A new icon is due to disrupt the Rotterdam skyline when it starts construction in 2025. A take on the architecture of 18th century windmills – with some ferris wheel thrown in – the Dutch Windwheel will not be just another tourist attraction. Inspired by the London Eye, cabins will have hologram tour guides, some of which are underwater to educate how the Netherlands is partly built below sea level.

However, The Dutch Windwheel Corporation intends the ride to become a ‘landmark of the future’, a 100 percent sustainable building and a platform for technological innovation. Home to apartments and a hotel, a circular wind turbine will blow wind through the inner wheel which will efficiently transform energy into electricity without mechanical moving parts. The bladeless floating wheel then captures rainwater and recycles tap water, producing electricity silently from charged water droplets.

A dynamic showcase for their Dutch Clean Technology and EWICON (Electrostatic Windenergy CONvertor), this new global symbol of sustainability hopes to prove a model example of energy efficiency, passive heating and cooling, solar panels and water conservation. That’s multi-tasking.