Category Archives: Architecture

Aquila Magazine: Ancient Innovation For Modern Problems

Posted on April 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

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Here’s a sneak peek of my latest article for Aquila Magazine’s Earth Issue. It’s all about indigenous populations making the most of their ancient traditions to cope with an increasingly unpredictable climate. As well as highlighting the continued importance of ancient water tunnels (called aflaj) in Oman, I spoke to an expert on community adaption in Bangladesh about the floating gardens (called baira) which are providing a lifeline to flooded communities. There’s also a snippet on the amazing work of Hassan Fathy in Egypt…

Aquila Earth Issue

Want to read more? Well all you have to do is download (how eco is that?!) a copy of the latest Aquila Magazine here. It’s only a couple of dollars for a mag jam-packed with goodness. Go on, you know you want to!

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Climate Justice, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Food, Green, Islam, Middle East, Muslims, Water, Women

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Mudbricks and Megamalls: Architect talks Sustainability & Corruption in the Middle East

Posted on June 1, 2012 | Leave a comment

I speak to award-winning architect Salma Samar Damluji 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 ugliest places on earth. You just need look at at the sprawling mess of glass and metal in Dubai to realise that something has gone awry. Salma Samar Damluji, an Iraqi architect of 30 years says that greed and corruption is behind the fall of architecture and insists that this money rush is destroying the region’s architectural heritage one building at a time.

And no-one knows this more than Damluji. She has fought what she calls architectural recolonisation in Egypt alongside Hassan Fathy who championed mud architecture practiced by the falaheen (rural peasants) in the 197os. And she’s also worked in Yemen restoring and renovating eco-friendly mud buildings in Yemen’s Wadi Hadramout where ancient building can disappear over night.

“In Europe, countries have been able to preserve their own culture, architecture and urban heritage but the rest of the Arab world hasn’t done that,” explains Damluji. “So as a result they have no architectural heritage left – everybody is imitating Dubai which is a complete disaster. Unfortunately you see the result of it now all across the Arab region.”

One country that Damluji believes has been able to hold back the mass commercialisation of architecture is Yemen. “When I first went in 1981, there was a kingdom of architecture and there was a huge rich resource of architectural heritage. Yemen, I felt, was the last place in the Arab world that had this incredible civilisation and urban heritage that had been going on for hundreds of years. They were so developed that they were creating these amazing palaces out of mud – very modern too. I felt that there was a cause there and I felt I had to take on that cause.”

She has been visiting Yemen ever since and from 2005, the Daw‘an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation has supported her work to restore buildings in Wadi Hadramout. Another important institution has been the Cultural Emergency Response (CER) of the The Prince Claus Fund in Netherlands, which funded restoration projects in ‘Aynat and Sah following a destructive flood in the region in 2008.

Damluji’s effort to protect and preserve the mud architecture of Yemen, however, hasn’t been easy. Civil war, political in-fighting and badly mismanaged resources mean she’s had to rely on outside support to carry out any restoration and she also has to take on other projects just to make a living. And it isn’t getting any easier.

“It’s harder now than it used to be to work in Yemen as a woman because there are more people in Hadramout who are more… I wouldn’t say fundamentalist. There is a worse level of education and people are taking the girls out of school at the age of 12 to get them married and people rely on money that comes from relatives living in Saudi and the Gulf.”

“So, things are difficult but there is still an architectural scene for me to engage in and there are all these builders who I adore but the people don’t like dealing with a woman… They think that to become good Muslims they need to do what the Saudi’s do and not talk to women. I think they’ve got the wrong end of the stick.” Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, Middle East, Mosques, Muslims, Protest, Public Sphere, Women

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Hassan Fathy and Forty Years of Green Architecture

Posted on May 26, 2012 | 1 Comment


It’s forty years since Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy published his first book on working with the rural poor to build beautiful and environmentally friendly mud-brick homes back in 1946. Originally titled ‘To Build With The People’ and published in 1972, the book was later taken up by the University of Chicago Press and published with the catchier title ‘Architecture for the Poor’.

Through his work he championed decent housing for all Egyptians and especially the poorest who lived outside the cash economy. Fathy (which is pronounced ‘fat-hy’) was also keen to preserve Egypt’s particular brand of vernacular architecture which he felt worked much better the poor than the concrete matchboxes that the inhabitants of Cairo now live in.

Years later, his model village ‘New Gourna’ near Luxor is falling into disrepair. And for all its faults those who still live there want to see it better preserved. In 2010, World Monument Fund visited the village and documented all the repairs that would be needed. What’s happened since then is not so clear. I’ve emailed them asking them for an update, which I will happily share if/when I get it. Whilst the WMF were in Gourna they made this stunning little film about the village.

