Quote Las Vegas Review:
The tall, sleek, curving Vdara Hotel at CityCenter on the Strip is a thing of beauty. But the south-facing tower is also a collector and bouncer of sun rays, which -- if you're at the hotel's swimming pool at the wrong time of day and season -- can singe your hair and melt your plastic drink cups and shopping bags.
Hotel pool employees call the phenomenon the "Vdara death ray."
A spokesman for MGM Resorts International, which owns Vdara, said he prefers the term "hot spot" or "solar convergence" to describe it. He went on to say that designers are already working with resort staff to come up with solutions.
The pic explains how it works. I think several new buildings in Israel have the same problem, but it is so hot here that like frogs, we dont notice when instead of the burning sun we are being fried. Dubai may have other examples.
4 comments:
It seems to me that what they should do is take advantage of this effect - make the building even more parabolic and have some sort of solar collector at the focal point. Constructing a solar concentrator the size of a skyscraper is not a trivial expense - here is a chance to get one for free.
K
K beat me to the same thought.
Free energy?
Almost, surely.
Anon.
The solar barbecue could be sited at the hot point as a tourist trap.
There are many things that could be coked.
Anon.
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