Archinect - News

Saudi Arabia’s new high-speed rail ferries Hajj pilgrims for the first time

2019-08-12T14:00:00-04:00

High-speed rail service will be available for the first time this year during Hajj, the pilgrimage by Muslims to Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca. Some of the millions of pilgrims expected to make the journey will be riding Haramain High Speed Rail, which links Mecca to Medina and passes through three stations: Jeddah, King Abdul Aziz International Airport and King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh.

The route's four larger-than-life train stations are designed by Foster + Partners and BuroHappold as international gateways for each host city, and are based on traditional and ancient design motifs that prioritize the creation of breezy spaces that are protected from the sun.

Foster + Partners to Build a New Luxury Hotel and Apartment Complex in Makkah

2017-01-30T13:08:00-05:00

Foster + Partners are set to build another major project in the Gulf. The firm just announced that they won the Jabal Omar Development Project competition to build a luxury hotel and service apartments in Makkah (commonly known as Mecca), Saudi Arabia.

Because Makkah is the holiest city in the religion of Islam, the project must, according to the brief, respect the sacredness of its location, which is close to the Kaaba. Every year, the city triples in size as Muslims from around the world make the hajj, or holy pilgrimage to the city. The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam. In recent years, luxury accommodations like the new Foster + Partners project have, controversially, sprung up around the city to accommodate this influx of visitors.

“We are absolutely delighted to have won the competition,” states Luke Fox, Head of Studio and Senior Executive Partner at Foster + Partners. “Makkah is one of the most unique cities in the world. As the home of the Holy Kaaba—the holiest site...

Saudi Arabia's uneasy relationship with its cultural heritage of Mecca and Medina

2015-11-24T13:45:00-05:00

The systematic destruction of Saudi Arabia is under way—in silence. Historic mosques, tombs, mausoleums, monuments and houses: more than 90% of the old quarters of the holiest cities of Islam has been razed to make room for a new urban landscape of hotels, shopping centres and apartment blocks. [...] Construction works have already transformed Mecca and Medina into cities without a past, dominated by skyscrapers.

Built in 1780 and leveled in 2002 for the construction of the Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel complex, the Ottoman Ajyad Fortress is just one of many historic sites that are being destroyed and replaced by hotel towers, condo skyscrapers and parking lots.

Unchecked climate change will make the Gulf uninhabitable, claims new study

2015-10-26T21:03:00-04:00

The Gulf in the Middle East, the heartland of the global oil industry, will suffer heatwaves beyond the limit of human survival if climate change is unchecked, according to a new scientific study. The extreme heatwaves will affect Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and coastal cities in Iran as well as posing a deadly threat to millions of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, when the religious festival falls in the summer.

"The study shows the extreme heatwaves, more intense than anything ever experienced on Earth, would kick in after 2070 and that the hottest days of today would by then be a near-daily occurrence."

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More than 50 dead after crane collapses on Mecca's Grand Mosque

2015-09-11T13:33:00-04:00

At least 52 people were killed when a crane crashed in Mecca’s Grand Mosque on Friday, Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority said on its Twitter account.It said 30 people were injured. The Muslim annual Haj pilgrimage is due later this month and Saudi authorities go to great lengths to be prepared for the millions of Muslims who converge on Mecca.

X-Architects wins competition to design new Mecca master plan with focus on pedestrians

2015-05-28T14:58:00-04:00

UAE-based X-Architects has won a competition to design a new masterplan for Makkah, Saudi Arabia - the holiest city in the world for Muslims. [...] “We proposed a complex network of pedestrian routes on different levels to enhance the movement during the “Nafrah” [...] “The surrounding roads have either been bridged or tunneled so as to strengthen the pedestrian tissue. This will solve the current situation of the constant crash between people and vehicles.”

All images via X-Architects' website. Learn more about the proposal here.

In case you were looking for royal floors and helipads, you may get lucky over here: World's largest hotel under construction in Mecca — and it's worse than you thought.

World's largest hotel under construction in Mecca — and it's worse than you thought

2015-05-18T19:45:00-04:00

Abraj Kudai is to become the world's largest hotel located in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and upon completion, will offer 10,000 rooms in 12 separate towers. [...] The Saudi Binladin Group holds the main construction contract, and work on the $3.5 billion hospitality project has already started. [...] The architecture is set to create an iconic landmark that will reflect a contemporary interpretation of a traditional desert fortress.

What makes a building sacred?

2014-10-22T13:47:00-04:00

The new science of neuroaesthetics [...] tells us much about the way pure form is dealt with by the brain. [...] V S Ramachandran, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, and William Hirstein, a philosopher at Elmhurst College in Illinois, argue that we are innately attuned to recognise things as unified objects – such that we find brushstrokes or architectural features that can be mentally assembled into a coherent whole more beautiful.

Has Mecca Been Robbed of its History?

2014-10-01T11:31:00-04:00

The dominant architectural site in [Mecca] is not the Sacred Mosque, where the Kaaba, the symbolic focus of Muslims everywhere, is. It is the obnoxious Makkah Royal Clock Tower hotel, which, at 1,972 feet, is among the world’s tallest buildings. It is part of a mammoth development of skyscrapers that includes luxury shopping malls and hotels [...] The city is now surrounded by the brutalism of rectangular steel and concrete structures — an amalgam of Disneyland and Las Vegas.

Leading Saudi artist focuses on the modernisation of Mecca and Jerusalem

2014-07-30T14:30:00-04:00

The leading Saudi artist Ahmed Mater, who caused a stir with a series of photographs depicting the rampant redevelopment around Mecca, is due to take part in his first public talk in the UK at Sotheby’s London (12 August). Mater will also discuss this work in relation to other cities such as Jerusalem and Medina during the discussion, entitled “Contemporary photography and hybrid architecture”.

Mecca's mega architecture casts shadow over hajj

2012-10-26T12:45:00-04:00

Towering over Mecca, this is the world's second-tallest building – and it is just a tiny part of a voracious development that has seen historic sites bulldozed and locals forced into shantytowns.

Al.Mualla Cemetery Mural / A Matter of Life and Death

2012-05-10T13:41:00-04:00

Germany-based Egyptian architect Ahmed Al.Badawy has shared with us images of the fascinating project "Al.Mualla Cemetery Mural / A Matter of Life and Death" which won the First Prize at the First Islamic Competition for Ornamenting Makkah Al.Mukarramah (Mecca, Saudi Arabia). Next to Al.Badawy, the design team also included Ahmed Enab and Yasser Mehanna.