What is special about its shape?

Flowing curves with almost no straight lines

How does the building meet the plaza?

Its surface rises smoothly from the ground

Who is it named after?

A former president of Azerbaijan

Heydar Aliyev Center Quiz: Zaha Hadid's Flowing Baku Landmark

This Heydar Aliyev Center quiz follows the white waves of Zaha Hadid's landmark in Baku. Play 10 interactive questions on Azerbaijan's capital, a building opened in 2012, curves that rise from the plaza, the absence of straight lines, its museum and auditorium, white panels over a space frame, the Design of the Year award and Hadid's Pritzker Prize.

Start Heydar Aliyev Center Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
In which city is the Heydar Aliyev Center?
Architect
Who designed the building?
Shape
What is special about its shape?
Ground
How does the building meet the plaza?
Color
What color is the outer skin?
Use
What does the building hold?
Name
Who is it named after?
Award
Which award did it win in 2014?
Pritzker
What did Zaha Hadid win in 2004?
Origin
Where was Zaha Hadid born?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: In which city is the Heydar Aliyev Center?
Answer: Baku
It is the capital of Azerbaijan.
Q2: Who designed the building?
Answer: Zaha Hadid
Her firm completed it in 2012.
Q3: What is special about its shape?
Answer: Flowing curves with almost no straight lines
It rises like a wave.
Q4: How does the building meet the plaza?
Answer: Its surface rises smoothly from the ground
Landscape and building merge.
Q5: What color is the outer skin?
Answer: White
Panels reflect the sun.
Q6: What does the building hold?
Answer: A museum, galleries and an auditorium
It hosts cultural events.
Q7: Who is it named after?
Answer: A former president of Azerbaijan
He was Heydar Aliyev.
Q8: Which award did it win in 2014?
Answer: Design of the Year
London's Design Museum gives it.
Q9: What did Zaha Hadid win in 2004?
Answer: The Pritzker Prize
She was the first woman to win it.
Q10: Where was Zaha Hadid born?
Answer: Baghdad
She studied in Beirut and London.

A Building Without Straight Lines

The Heydar Aliyev Center, completed in 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan, was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. It is named after Heydar Aliyev, a former president. Its white skin flows in waves, and its surface rises smoothly from the plaza, merging landscape and building.

The design avoids straight lines, with curved panels over a steel space frame creating a column-free interior. The center holds a museum, galleries and an auditorium and hosts cultural events. In 2014 it won Design of the Year from London's Design Museum.

Zaha Hadid was born in Baghdad and studied in Beirut and London. In 2004 she became the first woman to win the Pritzker Prize, architecture's highest honor, known for fluid, futuristic forms. She died in 2016.

What This Quiz Teaches

Architecture fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the center is
Who designed it
What makes its shape special
What it is used for
Which awards it won

Did You Know?

The interior is mostly white.
Night lighting highlights its curves.
Hadid also designed the London Aquatics Centre.
Parametric design shaped the form.
Visitors photograph it from the park.