With so many reports of tainted, rotten food hitting the market, Lebanese consumers are desperate to source organic, pesticide-free food from responsible suppliers. And their options to do so are growing alongside their burgeoning demand. Our friends from Green Traveler Guides sent over a fabulous overview of the top cafes, markets and restaurants leading Lebanon’s […]
Imagine the famous pyramids under water? Alexandria, Egypt holds top risk, followed by Istanbul, Turkey. Think “Mediterranean” and most Westerners conjure up Monte Carlo or Mykonos, Cannes or Nice, often overlooking the southern coastline cities that lie in Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Fourteen Mediterranean port cities are at risk of extreme and […]
More than 200 cyclists took over the streets of Beirut Sunday demanding a sustainable public transportation system for Lebanon. Haunted by the pollution poisoning their city’s car-clogged roads, more than 200 cyclists took over Beirut last week Sunday in an effort to demand a revival of its once-decent public transportation system. The seven kilometer (5 […]
Laurie escaped from the Trade Towers 11 years ago and as a building expert looks critically at standards in the Middle East. Building codes ensure that a properly constructed building will safely stand up to predictable wear and tear. Codes specify fire-resistant performance for materials and prescribe safe exiting requirements for occupants. But what guides […]
We used to think of Beirut as a brown, concrete city lacking color and green space, but the Dihzahyners are challenging such dreary labels by painting the city white, pink, purple, green, orange and every other color of the rainbow. A collective of artists and designers armed with buckets of paint (non-toxic, we hope?) and […]
Lebanese illustartor Maya Zankoul “draws” against issues that range from pollution, electricity cuts, real estate pricing, to politics in Lebanon. She will be one of the guest speakers at SHARE Beirut. In October there will be a free three day conference in Beirut which will look at “digital” rights in the MENA and promote creativity. Similar to the […]
A nuclear bomb wipes out all of Tel Aviv and central Israel, using the Ground Zero app. There was much disagreement around the dinner table the other night about whether or not Israel will be obliterated if Iran drops a nuclear bomb. Will there be something to spare? Should Israelis expect a bomb to melt […]
With a bit of creativity and green spirit, old washing machine drums have been transformed into stunning seating by Xavier Baghdadi and Lea Kradokian From beautifully adorned tyres to trash theatres, Lebanon is really getting creative with its rubbish. Now, two green Lebanese designers have used old washing machine drums to make intricately decorated seats […]
Far from being Paris of the Middle East, traditional red tiled roof and sandstone houses suffocate inside the “other” vision of Beirut The Lebanese housing market is a bit of a strange phenomenon. A largely unregulated construction market coupled with grandiose projects from ambitious rich gulf state developers and Lebanese expatriates has created a surplus […]
Maps showing depletion of Greenland’s ice fields between July 8 and 12 2012. July 12 version is on the right. Maps via The Weather Channel and NASA It’s happening much faster than most climatologists thought it would: the world’s polar ice caps and ice fields are melting at an alarming rate and virtually simultaneously. It’s […]
Horsh Beirut is not the only public space that has been hijacked from the residents of Beirut. In the years since the war, most of the sandy stretches along the Mediterranean Sea have been usurped by wealthy developers, who – according to Abir Ghattas – have forgotten that Beirut’s beaches belong to everyone. These private resorts […]
We are in the midst of a global obsession with LEGO building blocks. No longer strictly a childhood toy, these colorful plastic blocks designed by Denmark’s Kristiansen family in the 1930s are popping up everywhere: corporations are building the tallest this and that in order to market their products and artists are using them to […]
Beirut-based Nadim Inaty designed the Green Wheel – a zany exercise machine concept that harvests kinetic energy and converts it into electricity. Comprised of a single unit complete with a bench and patches of real grass, the green wheel features three different levels for runners of varying strengths and produces roughly enough energy in 30 […]
"We are Tyred" by Bokja Studio. Bokja design in Beirut embroiders the tires, in protest
Gulf states urge citizens not to visit Lebanon, cancelations abound Despite appeals from Lebanese leaders, Gulf states are advising their citizens not to travel to Lebanon and those already there to leave, thus boding ill for this summer’s tourism industry. Beirut, once known as the Riviera of the Levant, has thrived through turmoil as a […]