World's first revolving tower to be built in Dubai

The world's first revolving, pre-fabricated tower is to be built in Dubai by Italian architect Dr. David Fisher with a development value of around $3 billion (Dh11 billion).

The 80-storey Dynamic tower will be 420 metres tall and located on Shaikh Zayed Road.

"The tools used today in real estate are so primitive. From 1889, steel was used to construct the Eiffel tower and then reinforced concrete was used in 1905. We are still building similar to how the Egyptians built the Pyramids," Fisher told Gulf News before the launch in New York.

The area of the Dynamic Tower in Dubai will be around 1.2 million square feet.

Fisher said there would be a central core in the tower for lifts. There will even be lifts especially for cars, so it will be possible to drive to apartments.

The Dynamic Tower offers infinite design possibilities, as each floor rotates independently to create a building that constantly changes shape, resulting in a unique and ever evolving architectural structure.

In between each rotating floor, there will be horizontal wind turbines so that the entire tower will be completely self-generating energy enough to power five other towers of similar size.

"It will only take six days to complete one floor," said Fisher. In contrast, the average time taken to complete a floor of a traditional building is around six weeks. Fisher estimated that it will only take aorund 20 months to complete the Dubai Dynamic Tower.

Average sizes of apartments range from 1,330 square feet to penthouses which will be around 12,900 square feet.

Fisher said prices will start at aorund $3,000 (Dh11,000) per square foot.

The second Dynamic Tower will be built in Moscow, with completion scheduled for 2010. Fisher said the third Dynamic Tower will probably be in New York.

More Dubai Metro

The first phase of Dubai's Metro System will be completed by end of 2009. Everyday, 1.2 million passengers are expected to travel to 55 stations in air-conditioned carriages.

There will be two transfer stations — Union Square and the BurJuman Centre. At the transfer stations, Green and Red Lines will cross each other and passengers will be able to change between lines. Work on metro stations will continue into 2008. The underground stations will be complete by early 2009. Picture: Dubai metro in front of the Etisalat building taken in the first half of 2007.

Construction near the Mall of the Emirates

Remember the upside-down yield sign?

Look again; this is NOT a stop sign.

Plots for sale

Dubai is for sale! This is a picture I took from the car while driving down Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR). Typical views - the metro being built, ads for property, construction cranes and cones.

Metro construction and Burj Dubai

This is a picture taken along Sheikh Zayed Road which shows the machine being used to build the metro tracks. In the background is the tallest building in the world - the Burj Dubai.

Metro and Burj Dubai

Main metro stations will have adjacent bus stations as part of the integrated transport system which will include buses, taxis as well as water transport links at stations near the creek. The RTA is planning to introduce an integrated card system, the Smart Card, that will enable passengers to travel on trains, buses and water transport, as well as use the parking areas.

Stop? Yield?

Is it just me or can this sign be easily misinterpreted? Am I yielding or stopping? I think it must be my choice.

This is a sign close to our apartment in the Marina.

Tallest - Burj Dubai

Today the Burj Dubai became the world's tallest skyscraper. It now has the tallest architectural top of any building at 512.1 m height and with 141 floors.

Records:

Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 512.1 m (Taipei 101 - 509.2 m)

Tallest skyscraper to top of roof: 512.1 m (Taipei 101 - 449.2 m )

Most habitable floors: 141 (Sears Tower / World Trade Center 110)

Vertical concrete pumping: 512.1 m (Taipei 101 - 439.2 m)

Front Page Gulf News

A few notes on the new metro:

20-30 seconds - average train halt at each station
60-90 seconds - average interval between two trains in the Red Line
1.8 million - maximum daily passenger capacity
47 - Total number of stations on Red and Green lines
15.5 billion Dirhams - cost of the Dubai Metro
The interior of the trains is based on a water and air theme and every train will have five compartments. Every train will have three classes - The golden Class (VIP), the Women and Children's class will have a luxurious interior with leather seating. The Woman and Childrens compartments will have plenty of space for strollers and bags to ensure a safe and comftorable journy.
The Silver Class has been finished in a combination of blues and gtreens. Seating is arranged in a variety of ways giving passengers the choice between admiring views through windows or chatting with friends.
All compartments will have reserved whellchair spaces for speacial needs people. there will be a policy of priroty seating for elderly, injured, special needs people and pregnant women.
The compartments will be equipped with audio visual devices. Visual and audio annoucment faciities will be avalable to serve people, especially those with speical needs.

Dubai Marina Flood

These are pictures of Dubai Marina. The marina wall gave away and a construction site was flooded. Note the drowned crane in the second shot. Luckily everybody was evacuated minutes before the wall collapsed. For larger photos click on the photo AND for the news article click the link:

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/02/08/10102709.html

Update on the Burj Dubai

The above is a very recent picture of the Burj Dubai. Note the "History Rising" billboard. Burj Dubai is now the tallest structure in the Middle East and Europe. It is 110 stories and 380 meters high. The Burj Dubai currently has more floors than any building in the world and at its current hight it is the world's ninth tallest building AND growing. The intended height has yet to be announced – top secret apparently. . .. : http://www.immo-news.net/At-110-levels,-Burj-Dubai-is-now-the-tallest-structure-in-the-Middle-East-and-Europe_a1749.html

Dubai Metro

I have decided that I should take more pictures of the construction in Dubai as they would make very interesting pictures in years to come. Things change here SO quickly!
This is a picture of Dubai's Metro being pieced together. I am waiting impatiently for the Metro and as you can tell by the traffic, Dubai desperately needs it! All these cars are at a standstill. This picture was taken on Sheikh Zayed Road near the Mall of the Emirates.

Traffic stats:

• Car insurers rough estimates say the number of accidents went up by at least 10,000 last year.
• In 2004, Sharjah alone witnessed a total of 85,000 accidents which is equivalent to 230 smashes per day.
• The number of vehicles in Dubai has increased over 25% in one year.
• The monthly average figure of accident fatalities increased from 17 deaths a month last year to 19 deaths a month this year.
• The UAE has the highest per capita accident rate in the world.

Are you surprised? Especially after seeing how fast the cars above are moving? You should see the speeders in the shoulder . . .