The Heydar Aliyev Center By Zaha Hadid Architects
Vishal Khan
Jun 13, 2014
Appointed to design the architectural aspects of the Heydar Aliyev Center, Zaha Hadid Architects are a group that hails from Baku, Azerbaijan. The project was designed by architect Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu and covers an area of 101801.0 sqm.
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The Center
The Heydar Aliyev Center is expected become the primary building for the nation’s cultural programs and breaks from the rigid and often monumental Soviet architecture that is so prevalent in Baku. It aspires to express the sensibilities of Azeri culture and the optimism of a nation that looks to the future.
Plaza And Interior
Establishing a continuous, fluid relationship between its surrounding plaza and the building’s interior, the design of the Heydar Aliyev Center is one heck of a creation. The plaza is on the ground surface and is accessible to all as part of Baku’s urban fabric.
It rises to envelop an equally public interior space and define a sequence of event spaces dedicated to the collective celebration of contemporary and traditional Azeri culture.
Elaborate And Urban
Undulations, bifurcations, folds, inflections, and other elaborate formations modify this plaza surface into an architectural landscape that performs a multitude of functions. From welcoming, and embracing, to directing visitors through different levels of the interior, the building serves many purposes.
Fluid Architecture
Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the plaza is the fluidity in its in architecture, drawing inspiration from rows, grids, or sequences of columns flow to infinity like trees in a forest – a prominent aspect of historical Islamic architecture. The building blurs the conventional differentiation between architectural object and urban landscape, building envelope and urban plaza.
Patterns And Adornments
Flowing from carpets to walls in the structure is continuous calligraphic and ornamental patterns, and covers the ceilings, domes and walls. Responding to the topographic sheer drop that formerly split the site in two; the project introduces a precisely terraced landscape that establishes alternative connections and routes between public plaza, building, and underground parking.
