We are accustomed to writing about art and architecture that addresses environmental and social problems in the Middle East, but nothing as interesting as Larissa Sansour’s Nation Estate has crossed our desk before. Conceived in 2011 when Palestinian authorities appealed to the United Nations for nationhood status, the sci-fi short film and photographic series takes […]
Pity the paper book. Libraries everywhere are closing due to lack of funding and tepid public support, and e-readers are luring people away from bookstores. Big-box bookstores tried, but they couldn’t replicate town libraries: vital public spaces where inter-generational interaction can freely occur between all economic strata. There are occasional glimmers of change. Last October, […]
UCLA and Egyptian scientist accidentally find a new way to bottle stored energy. This missing link for solar energy, hydro and electric cars could be a fast, tiny, biodegradable battery Penicillin, Teflon, microwave ovens and superglue were all discovered by accident. And now graphene super-capacitors might be the most important accidental discovery of our time […]
A Dubai neighborhood that is undergoing a dedicated urban densification plan, Al Quoz may have recently welcomed the first “largest LEED Platinum Government Building,” but it won’t be the last to claim this distinction. “Sustainable Building” is the new 340, 000 square foot headquarters for a branch of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) and […]
Take some guys interested in cutting edge technology and add a dash of old-fashioned capitalism and sometimes amazing alchemy results: That teamwork just happened in Lima, where collaboration between Peru’s University of Engineering and Technology and advertising agency Mayo DraftFCB resulted in the world’s first billboard that converts air into drinking water. The brilliant billboard […]
If there’s something that the Israelis do as well as or even better than clean tech, it is agriculture. When the state was established in the mid 20th century, the first pioneers faced large swaths of dry and barren land. It is part of the country’s legacy that they then proceeded to transform this wasteland […]
The Sea of Marmara is swamped with plastic pollution and other byproducts of our rampant consumerism, but according to ONZ Architects, the issue is “swept under the carpet” and most residents of Istanbul faced with continued development look the other way. The designers’ strategy to encourage a new awareness involves sweeping that carpet right back out […]
Didn’t Azerbaijan just claim to be building the world’s tallest tower? Abu Dhabi Group will construct the world’s tallest building in Pakistan. It’s the stuff of dreams. Let’s hope it stays that way. The project will surpass Dubai’s Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building in Dubai) as part of a $45 billion national investment by Pakistani […]
It has been two years since Mohamed Ashraf Abdel Samad founded Shagara – a non profit organization that aims to green Cairo with urban rooftop farms and other carbon-sapping trees and plants – and virtually every day since has been a struggle. After studying for some time in Norway, where his “semi hippie” friends introduced […]
Until a recent urban renewal project that forced most residents out, the neighborhood of Tarlabaşı was home to a diverse array of Istanbul’s minority populations. In the early 20th century, Tarlabaşı’s winding streets and colorful buildings were home to many of the city’s Greek residents. After violence against the Greek population their mass emigration from […]
Morocco Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane, Mayor of Fez and Secretary General of Istiqlal Party Hamid Chabat, and security official at the inauguration of a restored synagogue in Fez. AFP Islamist Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane represented King Mohammed VI in an inauguration ceremony marking the completion of a 17th century synagogue restoration project in Fez yesterday. In 2011, […]
People helping people. Is there a better way to burn a few calories? Habitat for Humanity Jordan (H4H) recently teamed up with Sahhyieh Jamia, a community association in Deir Alla (Salt province), and American Community School to help build homes in a village near Salt. You’d think this architect would record the event with artsy construction […]
If you ask him, Ibrahim Ibrahimov will probably tell you that his plan to build an archipelago of artificial islands, scores of apartment buildings, bridges and the world’s newest tallest tower will be good for Azerbaijan, but really the billionaire is on a path that may destroy everything that makes the capital, Baku, so special. The […]
While some designers spend time figuring out how to deal with today’s rampant problems: urban density, water shortages, lack of public transportation in many cities and other pressing concerns, the team behind MAKH Architects have concerned themselves with zombies. More specifically, they have devised a conceptual home for future residents who will roam the globe […]
Anyone who has been paying attention will have noticed that a host of exciting new green projects are popping up all over the Middle East, including the soaring vertical garden at the Al-Sultan Ibrahim restaurant in Maameltein, Lebanon.