Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre

School of Art, Design and Architecture History and Theory 2 - 1121 Tutor : Caterina Benincasa

Deconstruction essay Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center

Submitted by Denis Alexandra Ianc U1266346 BA2 Architecture May 2014 2500 words

Introduction In this essay I'm going to talk about Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center designed by Zaha Hadid Architects," a mixture of Russian neoclassical and soviet architecture" (Zaha, 2012) that brings Azerbaijan on the map of the 21st century modern architecture.

In the first part of the essay I will present this building as the architects vision about the design, which should be understood like a relationship between the interior and exterior. The main useful source for this information was a video posted by BBC on YouTube in which Zaha Hadid Architects spoke about the process of designing this masterpiece. For the second part of my essay I researched information about the different styles mixed in this project and tried to find a definition to explain briefly each style addressed. I've been documenting from many websites but also from books like A History of Russian Architecture (1993) by WCBrumfield and Soviet architecture (1970) by A. Kopp. On the last part of the essay I am going to talk about the building's architecture in comparison to all the styles above. The functions of the building and how they relate to each other in order to create a visual impact and also how the exterior of the building merges into the landscape. Websites like www.architectsjournal.co.uk or www.architectmagazine.com helped in gathering this type of information. I will not talk about the structure of the building, the materials used or the construction steps. I will not mention what kind of technology the building has, what kind of facilities each room has either the fire accident that the building suffered after two months from the grand opening.

Multiple arguments

The centre comes out of the rigid and sometimes Soviet architecture that is very often found in Baku, trying to show the sensibilities and optimism of Azerbaijan and look to the future (Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu,2013).

The design of the Heydar Aliyev Centre can be defined as a continuous, fluid relationship between the exterior and the interior of the building. It is described as a "ground surface that rises to envelop an equally public interior space and define a sequence of event spaces". With this design, the architects succeeded in creating a building that makes it hard to notice the differences between it and " urban landscape, building envelope and urban plaza, figure and ground, interior and exterior". At first glance, to the eye of a stranger in the arts field, the building resembles a turban, or a tent, and a funny and topical similarity as Lady Gaga's hat."In this architectural composition, if the surface is the music, then the seams between the panels are the rhythm."

“We wanted to take the plaza and shape it into an architectural environment, to create a continuous flow between inside and outside, to create a certain infinity,” Hadid says. “You don’t know where it all starts and ends.”The design of the building was made to give the impression that the ground merges with the building. In the eyes of an artist this building is a part of the landscape and moreover the white envelope radiates like waves in the sun. Outdoor public space is also designed so that the circulation of the visitors can be more fluid and also to get more space for outdoor events that may occur. All functions of the building, the museum, library and conference room, along with the entrances are all covered by this envelope in a single continuous surface and creates this public common space where all rooms intersect. Also this envelope makes the interior spaces have their own identity, privacy and the same visual impact like on the outside." The soft, fluid, voluptuous direction in the practice’s work, aided by digital technology, has been taken to a new level here, and the external envelope seems to be dancing in space, guided by the lithe wrists and ankles of a limpid ballerina. This illusion of weightlessness is created by the imaginative design and construction of the external envelope and the space frame which supports it, and relies on untold investment by a powerful and determined client."(F.Mara)

ZHA took advantage of the promising site and topography to place the building at the top end.

This fact makes the Center seem like it owns the landscape alike Ceausescu's palace from Bucharest, the biggest building in Europe, except that the site's environment is much more developed, having underground parking, animated pools and a spectacular slow-motion waterfall."The question of Hadid’s response to the regional context is more complex. Having decided to commission an overseas designer, the client would hardly have expected an outcome which resembled its indigenous architecture, least of all from the pen of Zaha Hadid. Baku’s lovingly conserved building stock combines Islamic and Western European architecture, along with additions from the Stalin and Khruschev eras, but, as critic and architect Joseph Giovannini has suggested, an essential reference point is the opaque, regimented, classicizing Government House, completed in 1951 and the antithesis to the democratizing Heydar Aliyev Centre."

(F.Mara, 2014) I researched the architectural styles approached to this project and I found some useful information regarding each one.

Being a part of former Soviet Union, the planning of that era influenced the architecture and urbanism of Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan from the Western coast of the Caspian Sea. But Azerbaijan started investing in modernizing Baku by developing infrastructure and architecture.

Architecture will always be in constant development as these styles that the architects have researched for this project emerged, neoclassical, Soviet and Islamic architecture. So sooner or later any style of architecture will be developed to bring modernization.

As a reference for this design, Zaha Hadid Architects looked after traditional Islamic architecture and they were inspired by curving forms and ornamental patterns. They said that the concept needs to be understood like a redevelopment of historical architecture and not like a " mimicry or a limiting adherence to the iconography of the past"(Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu,2013), they tried to create a contemporaneous interpretation of Azerbaijan culture.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

"Traces of Zaha's building, the outlines of curves can be found in more ancient surfaces, look closely and you will see in this Arabic calligraphy familiar shapes (Fig 1, Fig 2) (Baldhiker,2012). Cut before us is a line of fluid forms like Zaha's building is set in stone."

