The Sacred as Brand

Corporatization, Spectacle, and the Vertical Redevelopment of Mecca

Abstract

In 2012, the Abraj Al-Bait complex, a cluster of towers anchored by a 601-meter clock tower and a five-star hotel, opened in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, it is positioned directly across from the Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque, and within direct sightline of the Kaaba. The complex, a government-owned real estate asset, is simultaneously a luxury hotel and a shopping mall. It is also the most dominant visual object in one of the most sacred sites on earth. This paper examines how the Abraj Al-Bait complex transformed the spatial and symbolic hierarchy of Mecca.