Quick Facts
Biography
David Fisher (born Haim David Fisher ca. 1949) is an Italian-Israeli architect based in Florence. He is known for designing the Dynamic Tower, a rotating skyscraper proposed for construction in Dubai.
Early life
Fisher was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, about 1949. In 1970 he left Israel to attend the University of Florence. After graduation he served as a lecturer of architecture and structural engineering at the same university.
Career
Fisher launched Fiteco Ltd. in New York during the mid-1980s while also becoming involved in the development and building of hotels. He designed pre-assembled bathrooms for luxury homes and hotels.
Dynamic Tower
Fisher is the founder and chairman of Dynamic Architecture Group. He is the designer of the proposed rotating Dynamic Tower, billed as the world's first building in motion, though the basic concept has numerous precedents, especially the 2001 Suite Vollard in Brazil with independently rotating floors. Fisher's Dynamic Tower was designed by the Dynamic Architecture Group. The intention was to build an 80-story skyscraper in Dubai. It featured revolving floors, some of which could have moved on command, providing the building with an ever-changing shape along with a changing view for the residents. It is Fisher's first skyscraper design.
Between 1995 and 1998, Fisher was Honorary Consul of Italy, based in Beersheba, Israel. During this time Fisher was sole director of a construction firm misrepresented as being led by Alan Katz. The firm went bankrupt in 1998. In November 2008 based on an affidavit from Katz and documents obtained from various tax havens around the world describing Fisher's assets, Fisher was tried before the Italian court for the embezzlement of 70 billion Italian lira (35 million euros) but was pardoned of charges.
In 2008 in New York City, Fisher distributed a biography which said he received an honorary doctorate from "The Prodeo Institute at Columbia University in New York". No such institution exists, however, and Columbia said it had never awarded Fisher an honorary degree. Fisher's New York publicists tried to explain the discrepancy by suggesting that he was given an honorary doctorate by the "Catholic University of Rome", or the "Pre Deo University". There are no institutions going by those names.