Flame Towers ( az, Alov qüllələri) is a group of three

skyscrapers A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. The height of the tallest tower is . The three flame-shaped towers are intended to symbolize the elements of fire, and are a reference to Azerbaijan's nickname " The Land of Fire", historically rooted in a region where

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon d ...

flares emit from the ground and Zoroastrian worshippers considered flames to be a symbol of the divine (notably at the

Ateshgah of Baku , image = Jahlinmarceta baku temple.jpg , caption = , former_names = , map_type = , building_type = Ancient Syncretic (Zoroastrian/Hindu) Fire Temple, Mandir and Gurudwara , architectural_style = , str ...

and Yanar Dag). A three-flame motif also appears on the coat of arms of Baku. The three buildings (South, East and West) consist of 130 residential

apartments An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...

over 33 floors, a Fairmont

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

tower that consists of 250 rooms and 61 serviced apartments, and office blocks that provides a net 33,114 square meters of office space. In June 2014

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–19 ...

opened its first branch in Azerbaijan, located on the ground floor of the East tower of the Flame Towers.

Construction

The cost of Flame Towers was an estimated US$350 million. Construction began in 2007, with completion in 2012. HOK was the architect for the project, DIA Holdings served as the design-build contractor, and Hill International provided project management. A peer-reviewed publication in 2020 noted that the Flame Towers "...are something of a Potemkin edifice in that one of the towers houses a Fairmont Hotel while the other two are unoccupied."

Illumination

The Flame Towers are completely covered with the LED screens that display the movement of a fire visible from the farthest points of the city. The facades of the three Flame Towers function as large display screens with the use of more than 10,000 high-power LED

luminaire A light fixture (US English), light fitting (UK English), or luminaire is an electrical device containing an Lamp (electrical component), electric lamp that provides Lighting, illumination. All light fixtures have a fixture body and one or more ...

s, supplied by the

Osram Osram Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). Osram positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and t ...

subsidiary Traxon Technologies and Vetas Electric Lighting. The light show transitions from giant flames, the colours of the Azerbaijani flag, a figure waving a flag, and giant tanks of water being filled. Transition times are approximately 2 minutes.

In culture

The buildings are featured in ''

Extreme Engineering ''Extreme Engineering'' is a documentary television series that aired on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program featured futuristic and ongoing engineering projects. After ending of season 3 it airs under the ''Build It Bi ...

'', a documentary

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

that airs on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

and the

Science Channel Science Channel (often simply branded as Science; abbreviated to SCI) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel features programming focusing on science related to wilderness survival, engineering, man ...

. The episode called "Azerbaijan's Amazing Transformation" was broadcast on 22 April 2011 as part of Season 9. The Flame Towers also appeared prominently in trailers before many entries for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the with the song " Running Scared" by the duo Ell & Nikki. It was the first time Azerb ...

hosted in Baku (and, in the next 4 years, with the pre song trailer based in the singer's home area, features in the trailer before the Azerbaijan song). The towers are also a prominent landmark in the video game ''

Battlefield 4 ''Battlefield 4'' is a 2013 first-person shooter video game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released in October and November for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and is ...

'', with the first level of the single player campaign taking place in Baku. Additionally, the towers were shown frequently during coverage of the initial

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a count ...

held in Baku.

Criticism

A peer-reviewed publication in 2020 noted that the Flame Towers "...are something of a Potemkin edifice in that one of the towers houses a Fairmont Hotel while the other two are unoccupied."Alt URL
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Gallery

File:Flame Towers (July 2012).jpg, File:Coat_of_arms_of_Baku.svg

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flame Towers Buildings and structures in Baku Skyscrapers in Azerbaijan Hotel buildings completed in 2012 Office buildings completed in 2012 Residential buildings completed in 2012 Skyscraper hotels Skyscraper office buildings Residential skyscrapers Retail buildings in Azerbaijan HOK (firm) buildings Fairmont Hotels and Resorts