Glenn Howells' rotating "sustainable" Dubai Condo
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.13.07
Its hot in Dubai, and everyone wants water view- so Glenn Howells is building "an eco-friendly sustainable design, using solar power to revolve the cylindrical form and recycling water to irrigate the landscaped gardens. The concept for the façade design has evolved through the use of intricate layers and textures that also help to address the extreme heat conditions in Dubai, while providing the residents with energy efficient control of their internal environment. The dual-skin breathing façade creates a dynamic appearance and adds depth to the building with interesting materials including high performance glass with neutral coating and gold screens." We like the line in the advertising: "Awake one day to see panoramic lake views and another day to see beautiful landscapes and the worlds biggest shopping mall"
::Time Residences via ::architechnophilia and ::Dezeen
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Come on, give us a break. Dubai is an environmental disaster along the lines of a Las Vegas or Phoenix. This only puts lipstick on the pig. I'd love to know which "beautiful landscapes" Mr. Howells is referring too.
Yes people shouldn't live in hot places, or cold places. Think of all the energy saved!!
May i ask what is sustainable about a building that uses the solar energy captured do to something as frivolous rotate a highrise so someone can wake up with a different view one morning?
LA: please note that sustainable is in quotation marks.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I think that a desert can be beautiful, I think that a lake can be beautiful, also a sea, or a golf corse or a city scape.
I live in a very green country, where it rains alot. I have also visited Dubai, personally I think that in a powerfailure it would be a very uncomfortable place to live, but if your air conditioner runs on solar and also water recycling, then this building is doing better than others.
If you must build another condo in a desert, why not uses solar energy, it is an improvement on using a gas turbine to generate electricity.
The more important point of the rotating condo is so that the solar panels can follow the direction of the sun, which helps produce more solar energy. The biggest problem with solar panels is that they aren't shined on 100% of the time during the day due to the movement of the earth.
Read up on this rotating house.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/derbyshire/6551671.stm