Saudi Arabia isn’t well known for its architectural subtlety, but Gerber Architekten’s renovation of the King Fahad National Library in Riyadh suggests that the Kingdom may be open to a new approach.
With a plan to take to the streets with cuddles, the police decided it was better to arrest a Saudi man and his friend before their “plot” to give out free hugs began.
Saudi Arabian investment in 76 new environmentally savvy construction projects is estimated to exceed $26 billion, according to Faisal Al-Fadl, Secretary General of the Saudi Green Building Forum (SGB Forum). Over half of those projects are based in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.
Public transportation is not wildly popular in Saudi Arabia since fuel is so cheap and many households have private drivers to escort them from place to place, but the government is trying to shift public perception of this mode of movement by developing a brand new metro system. And Zaha Hadid has recently won a bid […]
Famous for designing the Hoberman Sphere, Chuck Hoberman has since turned his talents to Saudi Arabia, where two luxury spas will feature his latest invention – a moving mesh facade that dapples harsh sunlight. Like giant greenhouses, each three story polygonal spa boasts a vast atrium and all manner of plants. A custom perforated skin […]
Saudi Arabia’s government has confirmed that it will develop and build a $640 million solar power plant in the holy city of Mecca. It continues the country’s recent talks of bolstering its clean energy sector and with the holy pilgrimage of Hajj beginning, the government believes this is the best time to announce the massive […]
The patriarchal kingdom of Saudi Arabia creates an all-female city where (the arguably better half) of humanity can work freely, within Islamic guidelines. Saudi Arabia has an increasingly educated female population, but its ultraconservative interpretation of Wahabi sharia law and rigid tribal customs forbid women from interacting with men. The upshot is chronic female unemployment. An […]
From urbanisation in Morocco to lake shrinkage in Iran, these shocking NASA photos prove how this region is in dramatic ecological flux. Unless you have been living in a consumer-induced coma, it will not have escaped your attention that the world is under serious environmental stress. And a large chunk of that stress has been human-induced. […]
The world’s largest solar thermal plant – nearly double the size of the original largest in Denmark – is now online in Saudi Arabia, reinforcing the notion that this Gulf country has the potential to maintain its current oil wealth by exporting solar power for the next twenty centuries. Originally awarded to Jordan’s Millennium Energy […]
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 […]
