I woke up to find an email from Cameron Sinclair thanking me for “designing like you give a damn.” Sinclair is the executive director of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and, yeah, celebrities and politicians email me all the time. I’m also popular with Nigerians who need help cashing checks. I need to figure out how to […]
An unnamed client hired London-based Baharash Architecture to design a luxury home that could fully function off the energy grid. That’s a tall order for any residence in Abu Dhabi, now consider the challenges for one sited in the punishing clime of the hyper-arid Liwa Desert where summer temperatures top 100°F. The star-shaped structure is modestly […]
Chaucer said, “Time and tide wait for no man.” He should’ve added “death”. Just like the American postal system, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor hail shall keep death from its appointed rounds. Christians whose numbers come up during inclement weather are put on ice in a mortuary until the roads reopen – but other religions don’t […]
A winter storm is banging around much of the Middle East. Precip’s teamed up with gale force winds, causing first-world headaches like clogged transport, school closures, power outages and the promise of steep heating bills. But mostly people are rocking a few days respite from the usual grind, and – judging from the flood of […]
Incense that burned in ancient Egyptian and Greek temples was once harvested from this island; nine species of the frankincense tree are unique to Socotra.
The Levante is gearing up for a massive winter storm. Laurie over in Amman, Jordan is battening down the hatch and (lucky duck!) is preparing for a snow day (see the above image from last year); while me over in Israel, I am just wondering how to seal those pesky leaks blowing cold air through my […]
Dubai Municipality has invited businesses and individuals to take part in its annual Car-Free Day on February 4 to lower city-wide vehicle emissions while commemorating the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) National Environment Day. Last year, 7,000 employees from 65 government and private organizations participated. The bait they’ll use to incite more action this year? A chance to win another […]
Assuming you stayed relatively sane on New Year’s Eve, you probably going to woke up the next day feeling optimistic, ready to start the new year with a clean slate. Maybe resolve to lace up the sneakers, or lay off the carbs. Or take it bigger and tackle a problem beyond yourself by investing in […]
A team of archaeologists discovered an ancient underground city in Cappadocia, Turkey, with tunnels and escape routes spanning over 3.5 miles. Estimated to be 5,000 years old, the massive metropolis was found in the areas around and beneath Nevşehir fortress during an urban development project carried out by Turkey’s Housing Development Administration (TOKİ). Hurriyet Daily News […]
Solar energy panels are an important investment for planet earth, but also for residential homeowners that want to cash in on attractive feed-in tariffs. Homeowners that invest in solar energy can feed the power they generate back to the energy grid and in time make money after their initial investment in panels is paid off. […]
Last May, Lebanese lawmaker Walid Jumblatt called for marijuana to be legalized in Lebanon. While he never touched the weed himself, he said, “I support growing cannabis for medical use and to improve the living conditions of farmers in north Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley,” according to the Daily Star. Now he’s back in the […]
A hidden pleasure in ex-pat life in Amman, Jordan is the relative ease in which I can sidestep a steroidal Christmas (and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa – the trifecta of Big Business holidays that muscled into my former New York City life every December). Here there are no TV reruns of Mid-Century classics like Frosty the Snowman or […]
Taking a cue from its neighbor city Tel Aviv Lebanon’s regional “landmark”, Sidon’s notorious garbage mountain, will now become a city park. Sidon’s stench was once so bad that locals used to say that “you smell it before you can see it.” This hideous site, the result of garbage trucks dumping straight into the sea […]
DUBAI — Mention Dubai, and people immediately think of soaring skyscrapers, enormous shopping malls and insanely expensive sports cars. But 30 kilometers south of this world-class city-state — along the E66 highway towards Al Ain, and just past a Chuck-e-Cheese outlet — the glitz gives way to desert. Here at Umm Nahad, there are no […]
NASA scientists are using the Suomi NPP satellite to photograph the earth at night. They are studying natural phenomenon as well as light pollution. They found that manmade lights shine noticeably brighter during the holidays of Ramadan, Christmas and New Year. Some Middle Eastern cities shone more than 50% brighter during Ramadan. Find out how […]