Modern Architecture: Tower Grows Its Own Skin

Conceptualized by California-based architecture firm Faulders Studio, GEOtube is a new kind of urban sculptural tower proposed for Dubai that uses salt water to grow its own skin.

The building sucks up water from the Persian Gulf (the source of the world's saltiest ocean water) through a 3 mile (4.62 km) underground pipeline, and then sprays it over a mesh facade. As the water evaporates and salt deposits aggregate over time, the tower's appearance transforms from a transparent skin to a highly visible white solid plane. The result is a specialized habitat that provides an accessible surface to harvest salt.

Faulders Studio website

Tags: Faulders Studio, GEOtube, Modern Architecture, Skin-Growing Tower

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Comment by Eugene on February 27, 2010 at 3:00pm: @Inka - At this time, it's just a proposal. Unfortunately, I don't think they're planning on building it any time soon. I like it though because it's so out of the box.

Faulders Studio has done this kind of thing before: the Biophyte Building, proposed for Tehran, generates its own insulating layer of moss.

Although I think your points are completely valid, I believe concepts like these could be great starting points for more realistic structures in the future.

Comment by Inka Leoni on February 27, 2010 at 2:46pm: I dunno about this. Might end up looking a little messy with the sea salt crystallizing, how do they plan to contain it? What if the salt deposits build up really fast and clogs up and the salt puts added weight or pressure to the structure? Has this concept been tested?