Rotating Solar-Powered Skyscraper

PieEye writes "Wired is pointing out a recent Gear Factor blog entry that highlights a new skyscraper in the works which will be solar-powered, and what's more will rotate with the sun. From the article: 'The completed tower will offer 200 expensive apartments for people who want to spend lots of money to screw up their circadian rhythm. Singh said they want to build many more such towers, with one for every time zone.'"

Comments

Great

[afaik_ianal]

So now I can get home from work an hour early and can catch my neighbour's wife having an affair.

But seriously: How exactly is a rotating building meant to mess up one's circadian rhythm? Does the blogger think this building is rigged up to do a lap of the Earth each day? It's spinning on the spot!

Finally, why link to a crappy blog entry complete with typos and irrelevant BS, when you could link directly to the article?

Re:Great

[martin-boundary]

So now I can get home from work an hour early and can catch my neighbour's wife having an affair.

No need to leave your desk. If your workplace is like mine, they probably have a deal with some internet company which regularly sends me photos of my nextdoor neighbour and her antics per email. Don't know the name of the company, but I think it's foreign or something because most of the other words they write in those emails look like gibberish to me.

Perpetual Shadow

[maglor_83]

Give me an apartment in perpetual shadow. No more glare on the TV!

Re:Perpetual Shadow

[WormholeFiend]

Gimme an apartment on the opposite side. I'll grow teh pot, and go smoke it with you while playing video games on your giant flatscreen HDTV

Re:Perpetual Shadow

[Surt]

http://www.californiareport.org/domains/california report/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/ 2003482836_marijuana18.html

Yes.

With a lowball estimate of $1600/pound, presumably you'd need only grow something like 5 pounds per month to cover your rent and utilities and whatnot.

The problem of course, is that if the windows are see-through for maximum sunlight, you have issues with the police/neighbors being able to notice.

for cheapskates only

[Schlemphfer]

Rotating skyscapers, for the sake of capturing more sunlight, is so plebian and low-tech. The truly rich build skyscrapers that revolve around the earth, so they're constantly in sunlight.

Re:for cheapskates only

[Duhavid]

Thats called a satellite.

Re:for cheapskates only

[bahstid]

I get the feeling that you are going to be the first of a long line of people missing the point, so I thought I'd jump in here... As I understand it, the tower doesn't rotate in order to get more sunlight; it rotates because rotating a building is a cool thing to do. Constantly changing views and all that...

The solar power part is a way to do this without condeming the tennants to a lifetime of mad energy bills.

Re:for cheapskates only

[moosesocks]

Hah, the TRULY rich build a building with sufficient mass such that the Earth revolves around the building!

Eh. This wouldn't be entirely necessary, as the elite classes of the world are already under the impression that the earth revolves around them.

Energy cost?

[Kamineko]

With any luck, the power generated by this scheme will almost offset the energy cost of the rotation...

Re:Energy cost?

[afaik_ianal]

That's the point. It is meant to rotate on the energy it captures. It's not meant to be a particularly "green" solution - they're just trying not to be completely anti-green.

FTFA:

Project engineers say the Dh400 million Time Residences tower in the City of Arabia master development will turn through 360 degrees, its rotation mechanism driven by stored solar energy.

wait a sec...

[David_Shultz]

Don't you hate that time of day when the sun is shining right into your apartment/living room, and putting glare on your monitor/tv? Isn't this going to be a problem for those apartments facing the sun (and turning along with it)?

Re:wait a sec...

[Anonymous Coward]

If you read the article, you'll find it completes a rotation in a week, not a single day. As such, the building does not track the sun, and no part of it will be in this situation.

Sense of Direction More Likely to be Affected

[DumbSwede]

I suspect that people working in this building day after day may find their sense of direction diminished in local surroundings. I once lived in a trailer that had to be moved. The 90 degree change in orientation grossly affected my navigation sense for months.

Re:Sense of Direction More Likely to be Affected

[chris_eineke]

The 90 degree change in orientation grossly affected my navigation sense for months.

Lesson learned: don't park your trailer upright.

Re:I am the only one ...

[ricree]

Come on, this is Slashdot. You're the only one who's even read the article.

Pfft.

[Somatic]

I had like 50 of those in Sim City 2000, /yawn.

It actually rotates 360 deg over 7 days

[MushMouth]

Whoever wrote the blurb, didn't bother to read the original article. This doesn't rotate to keep certain apartments in the sun, it rotates to allow all apartments to have the same view, albeit on different days.

What about the beds?

[dino213b]

For all the people who care about which way their heads, feet, et al face during sleep, will they now be in a spiritual predicament? In other words, will they also need to get rotating beds that would counteract the rotation of the building?

Services?

[redphive]

I have to stop and think how things such as TV, Telephone, power, water and sewer are 'plumbed' into each suite. That would have to be an interesting problem to solve.

Interstructure

[camperdave]

I hope it rotates only 180 degrees (or less) then rotates back. Rigging plumbing, sewage, power, cable, phone, etc for full 360 degree rotation will be tricky.

Re:Interstructure

[mrchaotica]

You could build it in sections stacked on top of each other, with each section able to rotate ±30 degrees or so, then (since the bottom section would be fixed), each next higher section would have a greater cumulative maximum angle. This could then be an extra added benefit to the more expensive upper units, because they'd have more variety in the view.

Of course, the other thing you could do is just put all the mechanical stuff in a non-rotating center column, which would make a heck of a lot more sense anyway because you've got to have at least one set of stairs for the fire escape, and putting that in the rotating part seems pretty stupid...

Re:Interstructure

[psxman]

Wireless sewage? I believe that's called a diaper.

Sponsored by the local cable TV franchise

[Sloppy]

I guess directional antennas will have to rotate in the opposite direction.

Suite Vollard - completed in 2001

[rednaxel]

Suite Vollard was the first rotating tower of the world, however it's not solar powered. Here's some facts (excerpts from the link):

- This building is the only one of its kind in the world, as each of the 11 apartments can rotate 360.
- Each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour.
- The facades are composed of double sheets of glass, in different colors (blue, gold, and silver) on different floors. This gives a spectacular effect as the floors turn in different directions.
- The apartment rings rotate around a static core used for building services, utilities, and all areas which require plumbing.
- Suite Vollard was a case study for more than 30 companies in Brazil and one from Germany.
- Each apartment was sold for approximately R$ 400,000.00 ($US 300,000.00).
- The first two floors of the building are an Executive Center.

It's 2:37 PM. Which way is Mecca?

[santiago]

I could see devout Muslims having difficulty orienting themselves correctly at prayer time, particularly given that the times change each day, so it's not in a constant direction relative to your apartment at each appointed period.

Re:I am the only one ...

[MrAnnoyanceToYou]

I read Slashdot for the pictures. And that's a picture of one ugly building.

Re:Great, Feng Shui

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know about the Circadian Rythm but I know it would really screw up my Feng Shui.. Unless the rooms counter-rotated...

39 timezones

[splutty]

There are about 39 time zones instead of 24 (as popularly believed). This is due to fractional hour offsets and zones with offsets larger than 12 hours near the International Date Line. Some micronations may use offsets that are not recognized by all authorities.

(That's from the wikipedia on timezones)

Re:Sorry - you're a bit new, I assume.

[indifferent children]

Yes, the GP forgot the all-important: IANAMG disclaimer.