Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum
Franz Janz · Baku, Azerbaijan · 2014
The Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum’s current building is shaped as a giant rolled carpet along Baku’s waterfront boulevard. Franz Janz uses the literal object-reference to give the museum an immediately recognizable public identity, while galleries curve through the elongated volume around collections devoted to Azerbaijani carpet weaving and applied arts. The building’s exterior is deliberately representational rather than abstract, making the collection itself the architectural motif. Opened in 2014, it is a distinctive example of contemporary museum architecture and of Baku’s investment in highly symbolic cultural buildings.