The Heydar Aliyev Center is one of those buildings that stops you mid-sentence. Designed by Zaha Hadid and completed in 2012, its undulating white curves seem to defy both gravity and right angles, rising from the flatlands of Baku like a frozen wave. It was named after Azerbaijan's longest-serving president and has since become the defining symbol of modern Baku — a city that has spent the post-Soviet decades aggressively rewriting its own image on the world stage. The center houses a museum dedicated to Azerbaijani history and culture, rotating contemporary art exhibitions, and a conference hall, but most visitors come as much for the architecture as for anything inside.
Museum