(BBC,2012)

This region has a distinctive architectural fluidity. " In historical Islamic architecture, rows, grids, or sequences of columns flow to infinity like trees in a forest, establishing non-hierarchical space. Continuous calligraphic and ornamental patterns flow from carpets to walls, walls to ceilings, ceilings to domes, establishing seamless relationships and blurring distinctions between architectural elements and the ground they inhabit."(Amy Fearson,2013)

Also Soviet architecture (Fig.3, Fig.4) was one of the styles mixed for the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre. According to Anatole Kopp (1970) in her book about Soviet architecture and City Planning "In writing of this period, Soviet architectural historians epitomize in one word: eclecticism. But if eclecticism means combining the achievements of the past and the present by choosing the elements best calculated to solve a given problem, it seems to me that this term is still overly flattering when applied to the work of the Russian architects of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."

Fig.3

Fig.4

Similarities between Soviet architecture and the design by Zaha Hadid can hardly be seen at first sight but massivity feature of this style can be seen underneath the rounded forms of Zaha's building.

Another style researched by Zaha Hadid Architects for this project was Russian neoclassicism (Fig.5). According to William Craft Brumfield (1993) in his book A history of Russian Architecture, " In the work of Rastrelli and Chevakinskii, the late baroque gave rise to some of the most distinctive monuments in the history of Russian architecture. Yet it was the neoclassical era that ultimately created the ambience of imperial Petersburg and that fashioned of Moscow an appropriate setting for the Russian nobility at the apogee of its power. The formation of the neoclassical has its obvious precedents in western Europe, particularly in France and England, and within Russia, it evolved from, as much as rejected, baroque architecture. Although the transition between the two styles produced intermediate forms combining the old and the new, there are, nonetheless, boundaries that clearly mark the displacement of the baroque by the neoclassical."

"Neoclassicism was welcomed as a rejection of the 'disorder' of the late baroque, and a reaffirmation of the principles of the reason expressed in the philosophy and the architecture of antiquity."

(W.C.Brumfield,1993) Fig.5

Eventually all these styles were combined to create a brand eclecticism Zaha Hadid. She took from each style the best suitable characteristics to achieve the end result that amazed everyone.

Simplicity is sometimes more than enough to bring originality.

The museum has a glass facade 'slightly interrupted with the sculptural inter play between the outer skin and the ground' so the interior space can have natural light during day. The topography of the site is continued even in the interior of the Centre, the museum's ground surface becomes a part of it while the mezzanine levels above are connected to the ground floor by ramps.

It also gives one a feeling of modernization, the traditional history and culture of Azerbaijan is beautifully put in value in the most minimalistic way by modern technology of the 21'st century.

On the north side of the building, for daylight control, we can find the library (Fig.6) with its own entrance. This part of the building is eight floors tall containing above the library the archive floors stacked on top of each other. The floors are connected by ramps that create a continuous path of circulation. The eight stores of the library are not occupied yet , they are thinking of making a restaurant to materialize the free space.

The ground floor of the library is connected to the first floor of the museum by a ramp. Also the Conference Hall is connected to the library by a bridge that creates the perfect inclination for the auditorium seating.

Fig.6

The auditorium (Fig.7) is the most appreciated part of this building.

Not simply because it is a 'rippling box created from strips of American oak, planed in situ' but also because the technique used to create such curving forms is the one applied to classic boats. The technology incorporated for the best acoustic was expertly hidden and adapted to the 21'st century.

Fig.7

Heydar Aliyev Center has become in a very short time the icon building of Azerbaijan, not only because it is in the capital city of this country but also the location of the building makes it overshadow all environment appeared as a burst of white surrounded more or less by the old traditional culture. The building rises like a white flower in the middle of a field.

In conclusion Heydar Aliyev Centre is a project in which Zaha Hadid Architects have managed to combine different styles of architecture, namely Islamic architecture, Russian neoclassicism and Soviet architecture. Although styles with some history over the years, they have been developed and brought to the level of contemporary architecture combined with 21st century technology that gives a futuristic character. Lots of people admire this masterpiece or deify it, lots of them criticize it, some don't get it or even dislike it but the building is an icon because there is a strong relationship between building design and topography. What is more interesting is that this relationship can be seen from both outside and inside the building, the best word to describe the visual impact would be fluidity. 'There are 360 degrees so why stick to one'(Z.Hadid)

Argument In the following comments I am going to talk about the common space in which the main building's room intersect. The reason I chose to talk about this particular part of the building is the fact that all the attention of a visitor focuses on the first space that welcomes one. In this case the building's hallway that connects all the spaces . All that creates the effect of minimalistic design is thought in detail to ensure the functionality of the building and of course to continue the story that begins in the outer topography.

This corridor has great access to natural light with the help of semi - reflective glass walls that defines it so the sunlight can flood into the interior. But at night the light is provided with the help of neon stripes that establish their own dynamics but also emphasizes the fluidity of the design.

Many architects criticize extravagant or futuristic design created away from the usual 90 angle, the reason is the apparition of dead spaces because of a too sharp angle (Fig.8); But here comes the power of knowledge , experience and professionalism that can help immensely in visual masking of unpleasant details .

