Practical aspects determining the modelling of the space structure for the free-form envelope enclosing Baku's Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre

Abstract

Zaha Hadid Architects designed a complex free-form envelope to house the new Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. The cultural centre comprises a library, an auditorium and a museum together with other complementary facilities. The architectural space envelope is double layered, that is, it consists of an external and an internal skin with a variable distance in between. A special requirement for the appearance of the cladding panels is the paths of their intermediate joints, which visibly run parallel in one direction, thus accentuating the smoothness of the surface and suggesting a natural flow. The present paper discusses and illustrates how visual, architectural and constructional requirements posed very demanding conditions for designing and modelling the MERO-TSK space structure, which is the actual structural system not only supporting the space envelopes, but a convenient form-giving construction basis to materialise their cladding surfaces.