Cities like Tel Aviv are giving out free trees to create a food forest. And in Berlin, researchers like Ingo Kowarik are laying the blueprint for how to create sustainable cities using what we’ve already got. The illustrated handout above works to understand some of the principles developed by Ingo Kowarik and his team of urban planne

As urbanization continues to dominate the global landscape, cities are faced with the challenge of accommodating growing populations while maintaining a healthy relationship with nature. This is important for mental health and also for urban plants and animals. Ingo Kawarik, a leading urban ecologist from Berlin, proposes a revolutionary approach to greening cities, where space—an ever-precious commodity in urban settings—is utilized to foster biodiversity and support ecological resilience.

Kawarik’s approach resonates deeply with a group of ecologists, geographers, and urban planners, who together advocate for the intelligent optimization of urban environments to benefit both people and the natural world. They have a plan and blueprint they have shared on Nature Reviews.

Related: Chicago’s coyotes live longer around people

As cities expand, they increasingly encroach on natural habitats, contributing to the loss of biodiversity and diminishing the quality of life for residents. Urban environments often become hotbeds of pollution, limited green spaces, and artificial lighting, which negatively impact both human health and local ecosystems. In response to these challenges, urban planners are exploring innovative methods to transform cities into more sustainable, nature-friendly spaces.

Kawarik’s approach presents an opportunity to address these issues, focusing on sustainable design practices that integrate biodiversity into the very fabric of urban life.

Related: bats like the food diversity of cities

Kawarik’s approach is centered around the idea that even in densely populated urban areas, space can be optimized to promote ecological balance. By rethinking the way cities are designed, planners can incorporate nature-based solutions that simultaneously enhance the environment and improve residents’ well-being.

Here are some key strategies proposed by Kawarik and supported by ecologists and urban planners:

1. Reducing Urban Lighting

One of the primary sources of disruption to urban biodiversity is excessive artificial lighting, which not only wastes energy but also affects the behavior and health of nocturnal species. Kawarik suggests that cities can reduce urban lighting to minimize light pollution, which can hinder the natural processes of plants and animals. Strategies like dimming streetlights or implementing motion sensors in low-traffic areas can conserve energy while promoting healthier ecosystems. Unnatural light isn’t good for humans either. See LED light and human health.

2. Creating Multi-Functional Greenbelts and Parks

Greenbelts and parks are essential components of any sustainable city, offering green spaces for recreation, wildlife habitats, and ecological services. Kawarik advocates for multi-functional green spaces that serve not only as recreational areas but also as corridors for wildlife, helping to restore fragmented ecosystems.

These greenbelts can provide refuge for a variety of species while also improving air quality, reducing the urban heat island effect, and promoting mental well-being for urban dwellers. Greenbelts can be small, like in the streets of space between buildings in Montreal, or large like in huge rural spaces like north of Toronto.

3. Incentivizing Green Roofs

With space at a premium, the rooftop offers an untapped resource for urban greening. Green roofs—vegetated surfaces on buildings—are a powerful tool in Kawarik’s strategy. Not only do green roofs provide habitat for birds, insects, and plants, but they also help to reduce the urban heat island effect, improve energy efficiency in buildings, and capture rainwater. Kawarik suggests that city governments incentivize the installation of green roofs through tax breaks or grants, making it a viable option for developers and homeowners alike. Green roofs do require management and may lead to leaks and other concerns, but when done right the risks outweigh the benefits.

4. Increasing Tree Cover

Trees are critical for urban ecosystems, providing shade, improving air quality, and supporting biodiversity. Kawarik advocates for increasing tree cover in urban areas, particularly in densely built environments where green space is limited. Planting more trees in streetscapes, parks, and even along highways can create vital corridors for wildlife, absorb carbon dioxide, and mitigate the negative impacts of urbanization. Tree planting initiatives can also engage communities, fostering a greater sense of connection between people and nature. See the MIT study on which cities have become greener in their urban tree maps.

