Posts under ‘International’

I attended a screening of the film Code 46 at the Barbican last week. Released back in 2003 it’s achieved something of a cult status in the past five years, especially in architectural circles. It’s directed by Michael Winterbottom (pictured far right), one of the most prolific and idiosyncratic film-makers in the UK right now.
The [...]

Here’s a latest update from the unusual domain that is the Building Forum. At times enlightening, at others infuriating. I feel like a patient on a couch while writing of my attempts to work out a modus operandi for navigating through difficult discussion. I bring you item number three in my experiences, namely a thread [...]

The International Energy Association (IEA) has said it will be almost impossible to prevent dangerous climate change above 2 degrees without extracting greenhouse gases from the air.
Two further numbers from their annual report featured on Reuters:
$3.6 trillion - the cost of decarbonising all the world’s energy production between 2010 and 2030.
$4.0 trillion - the price paid to shore up [...]

We live in strange times. For the past few weeks we’ve been waking up with some dread, expecting another depressing set of economics news, company results or political/global crises. Then comes this morning. I awoke halfway through John McCain’s concession speech then fired up the TV to watch Obama give what I’m sure will go [...]

The latest in my haphazard series of random musings on the future state of the globe.
So just how excited can we get at the prospect of the man who likes to say change entering the White House? Let’s hope he gets there in the first place.
I’m somewhat reminded of the heady days of 1997 when [...]

There wasn’t an entry on this (although there is one on the BRE). Until now. With assistance from my colleague Ed Sexton, who’s a bit of a Wikipedia nut (he recently created an entry on obscure 1990s band the Three Amigos) I’ve started the ball rolling. It’s rather pithier than the LEED entry, which probably [...]

I consider myself pretty lucky to have dodged the experience of a full blown recession during my working life. In the last one of the early 1990s I was largely drinking watered-down lager and sat on a couch in Liverpool, with not even the worry of student fees to bother my rather addled mind. So [...]

This starts by looking like an amateur green tips video, until you realise it’s the work of film stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. Rude but amusing.

Article in today’s Building Design
There are few more important places for a discussion on sustainable buildings, places and communities than Dubai. The inhabitants of the United Arab Emirates are the highest per capita carbon consumers on the planet, and when you visit, there is little to suggest this is about to change. The lack of [...]

I’ve been busy in Flickr with pictures from my Middle Eastern trip last week. Here’s a selection of them: