Monday, June 16, 2008

Fort Worth's Rotating Tower

One of beautiful Fort Worth's identity problems stems from the fact that nothing in Fort Worth creates an iconic image that the rest of the nation or world sees and instantly knows it's Fort Worth. No Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Hollywood Sign, Reunion Tower, Riverwalk, Space Needle, Washington Monument, Eiffel Tower, you get the idea.

Fort Worth currently has this likely boondoggle called the Trinity River Vision that copied a bigger vision in Dallas that the citizens of Dallas got to vote on, but which was rammed through in Fort Worth by the Ruling Junta, without the good citizens of Fort Worth getting to vote on the destruction of the historic confluence of the West and Clear Forks of the Trinity River.

The Trinity River Vision is an un-needed diversion channel, a lake and some canals, ala San Antonio's Riverwalk and Oklahoma City's Bricktown. Trumpeted by the Ruling Junta's mouthpiece, known as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. Without mountains. Or oceans. A Vancouver of the South, with a canal and a lake. This was the same mouthpiece which trumpeted the party line that Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas. Til a month later when one opened by Austin.

So, I'm thinking if Fort Worth is trying to make something cool that might make someone somewhere see an image of it and instantly know it's Fort Worth, well, something tall is the way to go.

This month, in that zone of over the top architecture known as Dubai, a new tower will begin construction. So far the only name I've seen attached to it is The Rotating Tower.

The Rotatating Tower is 59 floors tall. Each of the 59 floors will be able to rotate independently. In between the floors, wind turbines will generate enough power to provide the electrical needs for 10 other towers, in addition to meeting all the Rotating Tower's power needs. There will be 48 wind turbines and solar panels on the roof.

I'm thinking scrap that silly Trinity River Vision and go for something that's not been done in Texas or America before. Fort Worth has plenty of sun, with lots of wind. It's a little weak on stunning views from the windows of those rotating floors, but it's not that weak. I remember the view from the Reata, before a tornado destroyed it, was quite scenic, especially at sunset.

Below is video of Dubai's soon to be Rotating Tower.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The TRV is crucial to the city's future. It's no boondoggle, and it's far more than what you're describing. It will serve as a critically important tool to give new residents an alternative to the idiotic suburban sprawl that cripples our wonderful city.