Paradise Has Many Gates

Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem

PARADISE HAS MANY GATES

Ajlan Gharem

AREA
30 M²

 PHOTOGRAPHS
Ajlan Gharem

CATEGORY
Installation, Temporary Installations

YEAR
2015

LOCATION
Saudi Arabia

Text description provided by architect.

Paradise Has Many Gates is Ajlan Gharem’s first installation work - a 10 x 6.5-meter mosque constructed from industrial steel.

Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem
Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem

While true to the design and function of a traditional Islamic place of worship, Ajlan’s mosque is built from the same cage-like material that Western countries use to erect fences along their borders, preventing refugees and illegal immigrants from entering.

Along with the installation, the work includes a video of the artist and other construction workers building the mosque in the desert outside Riyadh, staging a prayer performance, and then de-installing it.

Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem
Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem

Evoking feelings of imprisonment and anxiousness by way of its caged structure, while also representing Muslims' center of prayer, this mosque invites all visitors, Muslim and non- Muslim alike, to question how we designate and behave within sacred spaces, and how their meaning will differ between generations and cultures.


Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem
Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem
Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem
Paradise Has Many Gates
© Ajlan Gharem


Paradise Has Many Gates
Sketches
Paradise Has Many Gates
Sketches
Paradise Has Many Gates
Diagram

Paradise Has Many Gates
Dome Diagram
Paradise Has Many Gates
Diagram
Paradise Has Many Gates
Diagram


Paradise Has Many Gates
Development Diagram