267
PieEye writes "Wired is pointing out a recent Gear Factor blog entry that highlights a new skyscraper in the works which will be solar-powered, and what's more will rotate with the sun. From the article: 'The completed tower will offer 200 expensive apartments for people who want to spend lots of money to screw up their circadian rhythm. Singh said they want to build many more such towers, with one for every time zone.'"
Great (Score:5, Informative)
But seriously: How exactly is a rotating building meant to mess up one's circadian rhythm [wikipedia.org]? Does the blogger think this building is rigged up to do a lap of the Earth each day? It's spinning on the spot!
Finally, why link to a crappy blog entry complete with typos and irrelevant BS, when you could link directly to the article [gulfnews.com]?
Re:Great (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Great, Feng Shui (Score:3, Funny)
Perpetual Shadow (Score:5, Funny)
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Is marijuana worth enough to make it profitable to run a grow-op in one of these (and use the proceeds to pay the rent)?
Re:Perpetual Shadow (Score:4, Informative)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld
Yes.
With a lowball estimate of $1600/pound, presumably you'd need only grow something like 5 pounds per month to cover your rent and utilities and whatnot.
The problem of course, is that if the windows are see-through for maximum sunlight, you have issues with the police/neighbors being able to notice.
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I mostly asked as a joke, but thanks anyway!
Only police in a helicopter, if you're on one of the upper floors.
Sorry - you're a bit new, I assume. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Sorry - you're a bit new, I assume. (Score:4, Funny)
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Your answer, without any apparent personal experience, is somewhat laughable
No, but your spouting off in a public forum about your illegal drug activities is somewhat laughable. As if dealing drugs, even if (as far as I'm concerned) it ought to be legal, is something to get arrogant and uptight about.
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And that's all I have to say on this topic.
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Sounds good to me, after a long party and not getting to bed until early hours of the... afternoon, the sun can be damn annoying
for cheapskates only (Score:4, Funny)
Re:for cheapskates only (Score:4, Informative)
Re:for cheapskates only (Score:5, Insightful)
The solar power part is a way to do this without condeming the tennants to a lifetime of mad energy bills.
Interstructure (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Interstructure (Score:5, Insightful)
You could build it in sections stacked on top of each other, with each section able to rotate ±30 degrees or so, then (since the bottom section would be fixed), each next higher section would have a greater cumulative maximum angle. This could then be an extra added benefit to the more expensive upper units, because they'd have more variety in the view.
Of course, the other thing you could do is just put all the mechanical stuff in a non-rotating center column, which would make a heck of a lot more sense anyway because you've got to have at least one set of stairs for the fire escape, and putting that in the rotating part seems pretty stupid...
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Anything electrical is easy. Just use a bunch of ring-shaped conductors around the axis of rotation.
I imagine liquid wouldn't be *that* much harder. Have the input water come in at the top of the building and the sewage come out the bottom, with one big pipe connector on each end that runs through the axis of rotation. Because the water is only going one way (down), you don't need a perfect seal, just that the bot
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Simple in concept - tricky in execution. Take, for example, the three phase mains power - the three rings have to be far enough apart to avoid sparking. The brushes and rings are subject to wear and sensitive to contamination.... Nor do these rings work real well for RF (read cable) frequency transmission.
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Why wouldn't you just have your own generators, incorporated into the rotating mass of the building?
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Why not just go wireless? It's the wave of the future ya know.
Re:Interstructure (Score:4, Funny)
Pfft. (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:for cheapskates only (Score:5, Funny)
Eh. This wouldn't be entirely necessary, as the elite classes of the world are already under the impression that the earth revolves around them.
Too much money (Score:2)
Eventually (sooner, I hope), things will change, we will shift from an world oil economy, and the people of Dubai will have to go back to working for a living. And with only
Before oil was discovered in Dubai about what, 35 years ago?, they were h
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Before oil was discovered in Dubai about what, 35 years ago?, they were herding camels and trading rugs.
Dubai [wikipedia.org] is not an oil-rich place; only 6% of its GDP comes from oil. Dubai is rich because of the Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone [wikipedia.org].
The world *does* revolve round the rich. (Score:3, Informative)
Guess who o
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The truely rich would never even conceive of that, since the universe already does.
KFG
One for every timezone, eh? (Score:3, Funny)
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Energy cost? (Score:4, Insightful)
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FTFA:
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If we were all driving around in solar powered cars, I doubt the concept would even be considered.
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wait a sec... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yes, yes... curtains are so analog.