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Middle East, Public Sphere

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Mario Cucinella: Interview With Gaza’s Green School Architect

Posted on May 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

I speak to Mario Cucinella the architect behind Gaza’s eco schools about building under conflict, water, education and bringing hope to a desperate region

Early 2013 will see the launch of a green school which will collect rainwater and regulate internal temperature using thermal technologies. Whilst such a project would not be noteworthy in Europe, this project is coming to the energy-scarce, water-poor and conflict-ridden region of the Gaza Strip. Constructing a green building in such a region definitely comes with a whole cache of problems- it also comes with a whole load of benefits. Building green schools that save water and reduce the amount of energy needed offers huge benefits to the people of Gaza. I caught up with Mario Cucincella, the architect behind the project to find out more.

Aburawa: Looking back at the profile of your work, most of the projects you are involved in are based in Italy. How did you get involved in the scheme to bring eco schools to Gaza?

Cucinella: I got involved in this project as I was invited to a conference by the Italian government which was about the future of Palestine and how a green economy could help Palestine’s economy and encourage development. At that meeting I met with UNRWA which is the UN organisation for Palestinian refugees and we talked about presenting a project about the green buildings I had worked on in the last couple of years as they were interested in the integration between green issues and architecture.

They took me to visit refugee camps and we went to Gaza to see the schools and so I proposed to them an idea of building a different quality of school. I mean, UNRWA builds a lot of schools as they are in charge of education and health and social problems- so they build schools, hospitals and lots of other things- and there was a big programme to build one hundred schools in Gaza and they were really interested in a new style or standard of building. Well, these things grow very fast and they were excited about my proposals and I guess, here we are.

Aburawa: There has been lots of press attention around the concept of green schools- could you tell us about some of the green features of the Gaza schools?

Cucinella: Well as you know, Gaza has a real issue with access to lots of resources. So for example, water is really polluted and 40% of the population still don’t have access to potable water. There’s also significant energy blackout and so that does affect how you can run schools and hospitals. The first idea was to collect rainwater as they don’t collect rainwater and in Gaza there are between 100-600mm of water a square a year- which is not lot but it’s still free water. They also don’t recycle water so the principle is to be able to collect maximum water for the school.

The other issue is that the schools are very low quality and they are not suited to their environment. In the summer the buildings are very hot and it’s hard for children to focus on their studies when it’s 38 degrees in the classroom. So another important feature is creating a sufficient thermal mass so that energy is stored and temperature can be better regulated. These two are not very complex principles but when you put them together you get something quite special which can really improve the people’s quality of life. And that was the agenda behind these buildings.

In Gaza it is notoriously difficult to construct buildings as there are issues around the ability to bring in materials due to the blockade. How will you be working around these restrictions to make sure the schools are built? Continue reading →

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Posted in Apartheid, Architecture, climate change, Climate Justice, Development, Economy, Environment, Gaza, Green, History, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Water, Women, Youth

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Green Prophet: Solar Power In The West Bank – Green Progress Or Bad Politics?

Posted on August 2, 2011 | 1 Comment

A recent GreenProphet blog which looks at the problem with green projects that are planned for the illegal Israeli settlements. 

Around a week ago, the Israeli government announced that 10% of its renewable energy quota would be going to the West Bank. This means that literally millions (some have put the estimate at $660 million) will be heading to the territories to encourage solar, wind and biofuel energy development.

Whilst this move has been welcomed by green activists in principle, there have been concerns over the fact that solar fields will be built in the Israeli settlements of the West Bank. The continuing growth of the Jewish settlements across the West Bank is one of the most widely contested issues in the region and is considered to be a major barrier to Israel and Palestine reaching a peace deal. So does green progress outweigh these political downfalls? Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Development, Economy, Environment, Green, Green Energy, Israel, Middle East, Occupation, Water, West Bank

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An Interview With Bashar Masri- The Man Behind Palestine’s Green City

Posted on June 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

Since announcing plans to build Palestine’s first planned and green city back in 2008, the Rawabi project has faced its fair share of criticism. From political complications over using Jewish National Fund trees, concerns by environmentalists over the lack of water and waste-water management plans to threats by Israel to shut down access roads and boycotts- the project really has seen it all.

Rawabi (which means hills in Arabic) is an ambitious $800 million USD project which aims to build houses for up to 25,000 people in a location between Jerusalem and Nablus whilst respecting the environment. Despite these good intentions the Rawabi project does seems to pose more questions then it answer.