Kawarik’s vision emphasizes that greening cities is not just about creating spaces for biodiversity—it is also about enhancing the quality of life for urban residents. A greener city can offer numerous benefits, from cleaner air and cooler temperatures to opportunities for recreation and relaxation. Moreover, integrating nature into urban environments has been shown to have positive effects on mental health, reducing stress and increasing overall well-being.

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Environmentalists have been stressing the problems of modern construction and architecture for decades. Some of the biggest concerns are the use of concrete ––  its impact on sand and carbon emissions, and its poor thermal capabilities. Or the fact that local materials just aren’t used enough. If you look at the rapid expansion of cities like Dubai, the problems are obvious: starchitects brought in from abroad to build a glittering city meant to support “the high life” and create a feeling of abundance among the sand dunes. As though sand dunes and deserts aren’t glorious enough.

Dubai has created the Palm Jebel man-made islands with un-circulating swamps and a Burj mega-tower that is built so trucks need to pump out sewage daily. These are examples of unsustainable architecture. Can architects, and students of architecture do better for planet and people? Yes, and the answers are somewhere in the bible of vernacular architecture called Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing World, edited by architect Sandra Piesik with contributions from about 100 architects who specialise in geographic regions, climates, and local materials. 

What you get in Habitat, updated just last year, is a world of possibilities as we look forward to new sustainable practices that mesh with nature and the humanity in us. You get proven examples of low-cost sustainable architecture for every geographic and climatic region on this planet. You also get modern takes of vernacular values, and applications providing inspiration for architecture firms young and old.

Your life as an architect or student can not be complete without owning a copy of this masterpiece of a book.

The problem I see in architecture today is a disconnect between architects, the investors in architecture and the approach to culture and place. Big firms still get the highest bids for so-called sustainable architecture, with firms like Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid‘s firm winning the bids even when the plans for cities in Saudi Arabia could mean wiping out an island’s ecosystem or making no sense for the climate. There will be ski hills in the hot desert or a linear city that transects a mile of desert on the Red Sea. We learn from the ultra-modern zero-waste Masdar City that no-one wants to live in futuristic ideas alone. We also learn from Hasan Fathy that a local architect’s vision of mud housing may not fit the cultural needs of a people. How can we create a better fit? HABITAT offers some clues. 

If you are an architect who wants a crash course on sustainable architecture this book is an antidote to the troubles to today’s senseless planning and construction industry.

What I get from the book as I was thumbing through it: people need a human-scale approach to housing: that’s why we seek balconies, terraces and small gardens in the city. We feel better around trees and nature in any instance, and if you have had the chance to sleep in a home made from natural materials, you will agree it impacts your sleep and overall mood.

I’ve stayed in vernacular homes in Normandy, France (built with no nails); in mud and stone palaces in Syria, in caves in Cappadocia, in my own vernacularly built pioneer home in Canada; in Bedouin tents in Israel; I’ve stayed in strawbale homes with Bill and Athena Steen in Arizona, and I’d spent plenty of nights bamboo huts and homes in Thailand.

What links all these remarkable dwellings is the local: homes and shelter built without architects or designers, built with local materials such as stones and wood, wool, mud and bamboo, and in a way anchored with ancient wisdom that kept climate in mind because that’s how people survived.  

Every architecture student, practitioner and teacher needs to read Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing World by Thames & Hudson: It is a breathtaking and astounding encyclopaedia of natural building that can save our planet. Professionally speaking indigenous architecture is also called vernacular architecture. Vernacular is a great way to describe indigenous architecture as it can include materials from the built environment, as we see in images and descriptions of slums in Brazil and Africa.

Habitat, recently updated in May 2023 since its original publication in 2017, and edited by architect Sandra Piesik, shows you the power of a dedicated publishing house in this book. It is a landmark publication signalling to every nation and people in the world to start cataloguing their vernacular before it it is lost. HABITAT can be the basis for a series of vernacular architecture books from every corner of the world.

Habitat contains over 1000 illustration, organised by the five major climate zones, covering polar, temperate, tropical, desert and continental, and more than eighty countries worldwide. The book reveals how people and cultures have adapted to their environment to make the best use of indigenous materials and construction techniques, and stresses the importance of preserving disappearing craftsmanship and local knowledge before it is too late. It is an invaluable resource document for the future generation who will shape our built environment.

