Tag Archives: eco-tourism

Stay in eco-friendly and sustainable luxury villas in the Red Sea

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As we start to feel all sorts of effects from climate change, we’ve become more conscious about our relationship with nature in all aspects of our lives. Well, that is, if you actually care about this planet’s future of course. Sustainable ecotourism has become a buzzword as we’re seeing all sorts of structures being built that want to have a harmonious relationship with its surroundings.

Designer: Kengo Kuma for Red Sea Global

However, we have to admit that a lot of these sustainable projects fall under the category of luxury tourism since it takes a considerable amount of money to design and construct things like these. The Ummahat AlShaykh Island project in the middle of the Red Sea is one such undertaking. The 22 islands are located in the west coast of Saudi Arabia and has several luxury tourist villas and othe structures that are designed to be eco-friendly and sustainable.

The “Land Villas” have curved roofs that are inspired by the contours of the dunes in the area and have a helical structure with a great view of the surrounding waters. To make sure that it minimizes disturbance in the environment, prefabrication is the key. They also used spruce timber and clay plaster with the roofs using natural cedar wood shingles to make it resilient against salt water and other extreme weather conditions.

The islands also have specialty restaurants located one over water and another on land, a spa, housekeeping villas, a guest jetty, and a community building for those that prefer to socialize rather than just stay in the privacy of their villas. I don’t even want to think about how much an overnight stay would cost but this is a great idea for those who can afford it and would want to have a more eco-friendly kind of vacation.

The post Stay in eco-friendly and sustainable luxury villas in the Red Sea first appeared on Yanko Design.

Former oil refinery will be turned into renewal energy park

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We’re seeing a lot of recreational places like amusement parks, public spaces, museums, etc that are looking for ways to use renewable sources of energy and to be more eco-friendly. There is also a slowly growing call to turn places that used to be major pollutants into something that can benefit mother nature as well as become places that are useful for the general public. One such place in Italy may soon be turned into a clean energy park in order to reconnect this area with the city and its neighbouring areas.

Designer: Carlo Ratti Associati (CRA)

What used to be an oil refinery in Trieste, Italy may soon become a renewal energy park and become part of a 365,000 square meter reclaimed seafront park that will be open to the public. The six former oil reservoirs in the area will be converted into tanks with water batteries and will be used to power the needs of the park. The tanks are 15 meters tall and have a capacity of 110,000 cubic meters and can turn what was once an inaccessible area into a useful public space.

The tanks will be used to store power by having seawater pumped into them and turning them into potential energy. When the power is actually needed, the stored seawater will then be turned into hydroelectric energy and consequently, they will be pumping water back into the sea. The energy needed for this whole “pumped hydroelectric” plant process uses agrivoltaics or dual-use solar panels. The elevated photovoltaic panels will be located around the urban park.

Aside from the fact that it will turn a former pollutant into an environmentally-friendly place, it will also bring Trieste into a closer relationship with the neighboring municipality of Muggia. There are other spaces like green areas, urban farms, and even an Innovation Park with a biotech research facility included inside. Hopefully we’ll see more projects like this in various cities so they can become more sustainable in the future.

The post Former oil refinery will be turned into renewal energy park first appeared on Yanko Design.