For example, how does it plan to navigate the political conflict between Israel and Palestine during construction? Does the Rawabi project really live up to its green credentials? And what do Palestinians think of the project? In a bid to get to the bottom of these questions we caught up with Bashar Masri, the man behind the Rawabi project (who is also rumoured to be one of the richest men in the Middle East) to find out more. Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Climate Justice, Copenhagen, Development, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Food, Green, Green Energy, Identity, IDF, Islam, Israel, Jerusalem, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Public Sphere, Recycling, Separation Wall, Stop the Wall, Water, West Bank, Women, Youth

Green Prophet: The Do’s and Don’ts of Green Blogging for Muslims

Posted on May 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Need some ideas to help inspire Muslims on environmental issues? Here are my ten top tips…

As much as I’d like to tell you that there is an easy and foolproof way to capture the imagination of every Muslim when talking about the environment, the reality isn’t so simple. Sadly, there’s no magic formula to dazzle every Muslim into going green or at least I haven’t found it yet! Fear not though, intrepid blogger, because there is something you can do to improve your chances of firstly tapping into a Muslim readership and secondly, encouraging them to green their way of life.

1.  Do Your Research- Whilst no one expects you to be an expert in Islamic jurisprudence, a basic understanding of Islam and Muslim culture will help you when you are blogging. Doing your research about the topic you’re discussing and referring to Green Islamic principles will show the reader that you’re serious about green Muslims and consequently they’ll take your work seriously. Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, Art, Book Review, Cartoons, Children, climate change, Climate Justice, Economy, Environment, Ethical, Fashion, Food, Green, Green Energy, History, Identity, Islam, Journalism, Middle East, Mosques, Ramadan, Recycling, Water, Women, Youth

Bedouin Women to Bring Solar Power to the Desert

Posted on March 26, 2011 | 6 Comments

I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak to the two women you see pictured above- Rifia and Seiha who are from Jordan- during their stay in India where they were training to become solar engineers. When I eventually managed to track them down (I just kept repeating ‘Jordan?’ to whoever picked up the phone at the college and it worked!), they seemed eager to speak to anyone who spoke Arabic- even if mine is a little on the dodgy side.

This March 2011, they completed their six month training and returned to Jordan to start a new life for their village. Hopefully, they willl manage to attract enough attention for a sponser to pay for the start-up costs for the solar panels- if only so that they get a chance to put their skills into practice and bring solar power to their villages in the harsh deserts of Jordan. Here’s the piece I wrote about them for Green Prophet…. Continue reading →

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Climate Justice, Development, Economy, Environment, Green, Green Energy, Identity, Jordan, Middle East, Muslims, Recycling, Water, Women, Youth

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Green Prophet: What Happened To Islam’s Environmentally Friendly Architecture?

Posted on January 20, 2011 | Leave a comment

What happened to Islam’s environmentally friendly architecture? The answer to that question is, well, in short:  it’s been slowly being replaced by brash, lavish and unsustainable architecture as typified by buildings in the Arab gulf states.  I wrote a short article on the issue for Green Prophet which was also picked up by the Guardian’s Divine Dispatches.

Many Gulf states seem in race to build the ‘most lavish’, ‘the tallest’, ‘the most expensive’ building with ecological credentials and Islamic principles of moderation taking a back seat. Even in Mecca, the centre of the Islamic faith which Muslims face when they pray, criticism were made of the latest architectural addition which came in the shape of the ‘Royal Mecca Clock Tower’. A massive building towering over the Kaaba, it appears to be nothing but a Big Ben rip-off with a massive shopping mall, a 800-room hotel as well as large prayer halls for the pilgrims. A slapdash effort has been made to incorporate Islamic architecture which amounts to nothing more than a crescent on top of a spire and Arabic numerals.

See full article which was published at Green Prophet here.

:: Image via Wolfgang Staudt on Flickr.

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Posted in Architecture, climate change, Environment, Ethical, Green, Islam, Mosques, Muslims

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Electronic Intifada: JNF plants trees to uproot Bedouin

Posted on October 25, 2010 | 1 Comment
Bedouin near al-Araqib village protest land confiscation by the State of Israel and the Jewish National Fund, April 2009. (Oren Ziv/ActiveStills

Israel has exploited the country’s natural environment for its own political ends for decades. Since 1948 olive trees have been uprooted, quarries mined, the most fertile lands taken for settlements and water illegally extracted.

However, in the Naqab (Hebraized as Negev) desert and the Galilee this ecological occupation takes on a very different form. Instead of uprooting trees, they are planted in huge numbers by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a Zionist organization setup in 1901 and which displaced Palestinians during the 1948 dispossession or Nakba, and has since planted more than 24 million trees covering more than 250,000 acres of land in the country.

Continue reading →

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Posted in Apartheid, Architecture, Climate Justice, Crime, Electronic Intifada, Environment, Green, Human Rights, Identity, IDF, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Occupation, Palestine, Protest, Public Sphere, Separation Wall, West Bank

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