Over in the Middle East we know that Hassan Fathy devoted decades of his life to building New Gourna, a model as architecture for the people. His experiment worked as a concept but did not spread as much as he would have wanted. An almost 500 pages of this book, includes the vernacular greats like Fathy, but it also serves to show the reader highly unusual and sometimes temporary structures built by tribes in the jungle, like the stilt houses of the Korowai people in New Guinea. 

What gives the book credibility is the approximate 100 authors and researchers, leaders in their fields of sustainable architecture giving an historical, climatic and materials overview to their geographical sections. If you are dealing with climates and materials you can search in the notes and bibliography according to geography, climate regions, learning more than you thought you could know about local architecture around the world.

A series of helpful essays and photos gives us a glance at how we can apply contemporary vernacular in today’s buildings, with a look at Morocco’s Technology School of Guelmim or Sabla’s Palm Leaf Shelter’s in Abu Dhabi. If I have one complaint about Habitat is that the photos are too incredible, the essays too information-filled that it makes reading the book from cover to cover an impossible task. It is the grandmother book to Lo-TEK, a book I own that covers radical indigenism in building, as the author puts it, or rather, radical ways to build using natural building materials and knowledge at hand.

Productive healthy, happy people need a roof over their heads –– one that offers an honorable, comfortable and secure place to live is something that everyone everywhere needs. If you have traveled to any desert in the Middle East or even Egypt, you will see people living in hobbled-together tin shacks, barely keeping out the freezing wind at night or the debilitating sun by day. Better-loved vernacular practices can show the people how to build better, and maintain the homes with local materials.

Don’t think this is just an idea for developing countries. The tiny home and global nomad movements in America, Europe and Canada are fuelled by economics. People don’t want to spend their lives working for the home they don’t get time to live in. People want to live not to spend their lives working.

An interview with the editor of HABITAT Sandra Piesek

Sandra Piesik is an award-winning architect, author, and scientist specialising in a diverse range of subjects from art and design to the implementation of global sustainable legislation, nature-based solutions, innovation, technology transfer, and contemporary adaptation of traditional knowledge. She is the founder of 3 ideas, an Amsterdam-based consultancy, a member of the New European Bauhaus EU initiative, an advisor to UNFCCC, and a former senior consultant to UNFCCC, UNCCD, and UN-HABITAT Global Solutions Division on territorial integration. She’s also edited a book on Arish – Palm leaf architecture. 

Here is our interview with her:

What inspired you to start this massive undertaking of cataloguing the world’s vernacular architecture.

I was invited by Thames & Hudson to edit HABITAT in London in 2012, following our previous book ‘Arish: Palm – Leaf Architecture’, which coincided with the first European Exhibition on Date Palm Leaf Architecture in the United Arab Emirates at The Royal Geographical Society in London in 2012. The genesis of understanding vernacular architecture came from my research in the UAE focused on date palm architecture and conviction that it holds solutions to some of the pressing challenges of our times.  

HABITAT seems very neutral. What is your approach with the book?

HABITAT is structured around five climate zones of the planet, based on the Köppen Geiger climate classification. We focused on the geography and ecosystems, and by doing so we provided evidence of an intrinsic relationship and co-dependency of the built environment with individual climate zones, their natural resources, and the built environment. I have to credit 143 contributors from over 50 countries and the Thames & Hudson editorial team.  

Despite your neutrality, do you have 3 favorite vernacular architects? Who are they?

Vernacular architecture is ‘architecture without architects’ in other words indigenous peoples of the past were all architects creating bio-design masterpieces based on one fundamental skill: their capacity to observe nature.  My favorite case studies are from Bolivia, where Chipaya indigenous peoples worked as civil engineers at the regional scale redirecting rivers and intervening in the ecology of the salt flats in Bolivia, vernacular architecture there is a by-product of environmental activities. In China, Kam communities embraced agroforestry, and their spectacular drum towers as well as timber architecture reflect the regional bioeconomy. I must also mention Liwa Oasis in the United Arab Emirates and a date palm leaf architecture by Bedouin tribes of the Rub Al Khali desert, whom I had the privilege to meet in person. 

