Saudi Arabia isn’t well known for its architectural subtlety, but Gerber Architekten’s renovation of the King Fahad National Library in Riyadh suggests that the Kingdom may be open to a new approach.
Can there be more Masdars? Can this experimental eco-city be replicated in other Middle Eastern or North African countries that don’t have Abu Dhabi’s immense oil wealth? Green Prophet put this question to Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar City, and Chris Chi Lon Wan, City Design Manager, during a recent roundtable discussion.
Dom Arquitectura designed 4 Houses in Jeddah, a large city in western Saudi Arabia, where summer temperatures often surpass 109 °F. Hit the jump to find out how the studio used Islamic and passive design to keep the homes cool.
One of the world’s largest oil producers has just received LEED Platinum for its Al-Madra Tower in Saudi Arabia, highlighting the pitfalls of a system designed to recognize environmental stewardship.
A five-story apartment building in Hamburg, Germany gets its juice from its algae skin. It’s an example of the kind of architectural innovation that could readily transplant to the Middle East. So why is partnership between designers, investors and government largely absent in this region? The continuing drought of global investment requires innovative approaches to […]
Saudi Arabian investment in 76 new environmentally savvy construction projects is estimated to exceed $26 billion, according to Faisal Al-Fadl, Secretary General of the Saudi Green Building Forum (SGB Forum). Over half of those projects are based in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
These films shown below show the basics of the Estidama Pearl rating system unique to the Abu Dhabi region. We’ve collected a number of films from around the net on Estidama, a LEED-like sustainability rating for communities, villas and apartments in the United Arab Emirates. A system that makes sense for the challenges of the […]
A host of private and government organizations in Qatar have teamed up to build the emirate’s first Passivhaus – one of the world’s most sustainable design certification systems with origins in Germany. Better yet, the solar array that will generate an annual 58,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to power the home will be provided by […]
The award to design Masdar‘s new super-green headquarters in Abu Dhabi has been given to Brookfield Multiplex, the group announced recently. The Australian firm was awarded the contract to design and construct the seven story building in the Gulf nation, which will feature a whopping 344,445 square feet of interior space and a massive rooftop […]
In the unrelenting Middle East sun, one thing is very clear when you build a new home: it must work with the elements. Standing the test of time are traditional Arabic buildings that kept families and worshippers cool for centuries, long before air conditioning was invented. A new “green” teaching and research center in the […]
PLUG-In Hebron is a dynamic new urban renewal project for the conflict-shorn West Bank city. Following years of what the designers call “reciprocal violence,” the Israeli military split Hebron into two separate zones. The latter, H2, which is under Israeli jurisdiction, contains the old city. Which means that the Palestinians have been isolated from an […]
Eco Future is an engaging interactive exhibit on Al Saadiyat Island that teaches children the ABCs of going green in Abu Dhabi. Partially modeled after the Emirate’s own long term sustainability plans, the exhibit features a series of games that promote virtual decision-making about real-world issues such as green building, healthy living, and moderate water and […]
A Nader Khalili-inspired earthen eco resort in southern Oman designed by SSH International won first prize in the Future Projects – Leisure led development category of this year’s World Architecture Festival. The Kuwait-based firm sought to satisfy three main requirements in this prototype for one of the Gulf’s largest developers, who aims to develop 1 […]
Rock Stadium by Lebanese design firm MZ Architects hasn’t been built yet but it has already won two coveted international design awards, including Best Future Building of the Year at the 2012 LEAF Awards. Marwan Zgheib accepted this year’s award for Al Ain’s sunken Rock Stadium in London on 21 September, sharing a slice of […]
Live long enough and we all know heartbreak, but what happens when a well-loved sustainable project walks away? Looking for day trips to explore modern Middle East architecture, I stumbled across Jordan’s The Aqaba House (TAH). This ambitious little house was the first modern home fully based on green building principles specific to its Aqaba location. Oriented […]