Watch: How do our buildings keep getting taller without toppling?
Welcome to engineering techniques that may be become essential if everyone has to have a home.
Did you know that tall buildings rely on mass dampers inside them to ensure stability against the wind?
That's right, really tall buildings can sway in the wind, which are sometimes fierce on those upper floors. Anyone who's tried opening a window on the 35th floor knows that.
And since no one wants to swing in their homes and offices, enter dampers. Essentially, they help control the movement of a building by making it move in the opposite direction to the wind.
A new video from RealEngineering examines tall structures and the fascinating engineering behind them that makes their existence possible. It explains, for instance, how aerodynamics has a major impact on the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The building doesn’t have these dampers and depends instead on a wondrously spiralling arrangement.
Why is this important? As the population keeps growing, very tall buildings might be the only way to ensure a home for everyone.