We created an online exhibition: ‘HABITAT Embracing Change in the post-2030 Future’  in collaboration with G-STIC and all three case studies are mentioned there as well in addition to HABITAT. 

What are the biggest lessons architecture students can take from this book?

The intrinsic relationship and interconnectedness of the built environment with its natural ecosystems and climate zones. Contextualization of architecture and urbanism within bio-economic activities, giving birth to bio-circular economy and bioregional approaches 12,000 years ago. Frugal innovation derived from the observation of nature and shaping an identity of the place through ornamentation and design. 

We see catastrophic situations for refugees and migrants around the world. In Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan. What kinds of projects could scale quickly to get decent and local housing for people in a crisis? Do you have any thoughts for architects building shelter? 

The fundamental issue here is to bring geography to the discussion on climate change, which has been absent in recent years. Understanding the interconnectedness between climate change, agriculture, provision of jobs, and livelihood strategies would reduce migration and allow for holistic approaches.  The demand for emergency accommodation is increasing all over the world. Cities like New York work within the existing urban fabric, historically the Gulf basin cities provided accommodation for the refugees in the peri-urban areas and what is needed are livelihood strategies in addition to housing alone, as well as a socio-economic mix to building shelters. 

What would you like to see less of in architecture? 

De-globalization and de-westernisation of architecture will lead us to new bio-regional models of urbanism which the planet and its peoples desperately need.  Narrow and sectorial approaches to the built environment limit our capacity to address the multidimensional challenges of our time, and I hope that the future will bring broader perspectives. I also think that quantitative approaches to sustainability focusing purely on metrics limit the role of architects’ qualitative and creative approaches and this is what historically we as architects had to offer. 

What would you like to see more of?

I would like to see more bio-regional initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus embracing sustainability, inclusion, and beauty adopted by various regions across the world within their own ecological, cultural, and social domains. I would like to see more of the plurality of approaches, where once again we will be able to co-create new forms of regional cultures. I hope that in 2024 and the future, we will be able to base all our actions and decisions on the positive impact we are making on nature and each other. 

About the publisher of Habitat

Thames & Hudson is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, and popular culture.

::HABITAT, $65

More Vernacular Architecture on Green Prophet

Morocco’s Hemp Solar House

Other earthen buildings in the Middle East include adobe (mud brick) houses in the Marshes of Iraq, the tallest city of Shibam in Yemen, Bam in Iran as well as the eco-friendly architecture of the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.

The Beehive Homes of Syria

Nader Khahili Homes for Palestinians 

Palm Leaf Habitat at Dubai Design week

The post The vernacular architecture book appeared first on Green Prophet.

They started during times of war when there was not enough food. Planted in lawns and in backyards. This one was planted in a bomb crater. A Victory Garden planted in a bomb crater in London. 

When a parking lot was bombed in London during World War II they planted a garden. When there was not enough food in America because the farmers were off at war, Uncle Sam told them to plant and Americans had food. Growing veggies in times of crises is not a new idea, as so-called Victory Gardens have been around ever since World War I.

Victory Gardens were popular in both world wars; and the produce grown in them not only helped to supplement war time food shortages for families, but were a great morale booster as well. And we dug up an amazing old handbook for those who might want to follow the 1943 US Government plan. 

The concept of home gardens has carried on to the present time, with both individual household garden plots as well as community garden projects such as the one I have been involved in for over a year now.

In my small 8×5 foot plot I grew large quantities of tomatoes, peppers, string beans, eggplant and other veggies like lettuce, kohlrabi and herbs like mint, lemon grass, parsley and thyme. You can also do this on your windowsill or at home, and here is a great list of medicinal herbs to start with. 

In fact, so much was produced last summer in my little plot that a lot of veggies were given away to family, friends and even neighbors.

This small plot is now producing winter varieties conducive to the milder winter climate found in Israel. These include kale, Swiss chard, various herbs, carrots, cabbage and broccoli. 

