North Baku · Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects · Design of the Year 2014
The Heydar Aliyev Center is an architectural masterpiece by the late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, who won the Design of the Year prize from London's Design Museum for this building in 2014 — an honor she considered one of the greatest of her career. The building is defined by its flowing white surface with no sharp corners or straight lines — entirely unusual for a building of its scale.
Inside, the center houses a museum of Azerbaijani cultural history, concert halls, exhibition spaces, and galleries covering everything from prehistoric artifacts to modern art. The permanent collection traces Azerbaijan's story across 5,000 years.