This was the plan: leave at 8pm Friday night from Turgoman station in Cairo. Arrive in Siwa at 5.30am and meet my friend Gwen from France at the Siwa Inn Hotel. Bestow copious hugs and kisses before finding Vivek, a Couchsurfing buddy who traveled from Alexandria. And then, after introducing my friends, relax in this […]
The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel commissioned a very green addition to the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, and let’s just say the birds and the bees are making themselves at home! Many buildings tend to create hazardous environments for fauna and flora, or else wipe them out altogether, but the Gutman Visitor Center […]
Karim Rashid’s incredible Komb House exhibited in Cairo last year features the most cutting-edge eco-technologies without compromising its colorful “wow” factor! We think Egypt needs a little brightening up, and it seems that Karim Rashid agrees. The New-York based Egyptian design master presented the incredible Komb House at last year’s Le Marche exhibition in Cairo […]
When complete, Kuwait’s massive solar-powered airport will be the world’s first LEED Gold passenger terminal. Regardless of whether we believe that Foster + Partners‘ numerous commercial buildings are truly sustainable, there is no denying that the firm has a huge influence on how architecture in the Middle East is shaping up. By employing a unique […]
This may look like an ordinary villa on a hill, but it’s not. This villa is part of a growing movement in Lebanon that is revolutionizing the green building industry. Instead of mistaking Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for happiness, or giant energy-hogging homes for class symbols, Lebanon could learn from Western regret by revolutionizing its […]
As a birthday gift to famous model Naomi Campbell, Luis de Garrido from Spain designed an off-grid home complete with photovoltaic panels, a sophisticated geothermal system, an interior landscaped terrace, and – ahem – 25 bedrooms. For those who believe that the Eye of Horus from Egyptian mythology is actually an illuminati cult symbol, this […]
Nothing cures the green blues better than spending a weekend with talented, wholesome folks who love building cool art and architecture projects as much as they love nature. SO many wonderful green-minded people such as Najib Saab – head of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), the Green Sheikh from Ajman, my amazing […]
New and renovated buildings in Israel will now have to comply with a newly launched “Israel Standard for Green Building”. During a press conference on this past Tuesday to announce the launch of a new green building standard for new and renovated buildings in Israel, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan said that “a green building […]
Solar glass windows from Pythagoras Solar can generate energy comparable to regular solar panels while cutting heat gain Hot on the heels of its debut in the US with solar windows powering the Sears Tower in Chicago, Israel’s Pythagoras Solar has earned a $100,000 award for its innovative and almost invisible energy-producing solar glass. The […]
How do the Syrian beehive-shaped houses made out of mud manage to stay so cool in extreme desert conditions?
Last month the Rothschild Foundation moved into a renovated dairy building situated on the Estate at Windmill Hill, in Aylesbury, England. The Rothschilds feature prominently on this news site, mostly because the family’s green superstar is involved in a host of environmentally-positive programs. We recently featured an interview with David de Rothschild, and reviewed Plastiki, […]
This beautiful home has loads of secret hiding spots and stays cool in the desert heat. Traditionally, Arabic homes huddle together in order to create shade. This is a great technique to keep desert buildings nice and cool, but it’s not so great for foiling peeping Toms and Tamis. AGi Architects struck the perfect balance […]
Two city extensions East and West of Cairo are each expected to accommodate 2.5 million people within the next 10 years. Cairo feels and looks like an apocalypse zone. When I last traveled through the city, small children huddled in dirty doorways, a bloody-faced man groveled on the ground looking for money, and trash piled […]
Foster & Partners broke ground on their first project in Lebanon. This new tower will also be the first in Beirut to have green roofs. The 3Beirut tower in Lebanon will be the first Foster & Partners development in that country. As fans of something a little more earthy, like the mud brick building entrusted […]
South African architects chose mud as the main building material for an $8.36 million Islamic Research Institute project in Timbuktu. Using the name Timbuktu in a phrase denotes a sense of something that is far, far away. And it is. Located near the Niger River Delta in Mali, Timbuktu is the gateway to the vast […]