A new pedestrian bridge nearly 1 km long will link the glitzy Dubai Mall to the nearby metro stop – finally! I swear Robert Ferry and Elizabeth Monoian from the Land Art Generator Initiative are magicians, because everything they touch turns to gold. (If you haven’t already downloaded their free field guide to the 60 […]
“Active Matters” symposium will discuss how desert living can become more eco-friendly. Environmentalists agree that dense urban living is more eco-friendly (just ask Tel Aviv city architect Yoav David), but desert life is a little if-ier. Living in a sprawling desert, far from water and other resources, could be taxing on the environment since it […]
Brian argues that skyscrapers are not only “un-green,” but they could be a precursor to economic turmoil. The Empire State Building was completed in 1931, the same year E.Y. “Yip” Harburg wrote these lyrics: “Once I built a tower up to the sun, brick and rivet and lime. Once I built a tower, now its […]
When it is complete, the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai Hotel will be the world’s tallest. Never mind that scientists have discovered giant plumes of methane that could speed up global-warming, which could contribute to even higher temperatures in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other countries. Pay no attention to the fact that hundreds of partially unoccupied […]
The LEED-hopeful Siemens headquarters in Masdar City has been awarded the coveted 2012 MIPIM future projects award. It wasn’t long ago that the first batch of photographs depicting the new Siemens headquarters made its way through the virtual world, but the LEED Platinum-hopeful building designed by Sheppard Robson has already scooped a coveted architecture award, […]
Studio Schiattarella and Tecturae’s winning proposal for the Celebration Hall of Riyadh distorts true Bedouin values. It is common in Middle Eastern design to evoke images of a more sustainable past in order to justify a less sustainable present, and nowhere is this more true than in Saudi Arabia. The winning proposal for the Celebration […]
It’s official: Zaha Hadid is going to design the new Central Bank of Iraq’s Headquarters; Tafline argues that it should be green. Zaha Hadid is widely celebrated for her incredible, untethered design, but less so for her environmental sensibilities. So when we learned that the deal to design a major project for her home country, […]
Walnut floors and bookshelves gives “warmth”, but at a cost of live trees that take 50 years to grow The use of ornate wood products in building homes, furniture and ships has been part of humanity since time began. Even the Bible gives note to using wood for ornate construction projects with such examples as King […]
If Hassan Fathy is the father of sustainable architecture, then Nader Khalili must be his close cousin.
The hideous Mekkah Clocktower may have been the final straw – officials now state that any additions will be more in tune with traditional architecture It seems that the powers that be in Mekkah (Mecca) are finally listening. After widespread complaints that Mekkah was beginning to resemble Las Vegas with its preference for gargantuan and […]
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. […]
Inspired by last year’s Sukkah City in NYC (see one of the past designs above), St. Louis is hosting its own sukkah design competition this year. With the Jewish high holidays fast approaching, some of us are thinking about honey recipes, sustainable festive meals, and sukkahs (or temporarily erected shelters). The folks over at Washington […]
Tel Aviv’s architecture weekend takes note of green spaces and green issues. For the past decade or so, Tel Aviv has been undergoing a type of ‘renaissance’ and as a result it is considered one of the hippest tourism destinations in the Middle East. Alongside its architectural facelift and infusion of stylishness, though, the city […]
This is more than a building with a ragged mountain backdrop. This architecture creates the ultimate in sensory education for Jordan’s film students. The Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in Aqaba, Jordan taps into natural light, sounds, and shadows to create a sensorily vivid learning experience for film students. Albeit minimalist and respectful of […]
With Dubai’s property sector still in crisis, many predict the end for real estate glitz and the start of a more modest UAE Whilst the Gulf states continue with business as usual by supporting fuel subsides in order to avoid political unrest, there are some areas of luxury in the Gulf which will have to […]