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 ")
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.
San Fran's Tiny Homeless
'Each person got a 5 foot by 10 foot room with a bed and a TV — the world’s best pacifier...' - Marshall Brain, 2002.
Rotating House in Bosnia
'... feel free to turn the house on your own.' - Frank Herbert, 1972.
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
Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'
Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'
'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?
Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'
Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'
Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'
Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
