The Holy City and Its Discontents
by Deena Fakhro
Once a year, every year, the Muslim Holy City of Makkah is momentarily flooded to breaking point by a relentless three million pilgrim-surge. As the largest gathering of people in one place at one time on Earth, the obligatory Hajj pilgrimage demands unparalleled infrastructural miracles of the humble Holy City. In response, the project strategically proposes polynodal gateway airports that disperse congestion multidirectionally within Makkahâs valleys. Furthermore, to counter the financial burden of redundant off-peak Hajj infrastructure, the gateway airports are opportunistically combined with mosque-based Islamic Universities; an airport-mosque, switching between pilgrim surges and student populations.
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