Kazakhstan New capital
Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan
ASTANA, Kazakhstan—The Khan Shatyr, the world's largest tent/shopping mall, is only the newest of the countless unique, futuristic buildings in Astana, whose bright colors and basic shapes—pyramids, spheres, cubes—make it look like the Jetsons' hometown.
There is a 200-foot-tall glass pyramid, the Palace of Peace and Harmony. The national archives are in a green egg-shaped dome, and the circus looks like a flying saucer. There is also a series of shimmering turquoise towers frequently, but incorrectly, attributed to Frank Gehry; a presidential palace modeled after the White House, only much larger and topped with a bright blue dome; and other government buildings whose unorthodox shapes have drawn comparisons to syringes and cigarette lighters.
At the center of the city is its tallest structure: Baiterek, or Independence, Tower. It consists of a huge ball nestled on top of a spiky frame reminiscent of an upturned badminton birdie. It's meant to evoke a Kazakh legend, the "Tree of Life, " where every year a sacred bird laid an egg in the crown of the tree.
Baiterek was designed by Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who maintains a remarkably personal involvement in the city's ongoing construction. He also designed a cultural center, personally judged the international competition to pick an architect for Astana's overall design, and even chose the species of tree to be used in a climate-moderating greenbelt around the city. "There's no project he doesn't participate in, " the city's head architect, Amanzhol Chikanayev, told me. "The president's brain works very hard, and he asks about very small details."