With the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) world pandemic crises now ravaging most countries, securing ample food supplies is turning out to be as serious as contracting the virus itself. As supplies of fresh vegetable produce become difficult to obtain, largely due to disruptions in supply lines, having a small Victory Garden is again making a lot of sense as it did for our grandparents during WWII. 

There is only one small problem, however. The continual increase of people becoming infected by the virus and the resulting stay-at-home directives by governmental authorities is now preventing amateur farmers from working their garden plots; especially at a time when these fresh organic veggies and herbs are needed most.  

Hopefully, the self-quarantine orders will ease soon, so we can plant our Spring and Summer crops. As I experienced last year, there’s nothing better and healthier than freshly picked garden veggies from one’s own plot. The rewards speak for themselves, as it did for our grandparents more than 70 years ago. In the meanwhile, if you can, dig in and get growing the old fashioned way. 

Download the Victory Garden Handbook here (links to PDF).

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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 – dollar bills, that is. But the builders can bring environmental considerations to the forefront. Sustainable building is the way of the future, and they know it. Here are a carefully curated list  of 3 Arab architects or engineers who champion sustainability in their work, and who need recognition.

1. Raya Ani 

Raya Ani was born in Washington, D.C. but spent most of her life in Iraq near her family. She operates out of the studio she founded in 2012: RAW-NYC, based both in New York City and Dubai. For the Aspire Sports Complex in Doha, Qatar, her company won Leisure Project of the Year at the 2014 Middle East Architect Awards.

The arena is still under construction, but it will include two soccer fields, a private entertainment venue, sports store, café, and more. It’s an enclosed space, but it evokes the feeling of being outside, with its light-filtering roofs, stretches of lush green, and landscaping techniques to promote fresh air.

The aesthetics of the facility were inspired by the makeup of a tree – its interwoven branches being the main motif. In the desert heat, evaporative cooling will chill the indoor air, and the Solar Ivy on the exterior will conserve energy.

More of Ani’s architectural genius can be found in plans for the Mesopotamian marshes of southern Iraq, which Green Prophet covered here, and for Bawadi Park in Dubai. To top it off, this savvy designer does more than just architecture. Visit her page to see all her fascinating projects.

2. Kourosh Hajizadeh

Named Architect of the Year at the Middle East Architect Awards in 2013, Mr. Hajizadeh proved his merit even further when he laid down plans for Jordan Tower. It’s his work featured at the very top of this article.

As Principal Architect of Hajizadeh & Associates, he places much emphasis on sustainability, and the goal for Jordan Tower was to create the tallest green spot in Tehran – a city lacking in green spaces. High-rise construction is maximized land usage in urban centers – capital cities, especially.

This sky-high beauty will display what appear to be hanging gardens in interlocking cages suspended from the exterior. This design is remarkably similar to “The Terraces” set up for Beirut, except it provisions more greenery. Furthermore, mirrors will be placed on the building close to street level in order to multiply the green vision to passersby.

3. Ammar Khammash

This Jordanian superstar architect has improved his home country – with more projects than one. The repertoire of Khammash Architects includes Wild Jordan, a restaurant and market; Darat al Funun, an arts and cultural center; and, most notably, Feynan Eco Lodge, the unbeatable retreat in the Dana Biosphere Reserve (which I visited while travelling in Jordan!).

With degrees in architecture and ethnoarchaeology, Mr. Khammash is Jordan’s leader in designing or renovating spaces so that they include uber modern amenities and style but are historically relevant.

Environmental preservation is very important to him, as well; he advocates preserving the nature in and around which he works. Wild Jordan is nestled in the hills of Jabal Amman. Darat al Funun displays a restored archaeological site in its garden with pride. Feynan Eco Lodge uses the blazing desert sun for energy and refuses to antagonize the already limited water availability with aerators installed on faucets.

Mr. Khammash clearly knows how to make the best use of what he is given, and even to make those elements from the land and sky the star of his projects. He’s even done the same thing with his own home. He opted to live on the edge – literally. By building his home on a cliff overlooking Amman, he made use of what would be otherwise unused space and gets breathtaking views as a reward.

