A journey through Azerbaijan’s astonishing modern landscape
As I mentioned in my last week’s column, I flew to Azerbaijan not knowing what to expect from a country that I barely see on TV or read about in newspapers. But the moment I disembarked from our 12-hour plane ride from Manila, I was instantly amazed by the beautiful airport terminal, and by the uniquely modern architectural designs in the office and residential buildings I passed by en route to the hotel.
Azerbaijan has a high rate of economic development and very low unemployment and one easily sees this “wealth” in Baku. The modern glass-and-steel buildings that stand out in the cityscape are testimonies to the country’s economic progress. On this page, you will see a handful of these strikingly one-of-a-kind structures that certainly awe tourists, especially those of us from Third World countries.
It is widely known that Azerbaijan’s First Lady, Mehriban Aliyev, has a hand in the designs of the newly constructed buildings in the city. She goes for ultra-modern architecture, and also for the look and feel of Paris, which explains why we see many Paris-style newspaper kiosks all over the city and Louvre-style pyramids in some metro stations. These are among the city’s outstanding edifices:
The Flame Towers are three skyscrapers that reflect the country’s nickname, “The Land of Fire.” The façade of these buildings are completely covered with LED bulbs which come alive at night, making the buildings look like dancing flames. Each of these buildings serves a different purpose – one is a luxury condominium, the other is the Fairmont Hotel, and the last one, is an office building.
The Crescent Hotel is a curved building, forming an arch, designed to look like a crescent moon which is a significant feature of the Azerbaijani flag. But the architects who designed the structure declared that they just wanted to reinvent the traditional concept of a skyscraper, thus the semi-circle design.
The Heydar Aliyev Center, where our FIA Plenary Session was held, is a masterpiece of neo-futuristic architecture. It’s a 57,500-square-meter complex designed by Zaha Hadid, a popular Iraqi-British architect who won the World Architecture’s Design of the Year Award in 2014. The structure has a distinctive fluid and curved style all over, without any angles anywhere in the entire building. Even its walls, ceilings, and steps are all curved giving one the feeling of being inside a free-flowing giant-sized cocoon.
I read somewhere that such flowing, fluid design of a large structure helps calm down frayed nerves while boosting the energy level of the people in it. No wonder my colleagues and I had such a pleasant experience while attending the conference at the Center, which is named after Azerbaijan’s former president, popularly known as the “Father of the Republic.”
The city’s Waterfront Mall is another outstanding architectural masterpiece, sitting by the edge of the bay. Its design is like a giant solitary eight-petalled rose, attracting shopaholics to the usual branded merchandise that we are all familiar with. The high glass walls allow daylight to filter through to the seven-storey atrium, highlighting its very clean and well-maintained interiors.
Aside from being a very modern city, Baku is also a city of contrasts. Old Soviet-era buildings are seen juxtaposed with the new, modern buildings, showing tourists the stark contrast between the lavishly intricate brickwork and geometrical patterns on the old buildings and the sleek, smooth, crystalline-looking glass-and-steel designs of the new ones.
As for Baku’s economy, as if to highlight the financial capabilities of its citizens, there is the presence of many ritzy boutiques right in the center of town, carrying all the French and Italian name brands we know. When I had the chance to chat with Elvin, our tour guide, I commented that in many other big cities in the world, these luxury brands are usually located in an upscale part of the city, but in Baku, they are right in the heart of downtown. He said it is simply for convenience, to make them easily accessible to a majority of the residents as they can afford to buy these luxury brands anyway.
Hearing that, there was a split second that I dreamily imagined I was an Azerbaijani and had the pocket for all the luxury brands I wanted. But I immediately recovered from my reverie and realized “I am who I am.” I love where I belong…in the occasionally frustrating, yet, forever gratifying company of similarly energized colleagues and loving family, in a third-world setting that has been and always will be Home!
Nevertheless, Baku’s innovative and pioneeringly progressive architecture is, indeed, something to marvel at. A City of the Future? We’ll see about that.
Meantime, I wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS…may your happiness be large and your bills be small…and if you can’t have a White Christmas, don’t worry. Just open a bottle of red!
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