New Spinning Skyscraper Proposed In Dubai

I have always liked interesting architecture. I think it all started when I received a book about modern architecture as a child. In it the buildings of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright stirred my imagination. Now, I am stirred again by some really different architecture coming out of Dubai.

The emirate is already the home to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai still in construction and already reaching 1,831.5 feet in height. Now comes news of a new and strikingly different building. it will break records and conventions in very different ways.

Some call it the spinning tower. At 1,378-feet it will not be the tallest, but will be the strangest building in the world. Each floor of the ultra-luxury apartment building will be capable of rotating independently. The floors will be controlled by residents and can provide a continuously varying view of the surroundings. This motion will give the building a continuously changing profile.

I don't find this novelty surprising in Dubai. The country has become a theme park for the ultra rich and architects and designers are flocking there to pitch their most outrageous ideas. With a seemingly endless cash reserve the tiny emirate is awash with new construction and tourism.

I have to wonder when the fantasy will end? The vast wealth is oil-based and should their supply dry up, Dubai will be hard pressed to continue it's rampant construction. Additionally, there is the problem of the region. One or two disputes with some faction that doesn't agree with their policies or religious leanings and the place could become another Baghdad.

For tourists, it may seem a wonderful destination, but lately there are reports of patrols on the beaches looking for immoral behavior. There have already been arrests of alleged homosexuals, could islamic fundamentalism be far behind? Who knows?

I suspect once Dick Cheney retires and moves there things will become clearer.