Saturday, July 5, 2008

Build It and They Will Come

Fact or science fiction? Can it be both?

Well, an Italian architect said he wants to find out. And, we shouldn’t have long to wait to see whether it will happen or not. The architect is ready (or so he says) to start construction on a new skyscraper in Dubai that will be “the world’s first building in motion,” an 80-story tower with revolving floors that give it an ever-shifting shape.

The spinning floors, hung like rings around an immobile cement core, would offer residents a constantly changing view of the Persian Gulf and the city’s futuristic skyline. A few penthouse villas would spin on command using a voice-activated computer. The motion of the rest of the building would be choreographed in patterns that could be altered over time.

Speaking recently at a news conference in New York City, the building’s designer, David Fisher, said that his tower will revolutionize the way skyscrapers are made.

Fisher acknowledged that he is not well known, has never built a skyscraper before and hasn’t practiced architecture regularly in decades. But he insisted his lack of experience wouldn’t stop him from completing the project, which has attracted top design talent, including Leslie E. Robertson, the structural engineer for the World Trade Center and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

Twisting floors are just one of several futuristic features in the building, the first of several Fisher hopes to build with a similar design. Giant wind turbines installed between every floor, he said, will generate enough electricity to power the entire building, and lifts will allow penthouse residents to park their cars in their apartments.

Fisher said each floor will be prefabricated in an Italian factory, then shipped to the site to be attached to the core. Assembling a building in this fashion, he said, will require only 80 technicians and take only 20 months, saving tens of millions of dollars, for a total cost of $700 million to build.

On its face, the project seems to pose a number of complicated engineering puzzles.
How would the plumbing hookups work in an apartment that is constantly moving? Fisher said the pipes will connect to the core via attachments similar to the ones used by military aircraft for in-flight refueling.

Wouldn’t people get dizzy? No, says Fisher. The rotations will be slow enough that no one will notice.

With so many moving parts, wouldn’t the building be a maintenance nightmare? Fisher said the building’s modular construction will allow easy access to parts that need to be replaced.

Fisher declined to say exactly where in Dubai the tower will be built or when site work might begin. He insisted, however, that factory production is set to start within weeks and that the tower, which will contain office space, a luxury hotel and apartments, will be complete by 2010. Sales of individual apartments will begin in September, with asking prices of around $3,000 per square foot. The smallest, at 1,330 square feet, would cost about $4 million and the largest, a 12,900-square-foot villa, $38.7 million.

Skeptics question Fisher’s credentials to pull off the job. In a biography he had been distributing for months, he said he graduated from the University of Florence in 1976, came to New York in the mid-1980s and later developed hotels and ran a company that specialized in stone and prefabricated construction materials. The biography also said he received an honorary doctorate from “The Prodeo Institute at Columbia University in New York.” No such institution exists, however, and Columbia said it had never awarded Fisher an honorary degree. Asked to explain the discrepancy, Fisher said, through his New York publicists, that he had been awarded the degree by the Catholic University of Rome during a ceremony in 1994 held at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which is near Columbia’s campus.

Here are some general observations:

1) This man has never built skyscrapers but is planning a $700 million dollar, 80-story project? Wouldn’t you think it would be wise to start with a 5-story building, or maybe a 10-story building to make sure it would work?
2) Have the people of Dubai lost their mind? Or are their skulls simply filled with so much oil money that they can’t see straight?
3) How long will it be before Michael Jackson buys one of the suites?
4) If you could park your car in your apartment, would you do it?
5) I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my house going in circles! If I wanted my house to move, I’d move to California’s earthquake zone or closer to the Mississippi River!
6) If you can sucker enough people, I mean build enough support, you can build just about anything you want to build!
7) I will not be one of the original investors or purchase one of the apartments later. On my salary, I can’t even afford to travel to Dubai.

So, if money were no object, would you buy into this project? What interests you about it? Or what turns you off about it? Share your thoughts today.


8 comments:

  1. First, no way Jose'
    Second, I wouldn't trust Him.
    Third, no way Jose'
    Fourth, anything going in circles makes me sick.
    Fifth, no way Jose'
    Sixth, why would I want to live in Dubai anyway?
    Seventh, no way Jose'
    Eight, computers run huh? Good 'cause computers don't make mistakes...don't make mistakes...don't make mistakes...
    Ninth, have I said, "NOT A CHANCE yet?" Oh yeah, that was no way Jose'
    Tenth...look on the bright side. A threat from a terrorist bomber would be slim. With it constantly moving they would never know where to strike. Then again...maybe they would look on it as target practice.
    Finally, Nope!

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  2. Bill,

    1) You are too funny!

    2) You are too funny!

    3) Did I say, you are too funny?

    So, what's up with all these lists? Does it help you stay on track?

    So, I'm glad to know that you are with me on this one! I hate heights! So, just the idea of being on a spinning skyscraper is more than I can bear!

    We were in Seattle last year. My wife wanted to go up in the Space Needle. All I had to do is look up and see how how it was and that it was spinning...and I said, "I'll be glad to watch you from down here!"

    I'd rather be a dead coward than a live hero, I guess!

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  3. One,It isn't the heights that bother me. (Been to the top of the space needle)
    Two, It is the spinning or the idea that I may be spinning.
    Three,I would have to carry a barf bag around with me. "Sorry honey it wasn't your cooking. Honest!"
    Fourth, I prefer my feet on the ground.

    Lists? Who uses lists? Least they aren't alliterated. :)

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  4. What kind of preacher are you if you don't alliterate your points?

    I was fully expecting to see a poem or something at the end of your latest post!

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  5. Not a very good one I reckon. Sorry to blow your bubble!

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  6. Didn't blow my bubble...from all I've read that you have written and as I learn more about your pastoral heart, I'd have to say you are a pretty good preacher! And pastor! God did good by calling you into His service!

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  7. Thanks. I think that heart is still in you also. Am I wrong?

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  8. Does it show that much? :)

    I keep trying to hide it, but the calling from God certainly doesn't like being under bushels for long!

    I think the two things I miss most about pastoring is the people and preaching!

    Who knows, if God ever opens that door again, He might just lead me through it. We'll see.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts! I can't wait to read what you have written.