William Baker presents Burj Dubai

William Baker presents Burj Dubai from The Architecture Foundation on Vimeo.

What do you do when you need to transport a great number of people up a 636+ metre mixed-used tower? How do you deal with condensation that builds up when the heat of the desert meets the cool of the air-conditioned interior? As it turns out, you develop a 40 mph elevator - the world’s fastest; and collect the moisture and pump it into the site’s landscape plantings. Yet there are so many more questions still to be asked regarding the Burj Dubai, the tallest building on earth and surely one of the most ambitious projects the world has ever seen. This talk is a unique opportunity to do so.

New plans for world's tallest skyscraper unveiled in Dubai

The Dubai developer Nakheel – the company that created man-made islands in the shapes of a palm tree and the world – said the structure would be the centre-piece of an inner-city harbour planned as the emirate's unofficial capital.

It would not comment on the exact height or cost of the Islamic design-inspired Nakheel Tower. The building will have "more than 200 floors" and be part of "a multi-billion pound development", the company said.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, a cautious Nakheel chief executive officer, Christopher O'Donnell, said: "From our perspective, we are building a tower that's going to be over a kilometre in height. This is a complete iconic development. It may be the tallest."

The tower and harbour project will take more than 10 years to complete. Apart from the landmark structure, there will be another 40 towers, ranging in height from 20 floors to 90 floors. The entire development will be home to more than 55,000 people and a workplace for more than 45,000.

(via The Telegraph)

Hydropolis Hotel

DUBAI: HYDROPOLIS HOTEL
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This hotel, the world's first underwater luxury resort, brings new meaning to the "ocean-view room." Situated 66 feet below the surface of the Persian Gulf, Hydropolis will feature 220 guest suites. Reinforced by concrete and steel, its Plexiglas walls and bubble-shaped dome ceilings offer sights of fish and other sea creatures. It is scheduled to open in late 2007.

The Hydropolis is a self-acclaimed 10-star, underwater hotel which was under construction in Dubai. However, as of February 2007, Hydropolis' launch has been relaunched, due to cost issues and concerns over the project's impact on marine life, the project has faced major delays.

Hyrdropolis is envisioned as a fantasy hotel beneath the waves. This submarine hotel is inspired by the Jules Verne tale 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It will be an underwater oasis where visitors can marvel at the architecture surrounding them, and the sea beyond.

The project is divided into three sections. The "land station" is the complex where visitors are first greeted. It is a large building with a roof that dips and rolls like the crest of a wave. From there, people enter a tunnel to begin their journey to the hotel, itself. The tunnel is 1,700 feet long and carries a train beneath both the land and the sea.

The destination, of course, is the hotel itself. Mimicking natural forms, it is shaped like a collection of bubbles and curves designed to provide maximum resistance against the everyday pressures of the sea water as well as the occasional typhoon that may stray into this area. It has already been compared to both a jellyfish and a sea turtle. It features a pair of observation domes which allow an expansive view of the water and the creatures that live in it. They are large enough to emerge above the waves, and one is planned with a retractable roof allowing people to be surrounded by the ocean while looking directly into the sky.

The world's first rotating tower

The Dynamic Architecture building, which will be constantly in motion changing its shape, will be able to generate electric energy for itself as well as for other buildings. Forty-eight wind turbines fitted between each rotating floors as well as the solar panels positioned on the roof of the building will produce energy from wind and the sunlight, with no risk of pollution. The total energy produced by this inbuilt ‘powerhouse’ every year will be worth approximately seven million dollars.

Each turbine can produce 0.3 megawatt of electricity, compared to 1-1.5 megawatt generated by a normal vertical turbine (windmill). Considering that Dubai gets 4,000 wind hours annually, the turbines incorporated into the building can generate 1,200,000 kilowatt-hour of energy.

As average annual power consumption of a family is estimated to be 24,000 kilowatt-hour, each turbine can supply energy for about 50 families. The Dynamic Architecture tower in Dubai will be having 200 apartments and hence four turbines can take care of their energy needs. The surplus clean energy produced by the remaining 44 turbines can light up the neighborhood of the building.

Dubai to build world’s largest arch bride

Dubai is set to spend $817-million on building the world’s largest arch bride, at 617-feet tall and 1-mile in length. Expect it to be in service by 2012.

Dubai is the Tetsuo of cities, expanding so fast it’s on the verge of creating of its own universe. And architecture that looks like it’s from the 22nd century only adds to the sheer grandeur of its growth—this bridge, envisioned by NY architecture firm Fxfowle, will be the largest and tallest arch bridge in the world, at one mile long and 670 feet tall.

Construction starts next month and is due to wrap up in 2012 after running some $817 million dollars. World’s first vacuum tube mass transit system will launch in Dubai shortly thereafter.

You too can, India

The Snowcem Team sent this video shot with a mobile on the current contsruction boom in Dubai. Inspirational to say the least.