In just 3 years, Dubai is set to have a new addition to its repertoire of jaw dropping structures: Dynamic Towers, the world’s first-ever rotating, shape-shifting skyscraper, designed by British architect David Fisher. First announced in 2008, the project was put on hold and is now being rekindled, set to debut in 2020.
Envisioned as an 80-story, 1,273-foot tower, it is said that Dynamic Towers will be built in four dimensions and will be able to constantly change shape, with floors that can rotate 360 degrees in both directions. The building will have a stationary core built to house the elevator, and the apartments will be connected to this core, with each able to independently rotate in a full circle.
It is also reported that the tower will run on green power (via wind turbines and solar panels), and its floors will be prefabricated units made of steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber, assembled at a factory and later attached to the building, a first for skyscrapers.
Fisher described the moment he got the idea for the rotating tower on Dynamic Architecture's website – more than 10 years ago, while staring out of New York’s Olympic Tower.
"I noticed that from a certain spot you could see the East River and the Hudson River, both sides of Manhattan. […] That is when I thought to myself: ‘Why don't we rotate the entire floor? That way, everybody can see both the East River and the Hudson River, as well as Saint Patrick's Cathedral!’”
In an earlier article on CNN’s website this year, Fisher explained that he believed architects “should design buildings that adjust to fit our lives […] They should adapt to our space, our functionalities and our needs that change continuously -- and even to our sense of beauty, itself in continuous motion.”
