Fifteen years ago the coral reef was still healthy in the Red Sea city of Eilat. I’d swim and snorkel there hand in hand with my love S. There were even wild dolphins swimming freely to their sanctuary around ships passing through the port city connecting Israel’s southernmost city to the Indian Ocean. But local […]
You know us. We are dreaming of Mars daily. But for most of us, getting there will only be a dream. But you can live out the fantasy close to where the film The Martian was shot –– by staying in Freedomes owned by the SunCity Camp in Jordan. The site offers one of 20 geodesic domes for […]
Green is sort of a buzzword nowadays. People will say they are going green (like Zaha Hadid), but are they as good as their word? Usually not. In the world of Middle Eastern architecture and engineering, rest assured that there are several who are fighting for green choices. Clients often see lots of green – […]
Construction has begun in Dubai on the $136-million Museum of the Future. Tucked between skyscrapers in Dubai’s financial district, just a seven-minute drive from the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, it will be more than an exhibition hall, cafe and gift shop. Special “innovation labs” will be included where researchers and designers will […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
Explore the world's five most renowned and low-key "eco mosques" - Muslim places of worship - that are either high tech or made from mud.
Hassan Fathy, an Egyptian architect saw the value of natural building long before it became a fad in the west. Green Prophet has railed against projects like Dubai Burj Tower. We have pounded our chests at the audacity of Masdar City’s “zero” footprint claim, and we have decried the potential consequences of unsustainable approaches to […]
Ten miles from Mexico, nestled in a humid valley in Arizona we arrive in Canelo for a straw bale building workshop. This is a place where 11 year olds drive, breakfast with songstress Linda Ronstadt is not uncommon, and people from all walks of life share a common ground. The workshop hosts, Bill and Athena […]