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“Through this mosque, we hope to inspire many more such eco-friendly initiatives that are in line with Dubai’s vision for a sustainable future,” Al Rais told Gulf News.

The massive mosque, which will accommodate 3,500 worshipers, aims to achieve silver certification within the American Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for green buildings. (Estidama’s Pearl Rating System – a green building rating system specific to the Gulf climate – only applies to projects in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.)

Mohammad Hassan, Investment Director at AMAF, said: “We have utilized latest green technologies…used water will be recycled and utilized in washrooms and for plant irrigation.”

The design incorporates LED lights, solar panels for exterior lighting and water heating, and energy saving taps to reduce water consumption.Sensors will control lighting and climate control systems according to prayer times and the number of occupants.

Building materials were selected based on thermal insulation performance to reduce heat transfer and to minimize the intensity of solar radiation streaming into the mosque. Exterior siteworks are underway, and the contract for granite works at the entrance of the mosque has been awarded.

Simple strategies that add up to smart building performance – something not often seen in Gulf projects where traditional energy sources are abundant and subsidized, and deep pockets can cover high operational costs.

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The first team from Israel to participate in a Solar Decathlon competition is comprised of 30 students from four leading higher learning institutes, including Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.

For this group, it was important to develop a structure that is relevant to the economic, environmental and social exigencies of the present day, which is why it is especially interesting that the students modeled their concept on a design that the ancient Israelites used.

The “4 Room Israelite House” made use of outdoor areas, such as the roof and the patio, for climate control and social interaction, according to the team’s design brief.

Then, to further enhance the project’s energy efficiency and sustainability, the team incorporated a suite of modern clean tech innovations, many of which were designed and built in Israel.

PV-integrated windows combined with a rooftop photovoltaic array and a solar thermal system will provide the home’s entire energy requirement, and heat water, while a tight envelope will ensure the lowest possible thermal loss.

Passive solar design optimizes solar gain in the winter months and reduces it in the summer to ease the cooling load. Add to this an Israeli-designed night time radiative cooling system, and the small one bedroom unit is designed to be comfortable all year round.

Great emphasis has been placed on the courtyard, which serves multiple functions: ideal for entertaining and leisure time, this space is also used for gardening. An edible wall or vertical garden should provide a decent amount of produce for the occupants, further increasing the project’s overall self-sufficiency.

Constructed with recyclable steel for easy transport, the All [e] Land home by Team Israel will be on permanent display for educational purposes once the competition in China comes to a close.

The competition runs from August 2-13, 2013.

:: Team Israel

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Zaha Hadid’s flowing architecture instantly sprung to mind when we came across Zaid Bin Talib’s design proposal for an Iraqi embassy in Oslo. Daring, futuristic, and swooping, the design appears to be influenced by Iraq’s most famous architect’s style, except the Oslo School of Architecture and Design student’s work is so much greener.

So many people rave about Zaha Hadid’s work, and with good reason. She’s a genius who constantly reinvents herself, an original.

But we can’t bring ourselves to support an Iraqi who refuses to do more for the environment through her deeply influential work, unless you count the LEED Silver SOHO Gallery Complex.

But Zaid Bin Talib? Now there’s a designer we can get behind.

The proposal for a new embassy in Norway demonstrates an environmental ethos that puts the Iraqi elder to shame, yet the budding student hasn’t compromised one inch of innovation to achieve his eco-ambitions.

One quarter of the punctured facade is covered with photovoltaic panels and 30 percent with greenery that unfurls among the undulating openings.

The energy-generating skin is complemented with high-performance glazing covering the openings, which help to ensure the building’s interior in both well-lit and ventilated.

Oriented towards the west entrance to protect against high winds and comprised of two polarized “swirls” that create a continuous, long structure, the embassy’s northern facade is closed to block out traffic noise.

Other sustainability initiatives include energy efficient lighting and passive solar design, all of which help to reduce this impressive structure’s impact on the earth. Mind you, it’s not dirt, and it’s not affordable, but it is a step in a greener direction.

