Pottery has been passed on for several generations in el-Qasr, an ancient village 12 hours south of Cairo. In the medieval village el-Qasr, set at the foot of a limestone mountain in Egypt’s western desert, pottery is taken very seriously. In their book Egypt, Civilization of the Sands, Pauline and Philippe de Flers quote the […]
This beautiful solar-powered home could usher in Egypt’s period of healing, sustainably. Last year when I visited Egypt, it felt heavy. For three decades, Mubarak’s forces succeeded to subdue the once innovative Egyptian people. But in his absence, a palpable sense of hopefulness has returned. While many challenges remain, including rising temperatures, pollution, and insufficient energy […]
A multi-level tomb in Tiberias, Israel, shows how one space may house the remains of several family members. In Judaism, respectful care of human remains entails burial of the whole body – discussed in our previous post. Islam’s funeral requirements are almost identical. (See Zaufishan’s post on Moslem conventional and sea burial.) Use of land […]
Despite its numerous environmental challenges, Egypt can go green, according to Dominique Gauzin-Müller. It’s hard not to compare Dubai and Cairo – two cities that occupy many of our worried green thoughts. Although different on so many levels, one thing stands out: despite being relatively young and stroppy, Dubai is definitely the cleaner city. Sure, […]
In order to reduce their energy consumption, hundreds of buildings are being connected to Pacific Control Cloud Systems’ M2M technology. Over one hundred buildings in Dubai are latching onto Pacific Control Systems’ machine-to-machine energy efficiency technology every day. In order to combat the outside temperatures, most businesses, restaurants, and universities crank their A/C units so […]
The Managing Director of dwp design in the United Arab Emirates discusses Abu Dhabi’s future at the opening day of Interiors UAE. Abu Dhabi is in a fantastic position to design for the people, according to a leading design professional. Brian Hillesdon, the Managing Director of dwp design in the UAE discussed Dubai’s uni-fuctional building […]
Founding director of Property Development at the Masdar Initiative, Khaled Awad claims that fuel and water subsidies preclude meaningful sustainable development. Green building won’t be viable until the United Arab Emirates end water and fuel subsidies, according to Khaled Awad. The founding director of Property Development at the Masdar Initiative and co-founder of Grenea, a […]
Climatology models applied to urban planning could yield greener cities. If you have ever walked down the street in a city full of high rises and felt a sudden blast of cold air, or witnessed a swirling mass of dried leaves, chances are you experienced an artificial microclimate created by the surrounding buildings. It turns […]
An Israeli architect designed an Olympic stadium that could travel the waterways from country to host country. Every four years a new country has the honor of hosting the Olympic Games – an international event that fosters transboundary competition and good will. But such events also wreak havoc on the environment in which they are […]
Chris Turner from MNN argues that Copenhagenization is the more humble, more widely applicable approach to making cities livable, but there’s something about Masdar he didn’t think to address We spotted an excellent article over on Mother Nature Network that analyzes the fundamental philosophical differences between the Copenhagen model and Masdar City. Touted as the […]
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 […]
Middle East city planners take note: These seven steps to creating more efficient cities could literally save the world. Cities account for 80% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), 30% of which are generated in Canada and the United States. Both countries have massive sprawling cities, where the super-highway model reigns supreme. But […]
Some very good news from Egypt. The very progressive renewable energy policy spearheaded by Hassan Younis, the pre-revolution Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy will continue, post-revolution. He is one of four ministers who will stay on in the new government and will continue their good work for the new Egypt. One of the projects […]
Ramallah celebrated Palestine’s first environment festival March 19-21 2011 This past weekend, Ramallah celebrated what is believed to be Palestine’s first dedicated environment festival. Large-scale ‘green’ development has been making big news in Palestine recently. But this event was on a much more personal scale. According to organisers from community support organisation Juhoud, the Basateen […]
Hawaii has just invested $2.6 million in stimulus funds in a public private partnership in electric vehicle infrastructure planned since 2008 to help jump start the adoption of electric vehicles. Better Place, with $854,000, and Aerovironment with $820,000 were the leaders among six road-ready electric vehicle innovators to receive a share of the funding.