Flame Towers light up Baku's historic skyline
Baku, September 27 (AZERTAC). CNN's "Great Buildings" showcases six of the world's leading architects.
Baku has been a citadel amidst potentially destabilizing forces for centuries, routinely blasted by gale-force winds, seismic activity and positioned near one of the world's largest and most coveted oil reserves.
But, having declared independence and with the establishment of a lucrative oil pipeline, Azerbaijan now has its sights set firmly on urban renewal in its capital.
This year, the astonishing Flame Towers project was completed by global architecture giant HOK, creating a building that developers hoped would become an icon for Baku's coastal skyline.
Texan-born Barry Hughes, Vice President of HOK, says building an "icon" is one of the most intimidating briefs for an architect.
HOK ultimately created three flame-shaped towers, clad in orange and blue-tinted glass, encircling a honeycomb-roofed podium.
This is Hughes' favorite building, although he is reluctant to take all of the credit.
"I feel guilty because I get to take a bow for the work of 150 people who worked on this project," he says.
"The client absolutely latched onto the idea of the flame, and then it became an interesting conversation about how literal that would be."
But, standing at the top of one tower shortly before the building was completed, Hughes found himself marveling at another unexpected feat.
"Rare is the place in the world where you can stand in one tower ... and have two other towers that seem to form a space that I wasn't clever enough to anticipate," he says. "Maybe I was just drunk on the accomplishment but that space up there is really magical."
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