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Dubai
Technosphere: eco-friendly Earth in miniature proposed for Dubai
By Gizmag Team
18:18 November 4, 2009 PST
It's been a while since we've taken a look at the weird and wonderful canvas that is Dubai's skyline of the future, and this proposal from James Law Cybertecture would slot neatly in among radical designs like the Almeisan Tower and the spiraling ZPO. Shaped like a giant disco ball, the Technosphere is conceived as a self-sustaining model of the Earth in miniature incorporating a range of active and passive systems to meet these goals. Read More
Almeisan Tower design aspires to zero emissions, zero energy requirements and zero waste
By Karen Sprey
05:54 July 8, 2009 PDT
Dubai conjures up BIG images; not just the tallest structures, although it currently holds that crown, but also big as in flamboyant, lavish and generally larger than life. Amidst the opulence, extravagance and seemingly limitless budgets – or perhaps because of the latter – Dubai is increasingly embracing its green side. The latest building designed for the city to cross our desk has a foot squarely in both camps - the Almeisan Tower combines a delicate, soaring structure with a 600kW solar tower and passive cooling systems claimed to be almost "triple zero", which means it has zero emissions, zero energy requirements and zero waste. Read More
ZPO tower Dubai - stunning and sustainable
By Jeff Salton
19:37 June 29, 2009 PDT
From the land of opulence – Dubai - comes another amazing feat of architecture and engineering to add to the emirate’s extravagant skyline. The spiraling tubular design for the Za'abeel Park Observation (ZPO) Tower incorporates roof gardens, extensive solar paneling and geothermal cooling and ventilation in an organically inspired structure topped by three observation deck "petals". Read More
Dubai's striking O-14 development has solid solar credentials
By Karen Sprey
06:37 June 9, 2009 PDT
Dubai can lay claim to some of the world’s most outlandish buildings and many are also at the forefront of innovation in eco- and- environmentally friendly design. Joining their ranks is the 0-14 (‘oh-14’), a 22 storey, 300,000 square-foot commercial building perched on a two-storey podium in Dubai’s Business Bay. It's defining feature - a lace-like concrete exoskeleton peppered with more than 1,000 holes - provides both the building’s structure and its facade, delivering shade, light and air, plus stunning views of the Bay and skyline. Read More
Vertical farming with seawater
By Darren Quick
04:03 March 24, 2009 PDT
The saying used to go, ‘only in America’, but in recent years it might be truer to say, ‘only in Dubai’, especially when it comes to architectural wonders. Buildings that would be unfeasible just about anywhere else seem to regularly spring from the ground in the oil rich emirate. The next eye-popping construction to grace the skyline could be a seawater vertical farm that uses seawater to cool and humidify greenhouses and to convert sufficient humidity back in to fresh water to irrigate the crops. Read More
Atlantis Dubai: the luxury resort that's home to 65,000 marine animals
By Karen Sprey
00:48 February 16, 2009 PST
The recently-launched luxury Atlantis hotel rises towards the sky from the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah, but unlike it’s mysterious namesake, this Atlantis is unlikely to get ‘lost’. The ocean-and-aquatic themed resort is impressive, and not surprisingly everything about it is big - from the development price of US$1.5 billion to its size (it's spread over 46 hectares of reclaimed land) and its 1, 539 rooms. It also features a massive 17 hectares of water park activities and an 11 million liter marine habitat that is home to more than 65,000 marine animals. Read More
SJ30 breaks light jet speed record from London to Dubai
By Kyle Sherer
16:39 November 20, 2008 PST
The London to Dubai route is probably going to see a lot of private business air traffic in the coming years and Emivest Aerospace has used it to showcase the high speed capabilities of its SJ30 Business Jet. The aircraft has set a speed record for its class, flying from London to Dubai in seven hours and seven minutes, including a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul. Read More
One kilometer high Nakheel Tower to become world's tallest building
By Darren Quick
01:03 October 8, 2008 PDT
It looks like Dubai is running out of countries to compete with in the architectural stakes, so they’ve started outdoing themselves. State-owned builder Nakheel has unveiled plans to build what would be the world’s tallest building before the Gulf city state’s previous claimant to the title, the Burj Dubai Tower, has even finished construction. Nakheel plans to build a tower measuring over 1 kilometer (0.62 miles), high in an area between two of the city’s artificial palm shaped islands which the company also created. Nakheel has not revealed the exact height or cost of the tower but said it would have “more than 200 floors” and be part of “a multi-billion pound development”, which includes a man made inland harbor and 40 additional towers ranging from 20 to 90 floors high. Read More
World's largest LED screen to be built in (where else) Dubai
By Emily Clark
02:28 October 7, 2008 PDT
