The Baku miracle

Baku, the cosmopolitan port city on the Caspian Sea, has built on its earlier role as an economic and cultural centre on the edge of the Caucasus. The city has been experiencing a renaissance since Azerbaijan gained independence in 1991, after its rise at the turn of the twentieth century during the first oil boom. Hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 brought Baku the Crystal Hall, a spectacular indoor arena at the end of the picturesque boulevard that runs along the bay. Owing to its expressive architecture and its crystalline media façade, onto which animated colour sequences can be projected, it is already regarded as a new landmark of the “City of Winds”. This book tells the story of how the Design-and-Build joint venture of ALPINE, NÜSSLI and the architects von Gerkan, Marg and partners (gmp) succeeded in completing the “Wonder of Baku” in less than a year of planning and construction time.