Fig.8

Having an elaborate joint space, it was maximum exploited to create a kind of first floor mezzanine which makes it easy to visually embrace a large part of the hallway. The adjoining photo (Fig.9) represents a view from the first floor of the library to the intense activities/circulation of the ground floor.

It also gives us a new perspective of the interior.

Fig.9 This is the access ramp / staircase(Fig.10) that connects the open space and 1st floor of the library and art gallery, and the main facade window where you can see the splendid architecture of the roof's fluid membrane. This feature of the roof can be considered an impediment to the view that could be seen from this point but at second glance you can tell that this is part of the abstract design and the story whose end it is would no longer be understood or not actually exist without it.

Fig.10 At the end of the hallway that leads to the auditorium we see some of the main facade design from the east that shows undulations which seem to merge with the ground. In this part of the building the natural light doesn't have a lot of freedom but the interior space does not seem to be affected by this. Again we see the enveloping white of materiality impressively completed by the light of artificial sources incorporated in the walls.

Also, the connection between the ground floor and 1st floor is made through a ladder, obviously stylized alike the entire design of the building.

Fig.11

The hallway is the most circulated part of the building, so it is very important that this is designed with the same attention as the main rooms. And it was succeeded because the elements used in the composition developed key areas offered by the hallway. What is most interesting is that a visitor can look in any direction, there is no space similar to another at least in shape and sometimes minimalistic design or modern technology can easily capture everyone's attention. I think anyone who would visit this complex for the first time would be excited to see 'what's beyond'.

References Photographs: Heydar Aliyev Centre Retrieved from http://www.vistanature.com/heydar-aliyev-center-bakuazerbaijan/ Old city Baku Retrieved form : http://www.baldhiker.com/2012/03/17/azerbaijan-old-citybaku/azday1_1/ Heydar Aliyev Centre Retrieved from : http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/archshowcase/files/2011/11/1290_hayda_draw_02.jpg Soviet architecture. Retrieved from : http://www.wallpaper.com/galleryimages/17053554/gallery/18_Soviet-Modernism-UnknownStories.jpg Soviet architecture. Retrieved from : http://betterarchitecture.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/soviet-architecture-georgia.jpg Agriculture complex, Russia. Retrieved from : http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q112/TY214/front_2.jpg Museum of Heydar Aliyev Center. Retrieved from : http://www.worldofarchi.com/2013/07/heydar-aliyev-cultural-center-by-zaha.html Library of Heydar Aliyev Center. Retrieved from : http://www.heydar-aliyevfoundation.org/uploads/images/img_9235_slide2.jpg Auditorium of Heydar Aliyev Center. Retrieved from : http://stupiddope.com/wpcontent/uploads/2013/11/Photographs-of-Zaha-Hadids-Heydar-Aliyev-Centre-by-Helene-Binetdezeen_ss_5.jpg Interior of Heydar Aliyev Centre. Retrieved from :     

http://www.architectmagazine.com/government-projects/heydar-aliyev-culturalcenter.aspx http://www.designboom.com/architecture/zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-cultural-centershapes-azerbaijan/ http://blog.warhol.org/exhibitions/the-warhol-opens-major-exhibition-in-baku-azerbaijan/ http://www.adelto.co.uk/heydar-aliyev-center-by-zaha-hadid-part-2/zaha-hadid-heydaraliyev-center-adelto-0010/ http://archrecord.construction.com/features/2013/images/11/1311-Heydar-AliyevCulture_300px.jpg

Websites: BBC, (2013), Youtube, Retrieved from : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVJ1vfgv8TQ Heydar Aliyev Center (2012, May) Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heydar_Aliyev_Center Fearson, A. (2013). Zaha Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Centre rises from the landscape in Baku.

Retrieved from http://www.dezeen.com/2013/11/14/zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-centre-baku/.

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center Project (n.d.) Retrieved from : http://www.eicfederation.eu/media/uploads/newsletter/2013_feb_0102/diaholdinghamp.pdf C.Roux (Nov 2013). Heydar Aliyev Centre by Zaha Hadid in Baku. Retrieved from : http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/heydar-aliyev-centre-by-zaha-hadid-in-baku/6926 Project in detail (2013). Retrieved from : http://www.worldbuildingsdirectory.com/project.cfm?id=5046 F.Mara (Jan 2014) Complex culture: Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku by Zaha Hadid. Retrieved from : http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/complex-culture-heydar-aliyev-centre-baku-byzaha-hadid/8657660.article Heydar Aliyev Center (n.d) Retrieved from : http://www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/heydaraliyev-centre/ P.Cook (Dec 2013) Heydar Aliyev Centre, Baku, Zaha Hadid Architects. Retrieved from : http://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/heydar-aliyev-centre-baku-zaha-hadidarchitects/8656751.article

Books: A. Kopp (1970) Town and Revolution Soviet architecture and City Planning 1917-1935, London : Thames and Hudson LTD W.C.Brumfield (1993) A History of Russian Architecture, United States of America : Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge