The Visionary (with Hassan Fathy in Cairo)
H. Masud Taj meets Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.
mud building
Learn earthen architecture of the Middle East
This one-month training course will use Al Ain, UAE as an open-air laboratory for participants to learn practical, hands-on methods for preserving earthen buildings and archaeological sites.
Hassan Fathy’s “New Gourna” Model Village lies Shambles
In 1946 Hassan Fathy, Egypt’s Green architect, built a model village near Luxor called ‘New Gourna’ out of mud. But what happened to this stunning village? Hassan Fathy, author of Earth & Utopia is the Middle East’s father of sustainable architecture. Before it was fashionable or even fathomable, he was championing earth architecture in the […]
Remembering Hassan Fathy – Egypt’s Green Architect Of the People
Who was Hassan Fathy, the earth based architect who inspired the Middle East? Exactly forty years ago, Hassan Fathy published his groundbreaking book on community-inspired mud architecture in Egypt. To mark his book’s 40th anniversary and commemorate his green legacy, we spoke to Salma Samar Damluji who worked with Fathy in Cairo in 1975 and […]
Iraqi Mud Architect Talks Sustainability and Corruption in the Middle East (Exclusive Interview)
Award-winning architect Salma Samar Damluji speaks to GreenProphet about her mud architecture work in Yemen and why Dubai’s property development mentality is ruining the Middle East The Middle East may be a fascinating place politically but architecturally, it’s on its last legs. Years of corruption and poor governance mean it’s slowly becoming one of the […]
Iraqi Mud Architect Wins Prestigious Sustainability Award
Iraqi architect Salma Samar Damluji has won the ‘Global Award for Sustainable Architecture’ for her mud-brick renovation work in Yemen Mud. Muck. Dirt. Clay. Earth. Call it what you like – it’s the stuff of life and also of sustainable architecture. From the stunning mud mosque of Djenne in Mali to the clay tower homes […]
Permaculture & Sustainability Project Takes Off In Jordan
A permaculture garden and a mud-brick house, the Dead Sea Harmony Centre in Jordan spreads the word on sustainability William Alajalian, who was born and raised in the Dead Sea area of Ghor Mazraa, may be new to environmentalism but he is more passionate and pro-active than most campaigners. Around three years ago, his passion […]
The beehive homes of Syria
How do the Syrian beehive-shaped houses made out of mud manage to stay so cool in extreme desert conditions?
Earth Architecture All The Way To Timbuktu
South African architects chose mud as the main building material for an $8.36 million Islamic Research Institute project in Timbuktu. Using the name Timbuktu in a phrase denotes a sense of something that is far, far away. And it is. Located near the Niger River Delta in Mali, Timbuktu is the gateway to the vast […]
17 Lost Egyptian Pyramids Found With Infra Red Technology
New infrared technology allows archaeologists to zero in on buried settlements, and 1,000 tombs. Seventeen mud brick pyramids are among the buried buildings revealed by infrared imagery over the past year. Dr. Sarah Parcak from the University of Alabama in Birmingham used satellites that hover 260km above earth to photograph once thriving Egyptian settlements engulfed […]
5 Spectacular Eco Mosques Of The World – real and conceptual
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.
The cave homes of Iran
An ancient vernacular cave home from Iran