An architect in Beirut illustrates how a small splash of color can completely transform a concrete environment. But trust us, that is just the beginning of this city’s problems. I judge a country by its public transportation, and Sandra Rashini, an architect who held a magnifying glass over Lebanon’s colossal urban problem for Mashallah, will tell […]
German-Palestinian society NIJMAH is working on renovating a kid’s playground using natural materials and setting up a permaculture garden Permaculture may be new to the Middle East but with Jordan hosting the recent permaculture world conference and various organic farms sprouting up, the region is slowly catching up. In Palestine, there is already a permaculture […]
Scientist Harold Vinegar says there is a huge quantity of oil shale in Israel and, despite protests and risks, he still wants to extract it A project to explore the Elah Valley of Israel (pictured above) for oil shale has been underway since 2008 and despite protests from locals and environmental campaigners, those behind the […]
From overstretched contractors exposed by Wikileaks to Japanese criticism over the poor selection of the reactor site, Greenpeace is raising serious questions over Jordan’s nuclear plans Despite ongoing protests from green campaigners, it seems that Jordan is now determined to go down the path of nuclear power. Citing poor energy independence and high energy costs […]
This contemporary home located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem is wrapped in a Mashrabiya screen, which keeps the home nice and cool even on scorching hot days. We’ve lauded the benefits of ancient building techniques many times before. Both Hassan Fathy’s incredible mud structures in Egypt and ancient Syrian beehives are a model for sustainable design […]
Praying in a Tokyo church could expose you to radiation levels higher than Chernobyl dead zones. In the same manner that Japanese authorities failed to prevent the Japanese nuclear disaster earlier this year, the authorities are dealing with radiation fallout –– in Tokyo. They are not telling the whole story. Locals armed with their own […]
We are big fans of reusing perfectly good materials like waste glass, which can be turned into beautiful glasses, and this incredible pavilion in Bat Yam, Israel is a shining example of just how creative it is possible to get. Many Israeli artists love to recycle ordinary objects into beautiful, magical art. Ecco Ukka turns […]
A starchitect from Japan? As Israel’s oldest and leading arts academy, shouldn’t Bezalel be a locavore when it comes to hiring architects? The Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, established in Jerusalem in 1906 as an institution that would help form a new visual language for the Jewish people, is now synonymous with Israeli art. […]
Now Masdar builds solar with a 75% capacity factor, almost as much as nuclear Masdar, the holistic and progressive renewable energy company from the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi, and SENER, a leading engineering and construction firm in Spain have formed a joint venture, Torresol Energy, that just inaugurated their Gemasolar Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) project; the first commercial plant […]
Jeddah's beaches have notoriously been used as a local sewage dump. But almost a thousand patriotic students swept the corniche clean for Saudi Arabia's National Day to stand by keeping the country litter-free.
For both the interim Mediterranean Solar Plan and Desertec, the creation of renewable policy and renewable job skills development in both the potential energy-supplying countries and the potential energy-receiving countries is necessary. The Mediterranean Solar Plan represents an interim step towards Desertec. It aims to create 20 gigawatts’ worth of new renewable energy sources in MENA […]
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 […]
Government policies in the US and Spain jumpstarted CSP – what will happen now its over? In the last few years, according to Logan Goldie-Scot, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst at CSP Today, most recent asset finance deals in solar technologies have been for concentrated solar power (CSP) in Spain, through its Feed in Tariffs, […]
University degrees in renewable energy are among the practical first steps towards realizing the visionary desertec program. A new university degree program is being funded with more than 3 million euros by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany, and additional support from the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Eu. RE-Generation MENA will initiate […]
Tighten your city’s green belt on World Habitat Day: Plant trees everywhere, in cities all over the Middle East. When we think of treehuggers, and people who advocate treeplanting, we think 80s hippie, or Julia Butterfly Hill, the gal who lived in a tree for 2.5 years to fight against deforestation. Or the old-fashioned model […]