Dubai Reveals Plans for Green Skyscraper Shaped Like a Wind Turbine
November 6, 2008 · Print This Article
When it comes to eco-skyscrapers, Dubai’s definitely at the front of the pack, revealing plans for a new one practically once a month. Everything that’s been coming out of Dubai has been grand, innovative, and visually breathtaking, so it’s no surprise that the latest one – Anara Tower – is so spectacular. It’s designed by Atkins Designs Studio and developed by Tameer Holding Investment, and will stand 2,150 feet tall. The developers are aiming for LEED silver certification.
From Inhabitat:
Shaped like super-massive wind turbine, Anara Tower is a mixed-use high-rise that will features residences, offices, retail spaces, a hotel, and a world-class art gallery. The 125 story structure will incorporate sky gardens every 27 floors and will boast a luxury restaurant situated within the glossy glass capsule in the center of the tower’s peak. Atkins Design Studio is aiming to maximize the skyscraper’s efficiency by incorporating water and energy efficiency strategies and potentially installing renewable sources of energy.
Construction is set to begin in 2009, so we’re not too far away from seeing it completed.
These designs coming out of Dubai make me feel like I’m looking into a portal at the future of green architecture. Everything seems so advanced. I guess that’s one perk of having so many billionaires eager to be at the forefront of the country’s environmental movement.
Link [Inhabitat]
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It’s fine to gush over the design (although I wouldn’t, personally), but how about a bit of critical thinking? At best, I’d file this Anara Tower in the I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it folder, not just because of those absurd renderings, but because developers and banks in Dubai are beginning to suffer from the same economic problems that have slowed development in the rest of the world. The cracks are beginning to spiderweb.
I don’t know anything about Tameer Holding’s reputation, but I think it takes a pretty big leap of faith to believe that they’ll break ground next year.
Also, the windmill looks big enough to power a whole city, and they’re only pursuing LEED silver? WTF?
You look at this atrocity and see GREEN architecture? Get a clue. That’s not a functional wind turbine up there. That’s a luxury restaurant in the middle surrounded by ultra luxury hotel rooms. The whole thing reeks of greed and waste. I’m not an Al Gore, “Oh my god, the sky is falling” environmentalist wacko, but I do believe we should try to use our resources responsibly with some thought for the poorest people in the world. This … this is just obscene.
It is unfortunate that the two individual posting reflect engineering ignorance. We see history repeating itself in the form of relevance which one can attribute to the Moorish influence that pervaded Spain’s rise to architectural renaissance. The forward thinking Dubai government should be given kudos for innovative energy planning.
We here in the west are consumed with a dark age status quot that stymies our once technological prowess.