Kaaba Minbar – Mecca
The ornamental design for the Kaaba minbar was produced by Jay Bonner in the same pan-Islamic style that he originally developed for the Sliding Domes at the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina. This white marble for this minbar is from Macedonia, and was hand carved by the finest Muslim stone workers in Ajmer, India. The floral panels are of two types: high relief, and pierced. The high relief panels include inlaid Persian turquoise stones set in gold plated bezels. The floral elements in the pierced panels are designed so that they have optimum contact with one another; thus providing greater structural integrity to each pierced panel. The Kaaba minbar is mechanized so that it can be easily removed from the Kaaba courtyard during the Hajj; thereby avoiding potential accidents among the throng of circumambulating pilgrims.
Completed in 2002.