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Rotating Towers: Wave of the Future or Big Ol’ Mess?

The visionary Italian architect Dr. David Fisher has announced plans to build the first of his Dynamic Towers in Dubai. The 80-story tower, whose floors rotate individually--perpetually changing the exterior shape of the building—will be 420 meters (1,380 feet) tall.

Fisher’s dynamic towers have generated quite a bit of press, and quite a few questions and doubts. There’s a lot to like about this new and creative architectural design. Besides being visually and conceptually striking, the tower is designed to produce its own energy—and even power nearby buildings—via wind turbines between floors. Another revolutionary concept is the prefabricated building style. The tower is designed around a concrete core, and the custom-made, prefabricated segments are produced in a factory and then installed. Fisher claims that this style of building saves both time and money.

Reservations are open for apartments in the Dubai tower, and plans seem to be going full-steam ahead, but many people are still skeptical about, for example the effectiveness of the plumbing, the safety of the building itself, and whether evacuating such a building in case of emergency might prove disastrously difficult. Other common questions included whether it might make residents dizzy. (The rotation is said to be slow enough that motion sickness is not an issue.)

If all goes well with the Dubai tower, quite a few naysayers will have to swallow their negative statements, and a new era of architecture and interior design may well be ushered in. If the skyscraper of the future is easier to build, kinder to the environment, and serves as a clean energy generator, that is already a huge step in the right direction.

If that skyscraper can also serve as a work of art and a monument to progress--and if the plumbing works—that’s genius.

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