Solar Powered, Carbon Neutral Pyramid to House 1 Million People in Dubai

Ancient Egyptian pyramids and Middle Eastern ziggurats are coming alive in the 21st century technology.
A new futurist concept that encompasses green building technology and—according to the developer—can house up to a million people, will make a debut at the world stage in October.

The 2.3 square kilometer Ziggurat Project, undertaken by Timelinks, a Dubai based environmental design company, will be 100 per cent carbon neutral and will run by harnessing the power of nature setting a futuristic pace for eco-friendliness for other similar projects in the pipeline.

Borrowing from ancient ingenuity, the inhabitants won’t even have any use for a car: transport throughout the complex would be connected by an integrated 360 degree network (horizontally and vertically) so cars would be redundant. Biometrics would provide security with facial recognition technology.


Ziggurat’s Carbon Neutral Accolades:
Ridas Matonis, director of Timelinks, said, “Ziggurat communities can be almost totally self-sufficient energy-wise. Apart from using steam power in the building we will also employ wind turbine technology to harness natural energy resources.”

Ziggurat’s Nature Accolades:
“Whole cities can be accommodated in complexes which take up less than 10% of the original land surface. Public and private landscaping will be used for leisure pursuits or irrigated as agricultural land. “If these projects were realized today the world would see communities that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and in tune with their natural surroundings.”

Solar Powered, Carbon Neutral Pyramid to House 1 Million People in Dubai In the ancient world, ziggurats, important to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia, were temple towers mainly around the Mesopotamian valley and Iran, and had the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories or levels.

The ziggurat style of architecture has been copied today in many places of the world including the SIS Building, also commonly known as the MI6 Building, the headquarters of the British Secret Intelligence Service and the headquarters of the California Department of General Services in West Sacramento, California.

But nothing has been so futuristic and real until now, Timelinks is even making steps to patent the design and technology incorporated into the project. The carbon neutral enclave will be unveiled at Cityscape Dubai, Middle East’s largest business-to-business real estate and investment exhibition that will run on October 6 to 9, 2008.

Image courtesy: World Architecture News