"Windation Energy Systems, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based start-up, has developed a wind appliance that looks more or less like the modern heating and cooling equipment you see on flat corporate building rooftops.
There's an 8-by-8-foot frame around a 10-foot-high cylinder. Wind blows in the top and is directed to the bottom where the wind turns a turbine to make up to 5 kilowatts of electricity. A single unit wouldn't generate enough power for an entire office building but could offset a significant portion, the company says." - http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/10/13/urban-wind-power-inspired-by-ancient-persia/
There's an 8-by-8-foot frame around a 10-foot-high cylinder. Wind blows in the top and is directed to the bottom where the wind turns a turbine to make up to 5 kilowatts of electricity. A single unit wouldn't generate enough power for an entire office building but could offset a significant portion, the company says." - http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/10/13/urban-wind-power-inspired-by-ancient-persia/
Smaller less aesthetically pleasing example of a wind catcher/energy generator.