Some advocates of eco architecture say that for preserving the urban space the higher up you build, the better. But with an astonishing amount of desert landscape all around us, in Asia, in the Middle East, Africa and even in the United States, we’re thinking – let’s showcase the buried homes, the sustainable buildings that have […]
Dom Arquitectura designed 4 Houses in Jeddah, a large city in western Saudi Arabia, where summer temperatures often surpass 109 °F. Hit the jump to find out how the studio used Islamic and passive design to keep the homes cool.
It has been more than three years since France’s Pritzker prize winning architect Jean Nouvel won the bid to design a sparkling new art museum for Abu Dhabi, and now construction on the new Louvre has finally broken ground.
Team Israel is all pumped up to show off their design skills at the upcoming 2013 international Solar Decathlon competition in China with All [e] Land – a Mediterranean net-zero prefab dwelling based on a 3,500-year-old archetypal Israeli design.
Just when thousands of expatriates were fleeing their Gulf homes during the global economic collapse four years ago, Nick Leech was moving in. He was one of the lucky ones, but that has more to do with his diverse talents than good luck. Originally from the UK, Nick first trained as an architectural and design […]
A new pavilion by A-Bureau takes back an area of downtown Bahrain overrun by traffic – even if only temporarily. Right in the midst of the worst government crackdowns in Bahrain last year, we interviewed Camille Zakharia – a talented photographer whose work has been shown all over the world. Recently he sent us images […]
This beautifully-restored adobe granary in Tunisia keeps food cool without any kind of mechanical intervention. The benefits of earth architecture have been well-documented on Green Prophet, so we were very excited to discover these wonderful adobe granaries called Ksar (Ksour is plural) on our Tunisian journey. Possibly built as early as the 12th century by […]
SOM is behind the new Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, which will feature all kinds of “retail therapy!” The 2.5 million square foot Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi will combine three state of the art hospitals in one giant, green space. Aiming for two Estidama pearls, the new center designed by […]
Netanya’s efficient new twisting tower will be powered by geothermal energy and transform this once-obscure Israeli city. We have a real soft spot for earth architecture, such as Nader Khalili’s gorgeous domes and arches fit for space, and these amazing Syrian beehive-shaped buildings that have lasted hundreds of years, but we also acknowledge the great […]
Although the massive 3,300,000 sq m King Abdullah Financial District in Riyadh will feature a variety of “green” initiatives, this is definitely sustainable architecture Saudi style. We applaud any individual or organization that seeks to green up their portfolio, and Saudi Arabia is no exception. Really, it’s difficult to blame the Kingdom’s residents for striking […]
Anyone who is interested to transition to a more sustainable way of life will benefit from Kibbutz Lotan’s comprehensive eco-guide app. Many socially and environmentally conscious citizens dream about leaving the grid for good and getting back in touch with nature, but the general lack of sustainable infrastructure and available information in the Middle East […]
Radionika Arhitekture from Croatia won an international design competition to design Instanbul’s Disaster Prevention and Education Center, which is hoped to create more public awareness about earthquakes in particular. In the last two months, two large earthquakes in Turkey claimed a total of 670 lives – deaths that might have been prevented with better disaster […]
Students from the American University of Cairo designed SLIDES – a solar-powered modular home that is slated to compete in next years Solar Decathlon, but lack of financial support could keep this groundbreaking project from being realized. When students from the American University of Cairo were accepted to compete in the 2012 Solar Decathlon design […]
Karim Rashid’s incredible Komb House exhibited in Cairo last year features the most cutting-edge eco-technologies without compromising its colorful “wow” factor! We think Egypt needs a little brightening up, and it seems that Karim Rashid agrees. The New-York based Egyptian design master presented the incredible Komb House at last year’s Le Marche exhibition in Cairo […]
This contemporary home located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem is wrapped in a Mashrabiya screen, which keeps the home nice and cool even on scorching hot days. We’ve lauded the benefits of ancient building techniques many times before. Both Hassan Fathy’s incredible mud structures in Egypt and ancient Syrian beehives are a model for sustainable design […]
Last month the Rothschild Foundation moved into a renovated dairy building situated on the Estate at Windmill Hill, in Aylesbury, England. The Rothschilds feature prominently on this news site, mostly because the family’s green superstar is involved in a host of environmentally-positive programs. We recently featured an interview with David de Rothschild, and reviewed Plastiki, […]
Contemporary architects in the Middle East revert to ancient techniques to cool and light new buildings. The earliest known Mashrabiya dates to 12th century Baghdad, Iraq. A special architectural feature that provides passive cooling both in and outside of the building, it was particularly popular in Iraq during the 1920s and 1930s. Unfortunately, the Al Rasheed […]
In an exclusive interview, Emanuel Mattutini, one of the first Foster & Partners’ Associate Partners to move to the UAE, talked to Green Prophet about Dubai’s next era of development and his new architectural firm. Dubai’s next era of development will be entirely more sane than the last, according to Italian architect Emanuele Mattutini. Formerly […]
Before we know it, the Middle Eastern sun will be hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk and kids will want to stay inside in front of televisions to escape the heat. But DI Berhard Gruber has designed a playground that is not only cool enough to play in, but also teaches kids about […]
After four years, the O-14 is finally complete, and is as righteous as it is “holey.” Dubai has been eclipsed recently by a host of exciting developments in Abu Dhabi and Qatar, the first Middle Eastern country to host the World Cup. In part, this is because the splashy Emirate was forced to adopt a […]
These beautiful Palmwood® gates at the entrance of Masdar City help keep the hot desert winds at bay. What should the gates to the world’s most talked about carbon-neutral city look like? For starters, they should be built out of a material that is sustainable, and they should blend in with Foster & Partner’s high-tech/ancient […]
Notice that there are no lush gardens? No towers of glass? This is how to build in the desert. Modern humans have always wanted to make their presence known, from the earliest cave drawings to opulent Ottoman architecture. Although we occupy but one of billions of galaxies, our ego knows no bounds. In the desert, […]
Masdar students will soon be able to take a break from their hot, clean energy studies for a workout and a swim. Despite widespread criticism leveled at its organizers (which has simmered down since reaching its zenith with a New York Times article earlier this year), the Masdar City project plods on. Still in the […]
