The Dynamic Tower, Dubai and Moscow

What makes the Dynamic Tower, a 1,378-foot-high residential building by Italian-based architect David Fisher, dynamic? The fact that 79 of its 80 floors will revolve around a central column. And no, it won't be like those kitschy revolving restaurants where you can't find your table when you come back from the bathroom. In the Dynamic Tower, each floor can move independently, and at varying speeds—a full orbit could take anywhere from 60 minutes to 24 hours—so the shape of the building is constantly in flux. A giant wind turbine will be sandwiched horizontally between each floor, which, along with solar panels, will create enough energy to power the whole building, plus some extra to sell to the neighbors. The thriftiness ends there, though: The estimated cost to build the Dynamic Tower is $700 million. Moscow is in the running to build one soon, but not surprisingly, wealthy Dubai is aiming to be the first to get it up and spinning by 2010.

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