In 2007, Zaha Hadid architects won a competition to develop the ‘Heydar Aliyev center‘ in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan, which would stand as the country’s primary building for hosting the former soviet nation’s cultural programs.
In realizing the majestic structure, Zaha Hadid has employed a sinuous geometry throughout the entirety of the design that sets it apart from the typically rigid and monumental soviet architecture that already defines Baku. historically, Islamic architecture consists of a composition of rows, grids or sequences of columns that collectively form a non-hierarchical space; while calligraphic and ornamental patterns flow from carpets and walls to ceilings to domes, establishing a seamless relationship between structural elements and the environment in which they are placed. it was the firm’s intention to take this understanding of architecture, and develop it not through mimicry or a limiting adherence to the iconography of the past, but as a contemporary interpretation of these points.
In realizing the majestic structure, Zaha Hadid has employed a sinuous geometry throughout the entirety of the design that sets it apart from the typically rigid and monumental soviet architecture that already defines Baku. historically, Islamic architecture consists of a composition of rows, grids or sequences of columns that collectively form a non-hierarchical space; while calligraphic and ornamental patterns flow from carpets and walls to ceilings to domes, establishing a seamless relationship between structural elements and the environment in which they are placed. it was the firm’s intention to take this understanding of architecture, and develop it not through mimicry or a limiting adherence to the iconography of the past, but as a contemporary interpretation of these points.