Heydar Aliyev Center

The Heydar Aliyev Center is a 619,000-square-foot building complex in Baku, Azerbaijan designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid and noted for its distinctive architecture and flowing, curved style that eschews sharp angles.^[1] The center is named for Heydar Aliyev, the leader of Soviet-era Azerbaijan from 1969 to 1982, and president of Azerbaijan from October 1993 to October 2003.

Design

The Center on a 20-qapik stamp for the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Baku

The Center houses a conference hall (auditorium), a gallery hall and a museum. The project is intended to play an integral role in the intellectual life of the city. Located close to the city center, the site plays a pivotal role in the redevelopment of Baku.

The Heydar Aliyev Center represents a fluid form which emerges by the folding of the landscape’s natural topography and by the wrapping of individual functions of the Center. All functions of the Center, together with entrances, are represented by folds in a single continuous surface. This fluid form gives an opportunity to connect the various cultural spaces whilst at the same time, providing each element of the Center with its own identity and privacy. As it folds inside, the skin erodes away to become an element of the interior landscape of the Center.^[2]

Heydar Aliyev Center had an official soft-opening ceremony on 10 May 2012 held by current president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.^[3]

An internationally recognized architectural work, the building of the Heydar Aliyev Center has become a signature landmark of modern Baku due to its innovative and cutting-edge design. The building was nominated for awards in 2013 at both the World Architecture Festival and the biennial Inside Festival.^[4]

In 2014, Centre won the Design Museum’s Design of the Year Award 2014 despite concerns about the site's human rights record.^[5][6] This makes Zaha Hadid the first woman to win the top prize in that competition.^[7]

In popular culture

The building was featured in Extreme Engineering, a documentary television series that airs on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The episode called "Azerbaijan's Amazing Transformation" was aired on April 22, 2011 as part of Season 9.

Ongoing activities

On June 29, 2012, the Heydar Aliyev Center held the official opening of Crans Montana Forum, attended by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili, President of Macedonia Georgi Ivanov, President of Montenegro Filip Vujanovic, as well as foreign public figures, MPs, intellectuals, and business circles.^[8]

On July 3, 2012, the Center held the ceremony of the official seeing-off of the Azerbaijani delegation to take part in the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London. The ceremony was attended by the President Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the National Olympic Committee Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva. Photo banners reflecting the Olympic movement in Azerbaijan were installed in the lobby of the Heydar Aliyev Center. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a speech at the ceremony.

On 20 July 2012, a fire started on the roof of the building at about 11:30am.^[9][10] It was quickly put out by firemen,^[11] and it was initially reported that the fire only damaged the roof of the building, leaving the interior only slightly damaged, mainly because of the water used by firemen to extinguish the fire.^[12] The fire was found to have resulted from negligence in the use of welding equipment in the roof; three Turkish contractors were subsequently charged under Azerbaijan's criminal code.^[13] The resulting damage was found to have had "grave consequences and material damage on a large scale".^[14] Subsequent to sixteen months of repairs, it was formally (re)opened on November 5, 2013.^[15]

On Nov. 2 and 3, 2013, Moscow music theater “Helikon-Opera” under the direction of People's Artist of Russia Dmitry Bertmann presented performances at the Heydar Aliyev Center. On Nov. 2, the “Helikon-Opera” presented a gala concert “The Enduring Love”, a program that included lyric songs by Marilyn Monroe, Tina Turner, Elton John, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, “The Beatles”, with “All You Need is Love”, “I believe in Love”,”Je Suis Malade”, “Only You”, “Lady in Red”, “Love me Tender” performed. On Nov.3, the artists of the theater performed the opera “Siberia” by the Italian composer Umberto Giordano staged by Dmitry Bertmann. The opera narrates the story of love between two young people, which starts at brilliant imperial St. Petersburg and ends tragically in hard labor in Siberia.^[16]

Exhibitions

“Life, Death, and Beauty”

On June 21, 2013, the Center held the opening of the exhibition of works by American artist Andy Warhol titled “Life, Death, and Beauty” supervised by Gianni Mercurio, dated for the 85th anniversary of the artist. The exhibition, taking place first ever in Azerbaijan, displayed over one hundred works by the artist, including featurettes by Warhol [15]. There were shown photos of the author, portraits of the world film, music, and fashion stars, as well as other world-renowned works, with "Flowers" "Camouflage", “The Last Supper”, “Male Hands Praying”, “Electric Chair”, etc. On August 6, the artist's birthday, Baku residents and visitors could freely visit the exhibition, which ran till September 9.^[17]

“At the turn of the century”

On October 1, 2013, the Heydar Aliyev Center held a personal exhibition of the People's Artist of Azerbaijan, vice- president of the Russian Academy of Arts Tahir Salakhov titled “At the turn of the century”. The exhibition was dated for the 85th anniversary of the artist. His great contribution to the development of the Azerbaijani fine art was highlighted at the exhibition opening. The artistic heritage of Tahir Salakhov is an integral part of the art of not only Azerbaijan, but also the entire former Soviet Union. He is recognized as one of the founders of the “severe style” in painting. The exhibition featured over 100 works by the artist, created at different times, and his works on the carpets. There are portraits of Heydar Aliyev, the composer Gara Garayev and Dmitri Shostakovich, the musician Mstislav Rostropovich, the works “Aidan”, “Morning. Absheron”,”Koroglu”, Absheron triptych – “Atyashgyah”, “The Caspian today”, “Maiden Tower”, and other well-known works of the people’s artist. The exhibition ran till November 8.^[18]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center.

• Official website
• Photos: Construction Process at Heydar Aliyev Center

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