‘New Kaaba’: Saudi Arabia Trends Twitter, Google Over Plans to Build Giant new Building ‘Mukaab’ in Riyadh
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman recently announced his plans to build a gigantic new building a – cube – in the middle of a new city center being developed in the capital Riyadh. While announcing the ambitious project, the Crown Prince also said that he will chair the New Murabba Development Company, which aims to develop “the world’s largest modern downtown in Riyadh”.
The New Murabba project, as per an announcement by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, will feature a museum, a tech and design university, an immersive theatre and more than 80 entertainment venues.
At the center of the project will be “The Mukaab”, which translates to a cube, a mammoth 400-meter-long, wide and deep structure made up of overlapping triangular forms, in an architectural style inspired by the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. The Mukaab will be “the world’s first immersive, experiential destination,” complete with “digital and virtual technology with the latest holographic”.
However, the announcement regarding the “New Murabba Project and the Mukaab” has evoked a mixed response from Saudi Nationals. There is a huge volume of search top platforms like Google and micro-blogging sites like Twitter. While some have ridiculed “The Mukaab” over its likeness to the most important cube-like structure in Saudi Arabia – the Kaaba – considered very sacred among Muslims around the world.
During the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages, millions of Muslims from around the world come to Saudi Arabia and pray towards the building in the center of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and circumambulate the holy structure.
“Building a new Kaaba exclusively devoted to capitalism is a little too on the nose,” said Intercept reporter Murtaza Hussain. Asad Abu Khalil, an academic, tweeted, “It appears [the crown prince] is building his Kaaba. Will he enforce it as the new qibla for worshippers?”
However, it is not the first geometrically challenging grandiose project Saudi Arabia has announced in recent years. The kingdom has earlier announced to plans to build a ski resort with a folded vertical village, a 170km straight-line city, and an eight-sided city that floats on water.
There were also reports that several members of the Howeitat tribe in Saudi Arabia had been either arrested or detained for resisting eviction to make way for the megacity.
