New Gourna and Egyptian Architect for Social Justice: Hassan Fathi
The ideas of Hassan Fathy, Egyptian architect whose views on sustainable architecture and social justice were scorned in his time, is inspiring modern opinions today.
Sustainable Architecture
Jordanian architect Hanna Salameh to eco-fix Jordan’s faulty towers
For five years a set of unfinished twin towers have stood watch over Amman, Jordan, construction halted – allegedly crippled by lawsuits. The filthy glass facades soar above a street-level footprint ringed by old hoarding, abandoned building material and trash. The empty skyscrapers stand in silent testimony to both the 2008 world financial crisis and […]
3 Arab architects worthy of being called sustainable builders
Green is sort of a buzzword nowadays. People will say they are going green (like Zaha Hadid), but are they as good as their word? Usually not. 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 – […]
New Israeli Cemeteries Focus on Dense Burial…and Adding Charm
High-rise necropolises offer a greener way of dense burial and a dignified appearance to comfort mourners. Having buried two loved ones in Israel myself, I know how wearisome field cemeteries are. Arriving on foot, I trudge along winding interior roads for long minutes, sweating and squinting against the glare in summer or huddling under a […]
Egypt’s Taziry Ecolodge and the Golden Age
The golden age is undergoing a quiet revival at the edge of Egypt’s western desert thanks to the Taziry eco-lodge. So much more than just a holiday destination, this peaceful resort located roughly 752 km west of Cairo at the footstep of Siwa’s Red Mountain (Adrar Azugagh) runs a camel and Arabian horse-breeding program as […]
Turkey’s Asmacati Shopping Center Replaces Green Ivy With Metal
In the Middle East and North Africa, although it’s still possible to shop in the slow, traditional way – to buy fresh food from the butchery, the dairy and the bakery – it is sadly becoming less common. This is especially true in the big cities, where people live high-flying lifestyles and prefer one-stop-shopping. Izmir […]
Green Designers’ Cloudy Thinking
Rotterdam-based architects MVRDV were smacked with a powerful backlash after unveiling their design for The Cloud, a pair of posh residential skyscrapers located in Seoul, Korea. Hovering about 300 meters above the streetscape, the towers are linked at the 27th floor by a ten-story-high girdle of cubist forms, intended to represent a pixelated “cloud“. The building […]
Curvy Desert Home Designed by Iranian Students Mimics the Snail
A team of Iranian students won a prestigious design competition with this cool desert dwelling! If you think this curvy desert dwelling looks a bit like a snail, then you definitely aren’t going crazy! Tasked by the Biomimicry Institute’s Student Design Challenge with finding solutions to every day challenges by looking to nature, Elnaz Amiri, […]
Sustainable Architecture In The Middle East – Interview with Karim Elgendy
We speak to Karim Elgendy, founder of the Middle East sustainability initiative ‘Carboun’ about what motivates his work and why green ratings for buildings aren’t a silver bullet Last month, Carboun an advocacy initiative promoting sustainability in the Middle East celebrated its second anniversary. Headed by Karim Elgendy they have certainly come a long way in very […]
Saudi Teacher Built a Funky Guesthouse Out of Recycled Materials
A retired Saudi teacher has built a now-coveted guesthouse using discarded materials from nearby construction sites. Hadram Bin Shalan was the object of neighborly scorn when he announced plans to build a guesthouse out of recycled materials in southwestern Saudi Arabia. Seven years later and the former science teacher earns a healthy sum each time […]
13 Principles of Sustainable Architecture From Nader Khalili Student
Designed by Hassan Fathy, the Akil Sami House in Egypt is a fairly recent example of earth architecture that is both beautiful and functional. If the architecture mentor is successful, his or her student will first absorb and then build upon their lessons until they eventually supersede the original teachings with new knowledge. Certainly this […]
Ramot Polin: Crazy Israeli Architecture Gone Terribly Wrong
A hastily constructed building in Israel designed in 1972 seemed like a good idea at a time, but now it has evolved into a bizarre eyesore and a sanctuary for the country’s Orthodox Jews. We’ve seen many funky buildings on Green Prophet, including Moshe Safdie’s famous Habitat ’67 and beehive shaped architecture in Syria, but the […]
Nader Khalili Built Earth Buildings Fit for Space
If Hassan Fathy is the father of sustainable architecture, then Nader Khalili must be his close cousin.
Yemen’s Manhattan of the Desert Boasts 400 Habitable Clay Towers
If you have lost faith in earth architecture, take note: Yemen’s Manhattan of the desert boasts 400 habitable clay towers! Yemen has a UNESCO World Heritage Site secret, but it’s not so well-kept anymore. One of the most impressive examples of earth architecture that has survived for hundreds of years, the Shibam district in Hadramaut […]
Micro-Financed Straw Houses For Pakistan Are Quake-Proof
Environmentally-friendly designed straw bale houses are energy efficient and earthquake resistant. Pakistan's poorest groups rebuild lives through Pakistan Straw Bale and Appropriate Building (PAKSBAB) micro-financed project.
Rothschild Foundation Moves To Greener Windmill Hill
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, […]
Cool Kuwaiti Home Foils Peeping Toms
This beautiful home has loads of secret hiding spots and stays cool in the desert heat. Traditionally, Arabic homes huddle together in order to create shade. This is a great technique to keep desert buildings nice and cool, but it’s not so great for foiling peeping Toms and Tamis. AGi Architects struck the perfect balance […]
Egypt Starts Over With Two New Cairos
Two city extensions East and West of Cairo are each expected to accommodate 2.5 million people within the next 10 years. Cairo feels and looks like an apocalypse zone. When I last traveled through the city, small children huddled in dirty doorways, a bloody-faced man groveled on the ground looking for money, and trash piled […]
Beirut Is Getting Its First Green-Roofed Tower
Foster & Partners broke ground on their first project in Lebanon. This new tower will also be the first in Beirut to have green roofs. The 3Beirut tower in Lebanon will be the first Foster & Partners development in that country. As fans of something a little more earthy, like the mud brick building entrusted […]
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 […]
Mashrabiya: 12th Century Light & Cooling For Lebanon’s USJ Campus
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 […]
Serene Japanese-Styled Heiku Resort Lies At The Foot Of Mt. Gilboa
This Japanese-style resort and spa attempts to add value to, rather than subdue, its natural surroundings. My stepmother always says about life that there is no such thing as perfect, that there are only degrees of imperfection. So it is with green building. Foster & Partners are among the world’s most evolved architectural firms, but […]
Foster + Partners Finish Gorgeous Green Building In Morocco
This beautiful dome-building from Foster & Partners is the first building the firm has completed in Africa. We haven’t always loved Foster & Partners developments in the Middle East. Although they are visually spectacular, we often wonder at the true sustainability of buildings that cost millions of dollars to construct. But the first of three […]
Dodeca Architects’ Temple Of Light Infuses Love And Healing
This beautiful temple of light creates a subliminal healing effect for distraught visitors as soon as they enter its doors. Goodness knows we could use a little healing. Japanese residents are faced with a potential nuclear meltdown, the consequences of which are almost too horrible to imagine. Libyans are experiencing untold suffering as one man […]