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If I were gonna live in a fancy rotating building, I'd want electrochromic [wikipedia.org] windows!
Duh... Backroom ;) (Score:2)
Just put the TV and computer in the back room. It'll permanently be in shade.
Sense of Direction More Likely to be Affected (Score:5, Interesting)
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Re:Sense of Direction More Likely to be Affected (Score:5, Funny)
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I'm not surprised. I rotated some bottles of vodka 90 degrees from the vertical last night, and I still don't have my sense of direction back.
And the point is? (Score:2)
* Building a more energy efficient living complex that uses various technologies to reduce resource consumption,
* Building a real solar farm (the vertical walls of a tower aren't well suited to solar collection, especially in Dubai),
* Creating affordable living space without an "It's solar! Far out, man!" premium?
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Really, all that tourism money, and they can't hire someone to make them look good on Wikipedia?
If you don't like the message, get into an edit war with the messenger.
All I asked for was a... (Score:2, Funny)
It actually rotates 360 deg over 7 days (Score:5, Informative)
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Premium Prices for Premium Views (Score:2)
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On the other hand, that would make it a lot tougher for "observers to use the building as a fully functioning time piece" using those "12 o'clock markings on the ground and the podium." The blurb and the original article are a bit spotty, unfortunately. One quote suggests the tower will move at 5mm/second, which means it almost certainly turns 360 degrees per day, just like a 24-hour timepiece's hour hand. (Although I suppose it could turn twice per day...)
I had to go digging to find out what is correct. The 5mm per second makes sense on a per day basis(140x140 meter footprint vs. 1000x1000 meter footprint), but this article seems to suggest a per week basis: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=1773 432006 [scotsman.com]
Twenty small electric engines will turn the building a few degrees each hour.
Which would be on a week basis. They also mention specifically that it will be on a week basis in this article as well (something that was said in the previous article). Perhaps the engineer (who was quoted for both the 5mm per second and few
What about the beds? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Malaysian hotel rooms always have an arrow (usually on the ceiling) for this purpose. Given the technical goals of this project I am sure they will have something like an LED matrix display pointing to the current direction of Mecca. Maybe the tower will also be programmed to pause during prayers?
My wife is Malaysian and she
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If you keep making sensible suggestions like that the rotating tower will never get built. Its just gadgetry for its own sake. Show how clever they are and all that.
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Hmm, that brings to mind the following question - what is the acceptable error when aiming prayers at Mecca? +/- 2 degrees? 5 degrees? 10? And what happens if the "aim" is off? The prayers work? Or fail to work? Or the praying party instantly has a spot reserved in Hell? Is the effectiveness of the prayer or punishment directly proportional to the degree of er
Where the Sun Don't Shine (Score:2)
What an incredible waste of energy to rotate the building, in the name of solar power.
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If they just rigged the building with light pipes, it wouldn't have to rotate to keep "facing" the Sun.
That wouldn't solve the problem of people wanting to have access to the "best view" out of their window.
What an incredible waste of energy to rotate the building, in the name of solar power.
It's not being done in the name of solar power. It's being done in the name of property values, and having a trendy apartment with good views.
Services? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Water: pumps in the building would draw water from a circular tank (rotating or not, doesn't matter). The water supply to the tank would be non-rotating while the pipes drawing water from the tank would either rotate through the water, or the tank itself could rotate. Typical large building has water pumped to the roof, and larger buildings would have multiple tanks for water at various different levels. (You can't easily pump water directly to the top floor of a tall building, the pumps would burst from t
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TFA:
So maybe it does only go to 360, then back.
Sponsored by the local cable TV franchise (Score:5, Insightful)
rotating building (Score:2, Funny)
Suite Vollard - completed in 2001 (Score:5, Informative)
Suite Vollard [emporis.com] was the first rotating tower of the world, however it's not solar powered. Here's some facts (excerpts from the link):
- This building is the only one of its kind in the world, as each of the 11 apartments can rotate 360.- Each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour.
- The facades are composed of double sheets of glass, in different colors (blue, gold, and silver) on different floors. This gives a spectacular effect as the floors turn in different directions.
- The apartment rings rotate around a static core used for building services, utilities, and all areas which require plumbing.
- Suite Vollard was a case study for more than 30 companies in Brazil and one from Germany.
- Each apartment was sold for approximately R$ 400,000.00 ($US 300,000.00).
- The first two floors of the building are an Executive Center.
