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I was complaining to a friend of mine a while ago that wherever you plan to buy an apartment in Beirut, and no matter how good your view over the sea or the mountains might be, it will always be ruined with the ugly rooftops all around you! They’re all crowded with rusty water tanks, satellite dishes, and even pigeon houses sometimes!

And today I came across this cool idea by Wassim Melki who is proposing to start growing trees on the rooftops of Beirut’s building to compensate for the lack of green spaces in the city.

It definitely needs lot of work to be implemented, and most importantly needs commitment and support from the municipality of Beirut which is as efficient as any governmental institution in Lebanon. That unfortunately leads us to the ugly conclusion that this project will never be destined to become a reality.

You can stay up to date with the project’s news via their Facebook page.

Via IndyACT’s blog:

“The man in the Cube” is a project organized by The League of Independent Activists – IndyACT aiming to raise global urgency on the critical dangers of global warming and to urge world leaders to take fast and effective action against climate change in Copenhagen this year.

‘The man in the cube’ (Rami Eid) represents “the last man on earth” enduring a fierce struggle for survival against climate change effects. He will be living in the a transparent cube on Ein El-Mreyseh for 3 days starting 16 October 2009.

The “last man” simulates the possibility of a dim future for mankind where we failed to act against climate change when we had the chance.

So I went last night to see that man, who’s called Rami Eid by the way, and watch how is he managing to live inside a cube (in addition to taking photos of course!).

The area in which he lives doesn’t exceed 4 square meters, with a chair, a small laptop and a connection to the internet via a MOBI device. Needless to say there was a LOT of annoying people around him, especially kids tapping on the glass and trying to make fun of him. He even reported via twitter that one guy threw a cigarette butt inside the cube!

As you will see in the photos, the water level was at around 20 centimeters, and I assume it will increase as time goes by. (simulating one of the climate change effects)

You can follow the man in the cube via his blog and twitter.