Maybe this particular design won’t be realized, but it’s refreshing to know that the next generation of designers from the Middle East and North Africa are incorporating real-world issues into their work.

Now, how do we teach the old schoolers (ahem, Zaha) a few new, green tricks?

More on Zaha Hadid:

Zaha Hadid Wins Bid for Futuristic Metro Station in Riyadh

Zaha Hadid Adds Star Power to Qatar World Cup

Zaha Hadid’s Immense SOHO Gallery Complex Scoops LEED Silver

The post Student Proposes Iraq Embassy Design for Oslo a la Zaha but Greener appeared first on Green Prophet.

Update: 2020: Construction of the Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia, also known as the Kingdom Tower, has been plagued by political, economic and labour issues, with the proposed completion date of 2020 deemed unrealistic for many years now.

Boys, boys, boys, when will you learn that size doesn’t matter as much as performance? Next Azerbaijan broadcast plans to top that with their own mile-high cloud-puncher. Then Pakistan upstaged both with their own biggest building boast.

And performance brings us full circle back to Team Saudi who just commissioned the project delivery team for their kilometer-high Kingdom Tower. Even though 7 years later the project never managed to launch while the Saudi King is building Neom on the Red Sea. Is this engineering ingenuity, diversion, or architectural porn?

Actions speak louder than empty press releases. Obama may have scratched another trip to the moon, but, regrettably, the terrestrial race towards the heavens is on.

Green Prophet’s told you all about Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower. First conceived years back, geological testing commenced in 2008 for the planned one-mile-high structure. That initial engineering resulted in a down-sizing of tower height, which still bests Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

Now Kingdom Tower is off the theoretical and into production. Its staying power lies in its wider context of regional development and in the deep pockets of its owner, billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The Prince likes his things big.

The Tower is the centerpiece of an ambitious urban development project called Kingdom City, a phased construction on 2 square miles of undeveloped waterfront property near the Red Sea port city of Jeddah. Once the Tower’s erected, they’ll be multiple phases of expansion and major infrastructure works to support it all.

British-based EC Harris and Mace have hooked up to provide project, commercial and design management for the $1.2 billion development which will break ground later this year. (Construction, by Bin Laden Group, is planned to wrap up in six years.)

This team’s delivered over 100 skyscrapers including London’s Shard and Abu Dhabi’s The Landmark. Adrian Smith, the American architect behind the Burj Khalifa and New York City’s Trump Tower, is the designer.

Stack up those four skyscrapers and you could run a 5k race along their facades without ever treading on something sustainable. Despite their sky-high project price tags, they are devoid of innovative design elements that would reduce their gargantuan environmental impacts or enhance occupant safety.

Consider the waste generated, the power and water consumed, the resultant road congestion, and the devastating impact on local real estate. Consider the thousands of birds who die in collisions with the acres of tower skin (ornithologist Daniel Klem, Jr. estimates that collisions with skyscraper glass kills up to 1 billion birds a year in the United States alone). Are Jeddah emergency services equipped to handle fires a kilometer above ground? Think of the attraction for splashy acts of terror.

Then read through their project press releases. You’ll find nothing to address those previous questions, but spot a few ho-hum green features including proximity to mass transit, high performance thermal glass, and efficient plumbing fixtures. The same can be said about my little apartment which was built over 25 years ago.

Middle Eastern mega-projects tend to chase world records in terms of manly dimensions or bloated price tags. What would it take to incite project teams to hit new heights in green technologies? Buildings made from smart materials that don’t deplete already-stressed water resources, with on-site renewable energy-generation. International media would eat it up, and it would be a powerful project differentiator for all stakeholders to lay claim to, with bragging rights to the host nation.

Call me Miss Cranky, but these competitions to see whose is biggest are better suited for the locker room and not the world construction stage.

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Kinda crazy that the 1970’s can be viewed as olden times, but in the rapidly developing United Arab Emirates, thirty years represent radical transformation. Nestled in the base of the Emirate’s new World Trade Center is a marvelous modern souk (market).  A wood-screened atrium houses bright new shops and food outlets, with tiled walkways bathed in dappled sunlight.

