Lenny

Baku Flame Towers

Baku, Azerbaijan

My hometown of Baku, Azerbaijan is an ancient city - a small walled city built in the medieval period - is surrounded by a modern city that expanded in the late 19th and 20th Century. The city is a mix of architectural styles, which mostly work very well together. However recently - fueled by oil money, the city has embarked on a Dubai-inspired spree of ostentation. The city is building a grotesque complex of three skyscraper in the shape of a flame (a flame being the symbol of the city of Baku). Built on a slope, the monstrosity overshadows the entire city and sticks out like a sore thumb. I am yet to come across someone who has anything positive to say about this structure. See photo here: http://i52.tinypic.com/35cogig.jpg and here: http://i071.radikal.ru/1103/02/76ff513080a8.jpg