We were quite taken with these long-standing caves in Iran, and with this eco-boutique hotel in Turkey, but neither match the style of the restored Yunak Evleri hotel in Cappadocia. With fixings such as marble in the reception area, it isn’t the most modest tourism facility we have featured, but we do love to see history, nature, and travel merge in creative harmony.
Working with NASA as part of an initiative to design homes fit for space, Iranian architect Nader Khalili conceived the dome home as an affordable, accessible, easy to build, and environmentally sensible housing solution. Now it's being applied in the West Bank.
The average container produces about 1,000 pounds of hazardous waste before it can be re-used as a structure. Bundle all this with the fuel-guzzling heavy machinery needed to move the container from port to final position, and this green habitat looks more like a white elephant.
Three years ago, Qatar won the right to be the first Middle Eastern country to host a World Cup in 2022; after much speculation, FIFA’s Secretary General Jerome Valcke publicly ruled out the possibility that the competition will take place in summer. Since winning the bid with designs of spectacular solar-powered stadiums, the Emirate has insisted […]
A consortium of Japanese architects got together to protest Zaha Hadid’s winning design for the main stadium of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and despite all her fame and glory, the Japanese government listened. Zaha Hadid has been in the news a lot recently. For many, she is an incredible, visionary designer whose work is unparalleled, and […]
Refrigeration is perhaps one of the greatest inventions of modern man, but it has come at a price. Not only do they require a great deal of energy to stay cool, but they also rely on ozone-depleting chloro-fluorocarbons (CFCs), or freon, though some countries have phased these out. As an increasing number of people walk […]
In the south of Burkina Faso, west Africa, near the border with Ghana lies a circular village called Tiébélé. Home of the Kassena people, one of the oldest ethnic groups that settled in Burkina in the 15th century. Tiébélé is known for its creative Gourounsi architecture and elaborately decorated walls.
Foster + Partners, the same UK architectural firm that created the zero-carbon city Masdar, is about to break ground on their first project in Israel - a solar-powered center for brain studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Just about everyone learned in their early geography classes that the Nile Valley was once a fertile haven. Crops proliferated on the green banks due to natural flooding that deposited rich nutrients, although occasionally these floods inundated and destroyed crops as well, and the land of the Pharaohs was a mecca for agriculture. But when […]
Gaza's five star hotel, especially one that is made with adobe brick. Designed by the Palestinian architect Rashid Abdelhamid, who was born and trained in Algeria, the 22 room Aldeira Hotel features domed ceilings and arches and a resplendent earth-toned facade. The hotel is regularly used by foreign journalists covering Gaza.
Israeli designer Ohad Lustgarten designed Shade and Shelter as part of his final project at Shenkar College of Design, the same center that spawned living lace made from bacteria. The six foot tall prototype constructed out of cardboard looks like a giant centipede when it is unwound but then coils up to provide a lightweight […]
Biomimicry is slowly gaining momentum in the Middle East. Two Egyptian women have designed eco-tours that encourage students to look to the camel and scorpions and other desert animals for solutions to modern issues.
This lovely prefabricated LoftCube home is perched on a pretty piece of land just north of Beirut in Lebanon
Is augmented reality projections the new fireworks of the Middle East? We hope so To celebrate a wedding it is common for Middle East men to shoot guns into the air, with stray bullets eventually falling to the sky, killing wildlife and sometimes people. This still happens in Gaza and Jordan for instance, although authorities […]
If you have lost faith in earth architecture, take note: Yemen's Manhattan of the desert, Shibam, boasts 400 habitable clay towers!