Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Burj al-Taqa Dubai Energy Tower - High Tech Badgir
The Burj al-Taqa skyscraper is the latest in a series of amazing buildings that will have people saying "Only in Dubai!" The Burj al-Taqa tower uses a cylindrical shape that exposes as little surface to the sun as is feasible.
(Burj al-Taqa)
The Burj al-Taqa (which means "Energy Tower") will have a unique 197 foot diameter wind tower on its roof and arrays of solar cells totalling 161,459 square feet.
Not content with this energy output, the building will float an additional island of solar panels within view of the building.
Architects selected an ancient Persian design feature as the model for the futuristic building. Wealthy business owners built wind towers on the roofs of their houses, which gave them a natural air-conditioning system. Louvered openings in the towers suck in cooler air high off the ground like a chimney; this sinks down and displaces the (lighter) hot air, creating a cooler interior space.
These windtowers are called "badgirs" (or "badghirs" - the Persian word is "barjeels"); first found in Persia, the idea spread throughout the Middle Eastern world.
(Badgirs (or Barjeels) in Yazd, Iran)
The building will also have a dramatic internal view, because the atrium is part of the energy-efficient design. The negative pressure created by winds breaking against the tower will pull spent air out of rooms via slits in the facade. Fresh air will come in through ducts; seawater will be used to pre-cool the air.
(Burj al-Taqa interior space)
Note that science fiction author Frank Herbert also put the idea of a badgir to work in his sf classic Dune, which borrows many things from Middle Eastern philosophy and design:
He led the way through past a dark honey-comb lattice that directed a cool wash of air across Paul when he passed it. "That air felt damp." A man behind them said "Plenty of air in the trap tonight."
(Read more about windtraps)
Readers will no doubt be familiar with the Burj Tower - see Burj Tower In Dubai To Be World's Tallest Building and Burj Dubai Tower Update for more Burj-related information.
Via New Tower Creates All Its Own Energy via Metaefficient.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/15/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Living Space ")
AI-THu Shapeshifting Transformer Home
'Its slack walls tightened, bulged, were crossed by ripples and waves of movement.' - Fritz Leiber, 1943.
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.' - Larry Niven, 1968.
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.' - Louis Tucker, 1929.
LiquidView Ersatz Windows, ala Philip K. Dick
'due to his bad financial situation he had given up trying to imagine that he lived on a great hill with a view...' - Philip K. Dick, 1969.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
