AZERBAIJANI ARCHITECTURE STYLEBack to Main

Azerbaijani Architecture Today | A City of Parks

During Azerbaijan’s first oil boom, Baku became heavily industrialized and polluted, suffering from a lack of vegetation and plant life. To create green spaces in Baku, Baku oil barons the Nobel brothers imported trees from Azerbaijani cities such as Lankaran, as well as from Tbilisi and Batumi in Georgia, assembling a collection of 80,000 trees and plants that never before had been cultivated in Baku. After the beginning of Azerbaijan’s second oil boom, Baku’s parks underwent extensive renovation, and trees such as palms and baobabs were imported from different countries.
Tree lined streets and parks are now common throughout Baku.
zoom
Tree lined streets and parks are now common throughout Baku.

Danny Forster, architect and host of the Discovery Channel’s Build It Bigger television program, discusses game-changing Azerbaijani architectural project the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center and the ways in which Azerbaijan is maintaining its unique cultural history while modernizing. Sustainability is also discussed.


AZERBAIJANI Architecture

Old City BakuModern Azerbaijan is both a dynamic, progressive nation and an ancient civilization with vibrant traditions and culture. Nowhere is this combination of old and new more evident than in Azerbaijan’s built environment. For example, the architecture of Azerbaijan’s capital city, Baku, beautifully showcases this legacy. While Baku’s office buildings, apartment complexes, and glass skyscrapers mirror modern European design, ”Old City” Baku, known as  Icheri sheher,  features medieval Islamic domes, minarets, and ancient stone walls.

Azerbaijani Radio Hour


The Voice of the Karabakh Foundation, October 2, 2011. Access any of the shows of the Azerbaijani Radio Hour: The Voice of the Karabakh Foundation at www.KarabakhFoundation.org.