The city of Astana, Kazakhstan has some amazing architecture. Kazakhstan was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and declared its independence in 1991. The city of Astana used to be a small settlement named Akmoly.
In 1998, the city was renamed Astana, which means “capital” in the Kazakh language and, as the name suggests, it became the capital city of Kazakhstan. It is a planned, purpose built city. With the separation from the USSR, one of the goals was to provide a fresh start for the country away from the former capital and largest city, Almaty, and away from the Soviet architecture in Almaty. The layout of the city was designed by renowned architect Kisho Kurokawa and many of the buildings in Astana are the work of other world-famous architects.
We stayed at the Marriott Astana at one end of Nurzhol Boulevard. The boulevard is a pedestrian area and is home to many, but not all, of the spectacular buildings in the city. The great thing about our stay is that we used points for our week there, so it was no money out of pocket. It was a tremendous value since it was a Marriott Category 2 hotel and only required 10,000 points per night. At the time we visited, Expo 2017 and the Eurasian Film Festival were going on and rooms were going for $400 USD per night. Check out a couple of my previous posts on how I accumulated 1.6 million airline and hotel points before retiring and how to get and use those points http://ournomadicexperience.com/introduction-to-points-hacking/ http://ournomadicexperience.com/over-million-hotel-airline-points-year/. We are also Marriott Platinum members, so we typically only had to purchase one meal per day since our status gives us access to the Executive Lounge with complimentary breakfast in the morning, heavy hor ‘d oeuvres in the evening, and snacks and drinks during the day. See my post http://ournomadicexperience.com/get-elite-hotel-status-quickly/ to see how you can get elite hotel status quickly and enjoy these perks.
Since Nurzhol Boulevard was right across the street from the Marriott, we explored one day on our own. I ran along the boulevard for my long run on the weekend. We also hired a guide for an architecture tour that also included many buildings on the boulevard. The guide we used was very good and gave us some local insights that I don’t think you could find on the internet.
Not only is the architecture very new and interesting, almost all of the buildings we saw had some symbolism related to Kazakhstan history, folklore and national symbols.
The architecture of the Marriott is not that amazing, but it made a great home base to explore Astana
The Khan Shatyr shopping mall was designed by famous British architect Norman Foster. It features a large, translucent tent-like roof suspended by cables. The Kazakh people are historically nomads who lived for part of the year in tents or yurts. The tent-like design represents this historical significance. The tent is 150 meters high (500 feet) and the base covers 140,000 square meters (35 acres)
Inside the shopping mall are hundreds of stores and restaurants, an amusement park, and a water park with a sand beach
Across the street from the shopping mall is the I Love Astana sign. I tried to wait until there were no people in front of it before taking a picture, but it is a pretty popular photo spot.
The Opera House seats 1250 people. I hear it is beautiful inside, we did not get a chance to see the interior
The Horseshoe and Wheel fountain represents the importance of horses to the history of Kazakhstan. Not only were horses an important method of transportation, but horse meat and fermented mare’s milk are still common food items today.
This building is known as the Lighter Building because people think it looks like a cigarette lighter. The hilarious part is that the building actually caught on fire, twice, after it was completed.
The Railway Building is the headquarters for the national railway company. A large video screen at the front of the building shows videos and advertisements for the railway. The building is supposed to represent a train on train tracks. Rotate the photo clockwise 90 degrees. Can you see the train?
The Emerald Towers is an office building designed to look like blowing indigenous prairie grass. Some people think it looks like a book with the pages opening. Others call it the Drunk Man building due to the leaning. The top floor extends 15 meters (50 feet) over the base
These wavy buildings are called the Northern Lights because they are supposed to look like, well, the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis
The egg shaped building is the National Archive Building. Ten stories tall
Susan getting in the Expo 2017 spirit posing with the mascots. Saule mascot symbolizes the Sun, Kuat – the power of the Earth, Moldir – pure air and water. Our guide told us that all three names are very common Kazakh names. All along the boulevard are many displays and works of art. Some of them are permanent works and others are there for Expo 2017
Numerous gardens and fountains are interspersed along the boulevard
The centerpiece of the boulevard is the Bayterek tower. It represents a folktale about the tree of life and the bird of happiness that laid its egg in the branches of a poplar tree. The viewing platform is 97 meters high representing the year 1997 when Astana was chosen as the capital of Kazakhstan
Guarding the white presidential palace with the blue dome in the background are two golden buildings representing soldiers. The tops represent soldiers helmets. Locals also call these the teapot buildings because they look kind of like teapots from the side
The Presidential Palace is the official workplace of the President of Kazakhstan. Parliament buildings and other government offices are in the same square
The Central Concert Hall is shaped like the petals of the flower representing the dynamism of music
The Nazarbayev Centre is named after the president of Kazakhstan, who has been president ever since the country declared Independence in 1991. The building is a research center representing an eye looking to the sun. The sun is an important aspect of Kazakh folklore
The National Museum is on Independence Square. We spent a few hours in the museum, it is quite good
The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation is an interesting building. We took a tour. The building houses a 1500 seat opera house, art displays, and government offices
The Khazret Sultan Mosque is the second largest mosque in Central Asia. It is open to visitors. Susan and I went inside with our guide. It can hold 10,000 people
The Astana Music Hall is a restaurant with a large capacity that hosts weddings, corporate events, and other activities
Although not near Nurzhol Boulevard, the Expo 2017 site includes a lot of interesting architecture. This building is the centerpiece of the Expo. At 80 meters (260 feet) in diameter, it is said to be the largest spherical building in the world.
Very interesting. Papa and I were astounded at the modern buildings in the former USSR. Was Expo 2017 on while you were there.?
Yes, Expo was on. We went for two days. It was very interesting. The theme was Future Energy – wind, solar, biomass, etc. The time we chose was to align with the Expo. We still have fond memories of Expo 86 in Vancouver. Expo 86 was quite a bit larger – 176 hectares versus 25 in Astana. 22 million visitors versus an expected 3 million in Astana. Still, it was well worth it.