Project Description

Arising from the desert and crystallizing a fragment of this era stands a tower of gold. Now, on the edge of the desert. In a future 2050 Central Park for Dubai, trapped within a buzz of urban activity. Frozen in a fragment of this turbulent era like a desert rose created by invisible forces and specific conditions, crystallized in a certain lapse of time.

An Icon for an Icon

Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates is the place where dreams became reality. So many mega-structures now compete to illustrate this city’s modern uniqueness. Dubai itself is an iconic marvel of technological perfection, so that one has to think twice before announcing the emergence of the one and only icon of this City.

Hidden in the sub-conscious, the clinging sweep of wind-blown shear cotton fabric against the human body, yet depriving the viewer of a clear image of that what is in reality a multi-interpretable shape, is the image which identifies the Dubai Desert Rose Tower. It is not only an associative form from the past, but a symbol of recognition for everyone, plugging into the essence of modern architectural experience. The Dubai Desert Rose Tower is forever a signature in the Dubai sky.

The Value of Experience

Vertical transportation is essentially indispensable. The building offers a new and exciting way of experiencing the trip up from the desert level to the panoramic view at the top of the Desert Rose Tower. It also offers a variety of possible ways of climbing the tower, extremely fast or very slowly, and everything in-between, exploring the third dimension.

The tension between vertical and horizontal, multiple routes possible, various means of transportation and entrances to use and choose from, symbolizing the liberation of mobility. The routing through and around the building with its constant visual and physical relationship is noticeable. It is a place to see and to be seen, experiencing the city and the building as a whole as an architectural promenade.

Ferris-style rotating elevators depart from the main hall up the core, spiraling up their one-way tracks. The outer lifts and the inner lift are condemned to their own trajectories. Always exposed and opened up towards their own zone, interior or exterior. Once they reach the top, after passing a range of stops, they rotate 180 degrees around the core to be connected to the rail going down. A flexible automated system would manage the amount of elevators deployed, and the speed they travel. At the base of the tower, a space for storing the spacious 8-person elevators is holding vacant units.

Body

A large enclosed hanging garden is the lung of the building and at the same time the central element of the buildings energy concept. The building functions as an exposition of technology but also generates enough energy to power much of its own needs. The façades that are facing south are closed with EFTE-cushions. These cushions give great insulation, protecting the conditioned air. Instead of letting out heated air directly outside, these cushions accumulate their warm air into the lung. This all creates a hot humid air rising up through the lung. At the top it funnels into a bottleneck where a series of three turbines can benefit from the created turbulence. After the air has passed through the fans of the turbines the air is disposed at the top of the green house lung through integrated vents.

A project by Saxon Lear Duckworth & Rudi Nieveen, big thanks to Elza Heemskerk