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 ")
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.
Solar House Concept Unfolds Solar Panels Like A Flower
'They are heated and air conditioned by a solar plant that tops anything... that we have today.' - Clifford Simak, 1953.
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
Chaffeur Robot Musashi Will Drive Your Regular Car
'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
Space Exporers! Now, You Can Drink Your Own Urine
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
SpaceX EVA Spacesuit Tested By Polaris Dawn Crew
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
Automatic Bot Traffic Is 38 Percent Of HTTP Requests
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
Shanghai Guidelines For Humanoid Robots
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
Desktop TARS Robot From Interstellar
What's YOUR sarcasm setting?
Robots Can Now Have Smiling Faces With Human Skin
'I am a cybernetic organism...'
Virtual Rat Predicts Actual Rat Neural Activity
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
GoSun EV Solar Charger Drapes Onto Your Car
'...six square yards of sunpower screens.'
Rizon 4 Ironing Robot
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
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.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