It's 2:37 PM. Which way is Mecca? (Score:5, Interesting)
Compass... (Score:2)
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Maybe their sky wizard will give them special dispensation.
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one for every time zone (Score:2, Funny)
Counting skills? (Score:2)
So why not just say they plan on building 24 more towers, instead of "many more"?
39 timezones (Score:4, Interesting)
(That's from the wikipedia on timezones)
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I don't know the precise number, but there are more than 24 time zones, because not all time zones are full-hour offsets.
Where to start? (Score:3, Informative)
Since it will take a full week for a complete revolution, that means that a given view indicates both the day of week AND the time of day. Think of enjoying the view at your neighbor's home and getting all confused as to what day/time it is. :O
This will make for an interesting exercise in real estate law. Said apartment, starting at the central elevator shaft on the 50th floor and heading 100 feet due east, no, wait. That's east-north-east. Man, this is going to take FOREVER! But seriously, has anyone seen a property deed for something like this?
electic [reference.com]
eclectic [reference.com]
electric [reference.com]
(insert witty comment here about tea parties and electic electric kettle selection. :^)
Note to other posters: I have heard of rotating restaurants and/or observation decks - this is not an utterly new concept. So, getting the utilities (water, sewer, electric, etc.) to the residents is a matter of scaling past solutions.
Lastly: I admire their interest in getting something as immense as a WHOLE SKYSCRAPER to rotate, continuously, for years on end. I just hope they'll be able to get their hands on a good supply of lubricant. <grin>
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That was my thought when the issue of sewage disposal came up. Smelly, but very slippery.
The Pit (Score:2)
It's the most horrible place I ever worked... imagine clocks on EVERY single wall and flat surface ever desk, every screen... And you still lose time, you think hours have passed and minutes have you think minutes passed and hours have.
Everyone seems sleepy all the time. Horrible.
Maybe they can pu
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Didn't Buckminster Fuller already design that (Score:2, Interesting)
This is the second one in Dubai (Score:3)
This is the second rotating tower in Dubai. The first one [waleg.com] has a 5 story stack of rotating penthouses, which rotate independently. At the top is a single "villa", which also rotates. It also has a car lift and three parking spaces.
Dubai is having an insane skyscraper boom. 205 high rise buildings completed, 333 under construction. (Los Angeles: 465 completed, 11 under construction.) Not because of space constraints. There's plenty of open desert nearby. It's ego, enthusiasm, and money.
I've always wanted to say this... (Score:2)
Great party pad (Score:2, Funny)
Other Dude: uhhhhhhh, *peeks out window* it's Waffle House day.
Dude: Fuck, it's Sunday already ?!
Some people have some wierd ideas about this (Score:3, Informative)
It rotates a little bit all the time, giving everyone a changing view. The solar powered bit is on the ROOF, not the side.
2) The amount of power needed to rotate the building, assuming it is round, is fairly low. You are just paying for the friction, which unless you are a fool, is almost all on the ground floor, where it meets the non-rotating base. There is no 'core' that does not rotate, - that would just create more problems, starting with increased friction.
3) New York City (and many other major cities) has several buildings with a rotating top floor that does this already. They usually contain restaurants, complete with full water and electricity.
4) Electrical hookups are simple. They work fine on a brush contact, again only on the BOTTOM floor.
5) Sewer hookups are also simple. In the bottom floor, there is a large pipe. Beneath the pipe is a gigantic inverse ring, that funnels to a pipe. It does not matter that most of the time the inverse ring is open, stuff falls down into it.
6) The only problem is the water intake, to get water to the building. This can most easily be done in the center of the building, with a pipe connection that is water tight, but low friction seal, allowing rotation. The problem factor is keeping friction down, not the water tight + allowing rotation.
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Well, again, the one existing "whole building" rotator I've heard about actually had an outside theat rotated around a non-rotating core. Each floor was a single apartment whose kitchen, bathroom, and access to the elevator/stairs were in the non-rotating middle. Do you know of a building where the whole thing actually roatates, or are you speculating?
I'm just curious; not trying to run down speculating. My own speculation is that a sufficiently reliable rotating water hookup is harder than you think. F
Re:I am the only one ... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I am the only one ... (Score:4, Funny)
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I think for maximum effect they should build two miniature Epcots at the base.
OH GOD, IT'S AWFUL!!! (ze goggles, zey do nothing) (Score:2)
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Probably nothing very exciting. The average commuter train would need to apply more torque. Gearing would be the interesting bit. I am thinking of something like a circular worm gear with very fine pitch.