Mecca's new look evokes harsh criticism

Nicolai Ouroussoff writes from Jidda, Saudi Arabia:

“Just south of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, a kitsch rendition of London's Big Ben is nearing completion. Called the Royal Mecca Clock Tower, it will be one of the tallest buildings in the world, the centerpiece of a complex housing a gargantuan shopping mall, an 800-room hotel and a prayer hall for several thousand people.

“The tower is just one of many construction projects in the very center of Mecca, from train lines to a slew of luxury high-rises and hotels and a huge expansion of the Grand Mosque itself. They are reshaping Mecca's historic core in ways that many here find appalling, sparking unusually heated criticism of the authoritarian Saudi government.” (NYT Photo)

The clock tower, “an unabashed knockoff of the original, blown up to a grotesque scale, will be decorated with Arabic inscriptions and topped by a crescent-shape spire in what feels like a cynical nod to Islam's architectural past.” (NYT Photo)

It will be surrounded by a half-dozen luxury high-rises, “each designed in a similar Westminster-meets-Wall Street style.” (NYT Photo)

“Along with the giant Big Ben, there are a slew of other overscale developments — including a proposal for the planned expansion of the Grand Mosque that dwarfs the original complex.”

Left, a large area adjacent to the Grand Mosque has been cleared to allow the expansion. (NYT Photo)

Many of the hillsides surrounding the city “will soon be marred by new rail lines, roads and tunnels, while others are being carved up to make room for still more towers.”

Left, a new high-speed commuter train runs from Mecca to Medina. (NYT Photo)

There was a time when the Saudi government's architecture and urban planning efforts, especially around Mecca, were more sensitive to local traditions, Mr. Ouroussoff writes.

For example, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Hajj terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, completed in 1981, is “divided into small open-air villages, where travelers can rest and pray in the shade before continuing their journey.” (NYT Photo)

The city's current makeover “reflects a split between those who champion turbocharged capitalism and those who think it should stop at the gates of Mecca, which they see as the embodiment of an Islamic ideal of egalitarianism.”

“It is the one place where we find balance,” said Sami Angawi, a Saudi architect who has been one of the development's most vocal critics. “You are supposed to leave worldly things behind you.” (NYT Photo)