Amazing Rotating Skyscraper

[DarkWaters]

This is incredible and truly inspiring in the abilities of man. I especially like the music in the video. Does anybody know the name of the familiar waltz?

[IAmMetaphysical]

I believe its "The blue Danube."

[Robert J. Kolker]

This is incredible and truly inspiring in the abilities of man. I especially like the music in the video. Does anybody know the name of the familiar waltz?

I hope the architect and building engineers properly modeled the air flow around the building. With the shape constantly changing, getting a Reynold's number for the building regarded as an airfoil must be a job and a half. Air flow analysis for tall buildings is a must. Some airflows can set up chaotic vibrations and what might result is a vertical version of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge disaster. The abilities of man are great but the death potential of chaotic vibrations are also great.

Bob Kolker

[DarkWaters]

I believe its "The blue Danube."

I thought that it sounded similar to the Blue Danube myself, but I was wondering if it was actually something else and not just a different rendition. For the sake of comparison, here is what I usually associate with the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zP8Kah6vXsQ, minus the amusing explosions.

[Qwertz]

It is. The "Blue Danube," I mean. Here's a full rendition, complete with dancing.

I'm a bit skeptical about the building design. It's a neat concept, especially the construction method, but I don't know how marketable the floorspace would be. All the plumbing and HVAC would have to be in the stationary core, and I can see some problems getting high amperages out to the rotating sections. Another concern is how such a building would sway. I'd love to see someone actually try and build the thing, though. I'd be very impressed. Though I can't exactly say I'd want to live in it.

-Q

[JASKN]

One thing's for certain: it would look hella cool! I especially liked the night lights.

[kufa]

Theres a "carosel house" in san diego. My uncle worked on it, it supposedly rotates all the way around.

[Robert J. Kolker]

One thing's for certain: it would look hella cool! I especially liked the night lights.

In the case of a tall building, beauty is superficial compared to the -soundness- of the structure. Tall buildings raise special problems with regard to twisty chaotic modes of vibration. Keep in mind that a tall building is a vertical airfoil and that "lift" translates into sway and torsion.

The only tall buildings ever made that did not present an aerodynamic problems were the large pyramids of Egypt and Meso-America.

Aesthetics is a secondary matter compared to structural soundness and economic viability. What good is a beautiful building that cannot be filled to 90 percent occupancy?

Bob Kolker

[Moebius]

This is incredible and truly inspiring in the abilities of man.

I guess with enough oil money you can do just about anything.

[~Sophia~]

This is incredible and truly inspiring in the abilities of man.

Wow! Very cool.

[JASKN]

Aesthetics is a secondary matter compared to structural soundness and economic viability. What good is a beautiful building that cannot be filled to 90 percent occupancy?

Perhaps I could compare an appreciation of only how the building looks to a beautiful person who you later learn has a vacant mind: both are still beautiful on the outside, then if they also posses "fuller" value to back it up (the ability to be luxuriously lived in or an honest, active mind), the beauty means much more.

I agree with you, this building would be nothing but novel unless it also successfully fills the basic functions of a skyscraper, but how stuff looks is important, too.

Personally, I hope they pull it off!

Edited May 22, 2007 by JASKN

[D'kian]

Large moving structures take a long time to move. A stadium with a retractile roog, for instance, takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes to go from roofed to un-roofed. Meaning looking at this building move, in real time, would be akin to watching a snail race.

Elevators would be restricted to the center of ht ebuilding. Just try to descend if the floor beneath you is moving and taking part of the shaft with it. And I don't even want to think about stairs.

Large moving structures also use up a lot of energy. The utility bills in this building would be higher, meaninf the rent would aloo be higher. I really don't see a large enough occupancy rate under such terms.

It is pretty, though.

[DavidV]

I'm hesitant to say that this is impossible because I'm not an architect, but this seems beyond current technology. How does the central column support such a massive and dynamic weight? How do you provide sewage, water and air conditioning? How do the elevators work? I think the central column would have to take up most of the diameter and contain some of the living space.

[Galileo Blogs]

I'm hesitant to say that this is impossible because I'm not an architect, but this seems beyond current technology. How does the central column support such a massive and dynamic weight? How do you provide sewage, water and air conditioning? How do the elevators work? I think the central column would have to take up most of the diameter and contain some of the living space.

I am not an engineer or architect, either, but I can envision how all of the central services will be provided. Air, water and sewage will be provided by pipes that extend from the apartment into the central core. At the center of the building, they are joined to the main lines by a rotating joint. Electricity will work similarly, joined to the central electricity line by a rotating connector.

This seems feasible to me, speaking as a non-expert.

As for the structural aspect, the building will either stand or not. I imagine that with enough structural steel and concrete and a sufficiently large core, the building will stand.

Economically, I strongly suspect that the ratio of living space to support space will be much lower for this building than a traditional building. Also, such an innovative building is likely to be costly to maintain. However, if the buyers care to absorb that cost, why not? I only wish it were not corrupt Middle Easterners doing the buying (assuming that is the case). I would like to see buildings like this in New York, Hong Kong, London or Tokyo. Perhaps these buildings are so uneconomic that millionaires who earned their money would not find them worthwhile.

In any case, I hope the building gets built. With the lessons learned from this one, perhaps cheaper ones will be built in the rest of the world. I would love to have a rotating view, and would definitely consider buying one of these apartments, especially after the concept was proven.