The Souk sits atop one of the oldest developed sites in Abu Dhabi,  the former Central Market which once hosted the city’s original one-story souk, sprawled over 12 acres. That market began in the 1970’s. While the western world was doing “The Hustle”, a thousand emirati traders were hustling their traditional wares. It’s where the modern city of Abu Dhabi began.

The new Souk is worth a visit, located in central Abu Dhabi just off the Corniche.   Don’t be put off by ongoing construction.  Although upper level retailers (there are 3 stories) are still fitting out, the ground floor is alive with specialty shops selling furniture, jewellery, and clothing.

There are colorful displays evoking days gone by:  spices and incense, soaps and shawls, but this isn’t a replica of the old souk, don’t imagine Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.  Its a modern shopping mall,  but with more intimate spaces and a sensitive nod to traditional materials such as wood screening, natural skylighting, and high vaulted ceilings that allow hot air to rise above the crowds of bargain hunters.

Cafes and restaurants have been drawing nighttime crowds, and unlike the original marketplace, this one has ample underground parking.

The Souq opens its every day at 10 AM and stays open until 10 PM on weekdays, and an extra hour on weekends.

Although it doesn’t hold an Guinness-record-busting indoor aquarium, and you can’t ski in it, this newest United Arab Emirates mall in Abu Dhabi is a good place to escape the sun and summer heat. A commenter on travel site TripAdvisor warns visitors to “bring a jacket” because he found the interiors “very chilly”, but against Dubai’s backdrop of soaring glass and metal skyscrapers, The Souk is actually quite warm.

The post Abu Dhabi’s New Market “The Souq” Harkens Us Back to Disco Days appeared first on Green Prophet.

As human populations increase, finding greener ways to bury the dead are ranging from sea burials to more simple land burials such as those practiced by Jews and Muslims. Even more bizarre ways of disposing of human remains may be a green “stacking” solution, includingthose still practiced by descendents of ancient Zoroastrians in Iran.

A multi-level burial site

As ancient burial grounds come more and more under threat of being turned into apartment blocks and shopping malls   simpler and perhaps more greener ways of disposing of the dead, especially historical personalities, will become paramount in an increasingly crowded world. One such historical personality, a former king of England, Richard III, is now found buried beneath a parking lot in the English city of Leicester.

The location is said to have been that of an old friary where the king’s body was laid to rest after he was killed  defending his crown in The Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. The last of the Plantagenet line of royalty, Richard III was defeated by Henry VII of the Tudor family line of English Royalty; and the exact location of his body had been lost to historians for more than 500 years.

So are there greener burial methods that won’t result in loved ones being covered by parking lots? One solution which has been occurring in parts of Israel for nearly 10 years is known as multi-level or ” high density” burial, similar to that in mausoleums.

This method involves burying bodies in above ground compartments where as many as three or even four levels are utilized with each body placed inside a  60 by 60 by 200 cm chamber with a layer of dirt under the corpse to “reconnect” with the earth.

The vault is then hermetically sealed with a slab of marble or similar material and a silicon sealing substance. This method saves much land space over the conventional method in which as much as a dunam of land per day (1/4 acre) is used for burying bodies in the ground.

This new burial method was first introduced to the large Holon Cemetery and is now being used in several other locations as well. Many relatives of those now buried in this manner appear to be satisfied with this method; and even say that is it much cleaner and leas traumatic than the traditional method.

Israel has yet to use other methods of burial such as cremation, due largely to objections by religious groups and also due to memories of the Holocaust in which  the bodies of as many as 3 million Jews were disposed of this way by the Nazis.  While Jewish burial in Israel is not likely to involve sea burials, cremation, or Zoroastrian types of burial, the multilevel way of burial is likely to become more popular as long as respect for the dead and conditions of  modesty are observed.

As for the remains of King Richard, they will now lie in a more appropriate place than under a parking lot.

::Washington Post

Read more on greener burial practices:

Are Sea Burials Greener Than Land?

Eco Funeral? Jewish Burial Rites are Green

How Iran’s Ancient Zoroastrian Funerals are Green

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