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As part of the Absorbent Sandstorm project designed by Kalbod Design Studio, Dubai, UAE, will see the construction of 25 extraordinary skyscrapers. These won’t just be towers with residential and commercial space; they will serve a unique ecological mission: combating sandstorms that disrupt life in modern megacities.
The towers will capture sand and airborne pollutants and then neutralize them using magnetism, Designboom reports. The project’s creators believe these giant, vacuum-like structures will significantly improve Dubai’s air quality. Water supplies would also benefit, making sandstorms less catastrophic for residents and visitors alike.
Ultimately, this new district will blend ambitious urban development with a commitment to the desert ecosystem.
How the Skyscrapers Work
The Absorbent Sandstorm project will raise Dubai’s profile with structures that look like they’re from a Star Wars set.
That raises the question: why 25 towers? One or two wouldn’t be enough to tackle the sandstorm problem. The designers calculated the optimal number and the best locations so the buildings can function as a single organism, complementing one another.
Each skyscraper will have two deep cavities that pull in sand particles using magnetism and neutralize their electrical charges. Pollutants will enter the cavities and stick to the inner surfaces. The system will absorb the particles’ electrical charges in two stages to neutralize them. The lower cavity has a larger opening to catch the bigger particles found closer to the ground.
The design team also proposes installing sand batteries inside the towers. These batteries would store energy for several months and could supply power to other buildings across Dubai.
Kalbod Design Studio says the district will serve as a research base to study sandstorms and develop better solutions to combat them.
The project’s authors say the complex will also function as a multidisciplinary scientific hub. In addition to residential space, the buildings will contain research institutes, each with its own specialty. So far, the institutes are expected to focus on physics, biology, medicine, new technologies, and aerospace.
