Architects and designers in Beirut are dreaming up ways to turn the city’s concrete jungle into a healthier environment that looks more like the hanging gardens of Babylon.

EYP Architects transform existing building “aesthetically, functionally and mechanically”

Image Credit Resolution 4 Whenever I write about the work of Resolution 4 I have to run for cover, from the complaints about showing “trophy homes for investment bankers driving a Hummer packed full of over-privileged kids.” So it is nice to be able to show one that is only 832 square feet, designed for a cheesemonger and an actress. OK, it is a second home and it is a poolhouse, but it turned out to be as much as they needed.

A calendar reminder for sustainable architecture-loving Puget Sounders: On Nov. 21, two recently completed homes designed by Coates Design Architects?—?the firm behind the Ellis Residence, the first LEED Platinum single-family home in Washington state outside of Seattle —?will be open for free public tours from noon until 3 p.m.

Photos: Matthew Hofmann Tiny homes , retrofitting old trailers into eco-friendly mobile homes are becoming more widespread as people are questioning the need for ” stuff ” and a mortgage

Photos: Naihan Li What’s in the box ? As we move from static, consumption-driven lifestyles to living with portability, flexibility and ” less is more ,” it’s fascinating to see how thoughtful design can bring this vital ethic to bear

Images: Tiago Barros In a world where everything seems to operate at hyper-speeds (often at the expense of the environment), we’re well aware of the apparent benefits behind such movements as ” slow food ” ” slow cities ” and ” slow design .” But what about “

Photos: Whole Tree Architecture Building with whole timber — as opposed to milling it down into ‘products’ — has lots of advantages, ranging from increased fire resistance (seems paradoxical but true), low embodied energy and carbon sequestration. But we’re not talking about sourcing this kind of timber from old-growth forests, but from thinner “weed” trees that are crowding out a stand of trees in the forest, or diseased trees which have fallen. To that end, a Wisconsin-based green design firm, Whole Tree Ar..

Photo: riba The Velodrome , the jewel of London’s 2012 Olympic buildings, did not win the gold in the architecture Olympics. Aka the RIBA Stirling Prize , it’s the big architecture prize in the UK. Instead Zaha Hadid won, but not for her 2012 Olympic buildin…

Photos: Studio North / Moskow Linn Architects From afar, it looks like a mini-sized yoga studio or sauna, but this translucent gem created by Boston-based Moskow Linn Architects and a group of five students is actually a chicken coop. Er, make that a “chicken chapel.” Made out of fiberglass panels and locally-harvested wood, this freestanding hen sanctuary was built as part of a hands-on workshop given on a 11..