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 before the revolution swept the country off kilter. Karim Rashid is every bit as daring as Zaha Hadid, however, unlike the Iraqi designer who rarely takes the environment into consideration when conceiving her projects, Rashid is definitely one of the top Arab sustainable designers.
A fusion of ancient Islamic and contemporary western design principles, the house is powered by renewable energy sources, receives its heat from radiant flooring, and features the most energy efficient appliances available on the market. Step on in for more images of a home that may not look like anything like the straw bale homes we typically advocate, but which is almost equally ecologically-friendly!
All the home’s lighting is derived from energy-efficient LEDs, and all of the appliances used meet the highest demands for energy efficiency.
The Komb House is day lit by a massive skylight that serves multiple functions, including rainwater harvesting. All of the greywater is recycled, and heating is provided from radiant flooring.
Water is heated using solar power, and a kinetic art sculpture generates wind energy! While decidedly futuristic looking and maybe no as eco-friendly as a straw bale home for example, Karim Rashid’s groundbreaking home does use materials that can be easily disassembled and used elsewhere!
More amazing green building projects on Green Prophet:
Foster & Partners Finish Gorgeous Green Building in Morocco
Micro-Financed Straw Bale Buildings in Pakistan are Earthquake Proof
Syria’s Beehive Shaped Green Architecture
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
