Contemporary symbols in the space of Baku

Elżbieta Kaczmarska


Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University; (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4271-8462

Abstract

When performing even a cursory analysis of the visual image of contemporary Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, one simply cannot ignore its ancient history, the political influence of nearby powers and the almost age-old dependence on Soviet Russia. The regaining of independence in 1991, associated with the policy of then-national leader Heydar Aliyev, stimulated the young country’s ambition to open up to the world and organise an international cultural event. The preparation for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 initiated another construction boom in the history of Baku, fuelled with petrodollars, and became an occasion to present a new vision of the capital. In the years 2007–2012, numerous new cultural, artistic and sports buildings were constructed and which are now a hallmark and symbol of contemporary Baku. One such building, which creates a new, futuristic city space and is presented in the article, is the Heydar Aliyev Centre, a centre of art and museum designed by Zaha Hadid. The author notes the creative intent, external appearance and structure of the building, as well as new means of expression in creating place-based ambience. Also noted were the use of contemporary art in the creation of attractive utilitarian spaces. Other presented buildings display the ages-old symbols of the ‘Land of Fire’ in a new way and are embedded into the contemporary panorama of the city


Keywords:

history, symbols, form, Flame Towers, construction boom, urban space, public space, contemporaneity, futuristic vision, Baku, Azerbaijan

Świętochowski T., Azerbejdżan i Rosja; Kolonializm, Islam i Narodowość w podzielonym kraju, Instytut Nauk Politycznych PAN, Warszawa 1998
  Google Scholar

Azerbejdżan. Panorama turystyczna. Przewodnik. Oficyna Wydawnicza Rewasz, Pruszków 2014.
  Google Scholar

Baku Research Institute, 2020. Available: https://bakuresearchinstitute.org [Accessed: 30 Apr 2020]
  Google Scholar

G. Melvyn et al, “Azerbaijan”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2019. Available: https://www.britannica.com/place/Azerbaijan [Accessed: 30 Apr 2020]
  Google Scholar

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Baku”, in Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 2019. Available: https://www.britannica.com/place/Baku [Accessed: 30.04.2020]
  Google Scholar

Guliyev F., Urban Planning in Baku: Who is Involved and How It Works By, 2018 [in:] Urbanization and Urban Public Policy in Baku, Caucasus Analytical Digest, No 101, 2018
  Google Scholar

Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee. Available: http://www.stat.gov.az/source/construction/?lang=en> [Accessed: 30 Apr 2020]
  Google Scholar

Zaha Hadid Architects, Heydar Aliyev Centre. Available: https://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/heydar-aliyev-centre/ [Accessed: 30 Apr 2020]
  Google Scholar

Riccardo Bianchini, Heydar Aliyev Center – Baku., 2019. Available: https://www.inexhibit.com/mymuseum/heydar-aliyev-center-baku-azerbaijan-zaha-hadid/ [Accessed: 19 Dec 2018]
  Google Scholar

Muratorplus.pl, Centrum Hejdara Alijewa w Baku, 2016. Available: https://www.muratorplus.pl/inwestycje/inwestycje-publiczne/centrum-hejdara-alijewa-w-baku-aa-yREp-sF5L-4MkQ.html [Accessed: 19 Dec 2018]
  Google Scholar

Valiyev A., “Baku’s Quest to Become a Major City: Did the Dubai Model Work?”, in Urbanization and Urban Public Policy in Baku, Caucasus Analytical Digest, no 101, 2018.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190673604.003.0011   Google Scholar

HOK, Baku Flame Towers. Available: https://www.hok.com/projects/view/baku-flame-towers/ [Accessed: 30 Apr 2020]
  Google Scholar

Darieva T., Reconfiguring a Public Place. Baku Promenade between Europe and Asia, 2011, based on Darieva T., A Remarkable Gift in a Postcolonial City: The Past and Present of Baku Promenade, in Urban Spaces after Socialism: Ethnographies of Public Places in Eurasian Cities (ed.) Tsypylma Darieva, Wolfgang Kaschuba, and Melanie Krebs, Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 2011.
  Google Scholar


Published
2020-08-28

Cited by

Kaczmarska, E. (2020) “Contemporary symbols in the space of Baku”, Budownictwo i Architektura, 19(2), pp. 121–135. doi: 10.35784/bud-arch.2166.

Authors

Elżbieta Kaczmarska 

Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts; Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University; Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4271-8462

Statistics

Abstract views: 484
PDF downloads: 329 PDF downloads: 74 PDF downloads: 19


License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Budownictwo i Architektura supports the open science program. The journal enables Open Access to their publications. Everyone can view, download and forward articles, provided that the terms of the license are respected.

Publishing of articles is possible after submitting a signed statement on the transfer of a license to the Journal.