Towers take turn for the worse

At the height of the property boom, developers in Dubai competed to outdo each other with increasingly grand designs. But no rivalry was as interesting as the race to build buildings that rotate, giving home owners 360-degree views of the world.

For an industry obsessed with views, it was the ultimate prize that would translate into large premiums and healthy profits.

While builders in Brazil and the US had built smaller rotating buildings, three developers in Dubai announced buildings that would have put the UAE in the architectural vanguard.