Dubai is set to be home to the world’s largest LED screen - a curved, 300ft+ tall monster that will be visible from a distance of just under 1 mile. The screen will make up the facade of the “Podium” skyscraper which will offer commercial and retail space across 35 floors of around 10,000 square feet each with over 50,000 square feet of parking space. Read More
Palm Jumeirah to feature Dubai's most expensive penthouse
21:31 June 27, 2008 PDT
Breaking property records is one thing, but when the property happens to be in Dubai, it's another ball game entirely. The AED 2.9 billion (around USD$790 million) contract for the construction of the spectacular 62 storey tall Trump International Hotel & Tower on Palm Jumeirah was announced earlier this month and with pre-sales of some properties fetching as much as $3000USD, real estate developer Nakheel and the Trump Organization expect that the tower's exclusive penthouse will break property records. The 270 meter tall design which features two towers that merge at the 40th floor will include 378 hotel rooms and suites, 385 condominiums, 12 townhouses, 45,000 square feet of retail and 60,000 square feet of office space along with a private beach and super-marina. Public sales of the residences began on June 23 and Donald J. Trump himself has already reserved an apartment in the Tower which is expected to be completed in May 2011. Read More
Energy-positive wind powered rotating skyscraper set to begin construction in Dubai
By Loz Blain
21:34 April 17, 2008 PDT
Dubai has well earned its reputation for architectural extravagance and excess. Not a cent has been spared as various developers vie to produce the biggest, the most stunning, the most luxurious and the most outrageous projects ever undertaken. And while this next project is right up there in terms of luxury, exclusivity and head-spinning architectural genius, it adds a fascinating extra dimension - the ability to generate ten times as much power as it will use. Each floor of Dynamic Architecture's wind-powered rotating skyscraper is a single apartment with the ability to rotate independently, giving residents the ability to choose a new view at the touch of a button - quite a party trick. Wind turbines between each floor will generate a vast surplus of electricity capable of powering the whole surrounding neighborhood. Construction is set to begin soon in Dubai, with a second tower to follow in Moscow and numerous other sites around the world being considered. Read More
The world's largest man-made island
By Mike Hanlon
01:26 April 15, 2008 PDT
The property boom going on in the Persian Gulf at present knows no bounds, largely because it has been given a grand vision. Conceptualised to solve Dubai's beach shortage by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the person who has masterminded the emergence of Dubai, the Palm Trilogy is to be completed with a collossus, adding a few records to Dubai’s already splendid set of man-made biggests. Nakheel will employ its now highly-refined island building methods to create the largest man-made island on the planet, housing more than a million people in fine style. With a surface area of 46.35 million square metres, the Palm Deira will be bigger than Paris. That's it on the right, next to the World, then Palm Jumeirah, then Palm Jebel Ali on the left. Check out the great piccies and renderings in the photo library. Read More
The world’s biggest racetrack
By Mike Hanlon
01:13 April 14, 2008 PDT
April 14, 2008 Yet another Dubai-based megaproject is underway – this time the world’s biggest horse racecourse, and it’s already being hailed as the future horseracing capital of the world, given the infrastructure it plans for the industry. Unlike Ascot, Lexington or Newmarket, Meydan will in fact be an ENTIRE CITY built around The Sport Of Kings - a gigantic mixed use development centered on the racecourse which will be the new home of the Dubai Racing Club and the Dubai World Cup. Read More
More man-made designer realty – Reef Island
By Mike Hanlon
20:58 March 20, 2008 PDT
March 21, 2008 As Arab States continue to build for the future using oil-buoyed economies, the region is beginning to explore the concept of creating designer islands. Dubai gave the idea currency with its megadollar World and Palm projects, effectively showing the world how to build artificial realty. Neighbouring Qatar came up with the Pearl, and now Bahrain is in the process of building Reef Island at a cost of BD 450 million (US$ 1.20 billion). Of course you could always go for a floating island. Read More
Under the sea: Dubai's underwater hotel takes shape
By Loz Blain
22:54 December 12, 2007 PST
December 13, 2007 Anywhere but Dubai, the idea of building a luxury hotel 66 feet underwater would sound far-fetched. But next to the Burj-al-arab, the rotating skyscraper, manufactured islands and indoor ski slopes of the desert commerce capital, the Hydropolis will fit right in. At a rough cost of UK£300 million, this jaw-dropping engineering challenge will allow guests to get a true taste for the peace and beauty of underwater life – and at a projected pricetag of up to USD$5500 per night for a room, you'd certainly be hoping that life is much better down where it's wetter. Read More
Terotech
- November 21, 2009 @ 19:38 UTC
