Twenty-five towers to combat sandstorms in Dubai

Kalbod Design Studio has recently unveiled its design for a series of skyscrapers that combine in their architecture the needs imposed by the UAE’s desertic climate with the country's ambitious urban and architectural development plans. Indeed, these monumental towers have the dual function of providing a sustainable structural solution to Dubai's naturally occurring sandstorms, while at the same time cleaning up its air.

The project proposes organically curved glass structures that are able to catch harmful dust particles from the air and neutralize them. In addition to improving weather conditions, the architecture promises to play a key role in reducing energy consumption more broadly, while also becoming a research base for providing better solutions against the storms.

The plan consists of 25 towers along Dubai’s main street. The design process of the towers is inspired by their functionality, with main structures consisting of two deep cavities that absorb soil particles through magnetism, removing their electrical charges. Sand particles, entering the cavities, get attached to the smart particles that reside inside the holes, which open according to the intensity of the storm. This also becomes a formal motif in the design of the building.