Images: Dubai's skyscraper in motion

Undulation turns to fragmentation. "If you think they are five buildings, you are completely wrong. They are the same building, just changing every moment," Fisher said. The appearance at any given time--the variation at right looks uncannily like the advanced stages of a Jenga game--will depend on a number of factors, including the speed of individual floors, their acceleration, the direction each is facing, and the timing of a given floor to its neighbors. The floors of the tower are intended to move independently, and also slowly enough to keep residents from getting motion sickness.

In addition, the dynamic towers are supposed to be self-powered. That is, large wind turbines are to be mounted horizontally between floors, turning with enough frequency not only to generate electricity for the building itself, but also to create a surplus that could provide energy for neighboring structures. Solar energy could also be a component of the system, according to Fisher.