Abstract
Architecture was and still keeps sometimes cultural and social immunity over ages; especially when building interrelates with sacred and orthodox dimensions. The spiritual and ideological powers embodying in an architectural form make it a banned area which cannot be compromised. The architectural sacredness was a salient fact embedded in ancient temples, cathedrals, and mosques. Although of sanctity of religious buildings and its urban contexts, the economic, ideological, and political conditions have changed the solemn architectural status. Neoliberalism is deemed one of the most important trends that impact on the world’s economy and policy during the last two decades. Some debaters see that neoliberalism has been justified due to the economic crisis sweeping the world among the regional alliances and capital movements in the globalization era. Governments have become disabled to control on markets and economic competitions. The poor and developing countries are seriously affected by neoliberal policies. It is strange that an oil-rich country fell into the neoliberal trap at the expense of saintliness of place. Saudi Arabia took the great number of pilgrims visiting the Grand Mosque every year as a pretext to develop the area around it without consideration to its spiritual values given to visitors. Tall buildings surrounding Kaaba have been establishing without attention to architectural and urban proportions of the major form (the Kaaba). The Kaaba has been dwarfed because of the towers surrounding it. Regrettably, the crane falling down at the Kaaba atrium revealed another type of aggression of neoliberalism against holy places. Undoubtedly, it was a shock for numerous architects, urbanists, and theorists especially those who are interested in the issue of post-professionalism. This chapter debates a new challenge of neoliberalism and post-professionalism against the status of sacred places. After brief review on the architecture of religious places in general, the Grand Holy Mosque is taken as a case study to show the impact of neoliberalism on it. A critical reading through this chapter may advocate to stop the tyranny against spiritual and valuable urban contexts.
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Notes
- 1.
The Saudi Binladen Group in charge of redevelopment in Mecca has been more than willing to comply, again given the profits that they are generating. This has come at the expense of safe and smart planning, and the Binladen Group has time and again compromised on implementing safety standards in order to cut on costs and time.
- 2.
The practice was sanctioned by former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz in 1998.
- 3.
Trying to disseminate a positive message about considering the unprivileged sector of Mecca community, the Saudi regime has recently promotes the idea of affordable housing for non-wealthy pilgrims. Yet, this remains only propaganda and theoretical slogan as there is no incentive for developers to do so given the remarkable profit margins on upscale accommodations.
- 4.
Since the late 1990s, the Saudi regime has stressed the speed of construction at the expense of everything else. And the Saudi Binladen Group in charge of redevelopment in Mecca has been more than willing to comply, again given the profits that they are generating.
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Alraouf, A.A., Hassan, A.M. (2018). Neo-liberal Policies in Islam: A Critical View on the Grand Mosque. In: Sadri, H. (eds) Neo-liberalism and the Architecture of the Post Professional Era. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76267-8_11
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