“Fantazia”Festival

Baku hosted a European festival dedicated to protecting the capital's cultural heritage for the first time, from the first to the tenth of November, 2018 Coincided with the Year of European Cultural Heritage, the event was initiated by the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, and many embassies of EU member states supported the idea The comprehensive festival program was full of seminars, film screenings, concerts, tourist tours, exhibitions, art installations, competitions, and meetings with local and international experts in Baku. Events' primary focus was on the preservation of the cultural heritage of the territory of Icheri Sheher, the Forsdtat, and the part of the city around the legendary "Fantasy" bathhouse, located on Dilyara Aliyeva Street, 114. The Fantasy Bathhouse inspired the name of the festival

"Each city is recognizable by its history, and Baku is one of the cities that is recognizable by its history. A lot of buildings have been restored in Baku, for example, the Maksud Ibragimbekov Creativity Center. Many other buildings are also expected to be restored. The Fantasy Festival is about how it is important and relevant to restore historical buildings in time," the Ambassador said.

Section D

Baku’s historical background

Formulation of “Forstadt”

Fantasy Bathhouse is a two storey longitudinal building which is located in the intersection of 4 streets: Islam Safarli str , Dilara Aliyeva str , Mirza Ibrahimov str., Molla Vali Vidadi str.

These are the streets which are located in the historical part of Baku, which is called Forstadt. The Forstadt area is bounded on the south by Fountain Square and Nizami Street, on the north by Winter Park, on the west by Azerbaijan Avenue, and on the east by Samad Vurgun Street.

The term Forstadt was first mentioned in 1822 on a map planned by the Russian Empire for the fortress areas of Baku. This area is famous for the lavish residences of "Baku's Oil Barons" and the "Fantasy" bathhouse Popular with young townspeople, Forstadt has been rich in hotels, hostels, book cafes, and pubs. This area is close to the most critical urban locations of Baku city The Old City, called IcheriSheher is only half a kilometer from the site The Fantasy Bathhouse's eastern facade faces Islam Safarli str., which is connected with the Istiqlaliyyat str on the south, and Central Park on the north

This historical urban settlement of Baku is close to the central attraction points of Baku The Fantasy Bathhouse is approximately half a kilometer from the fortress of the Inner City, the oldest part of Baku. The Caspian Sea with the boulevard is one kilometer from the Fantasy Bathhouse on the south Istiglaliyyat is one of the oldest streets of Baku and is on the ring surrounding the Fortress of the Inner City. This street with the architectural monuments is an "open-air museum" and is connected to the Islam Safarli street on the south Azerbaijan Avenue bounds Forstadt on the east, and Azerbaijan Avenue is also connected with the Istiqlaliyyat street on the south

When Baku became a part of the Russian Empire in 1806, a new period of city development and territorial growth outside medieval vallums began. At that time, the fortress was surrounded by double walls, reinforced by a system of bastions, which barred territorial development. However, beyond the fortress was a suburb, settled for years - rabad: it was closely connected with handicraft and commercial life. The established planning structure of the old fortress was actually completed with rabad Where the poorest population lived Without fencing, it often assailed; the rabad was of the different density of building, sometimes like different settlements-villages (Bayir sheer, Khal-Fedam)

Source: Own study

Possible armed tension thread with Iran did not promote large buildings to be constructed in the suburb Defending Baku Fortress was always the primary goal until the definitive endowing of Northern Azerbaijan to Russia by the Turkmenchay treaty in 1828 Hence, the suburb construction idea has arisen subsequently. The general plan of Baku was unprecedented until the end of the XIX century, and it resembled a pre-Revolutionary town structure

Gradually, these quarters gained population increase, with a higher concentration of lower-income households According to the French traveler Hamb, in 1820, all suburbs consisted of new pise-walled buildings. The "Plan of Baku fortress with the surrounding situation and formal suburban buildings both in beyond it," drawn in 1822, also belonged to that period The plan of 1822 opens some moments of the Forstadt formation and characterizes its ac state 1 All planning features of the plan of 1810 were kept in this one, but the scheme of bow-shaped quarters at a distance from the fortress was extended at the expense of the wide esplanade location and link of the direction of new quarters of the contour of walls and bastions.

Source:

It is interesting that, in the general plan of 1822, there was marked the present building of suburb, and at the same time a degree where red lines of new quarters were followed and noticed that density of building in a new part of the suburb was not high The building still had a chaotic character, so project lines of quarters and street directions were not kept. It is possible that some parts of the building remained from the time of rabad existence and, of course, were in the boundaries of new quarters; it is shown by existing now houses with dates of building before 1806

The 1822 plan reveals the suburb's particular structural features and characterizes its accurate state This plan inherited features of the 1810's plan. However, the scheme of bowshaped quarters that were distant from the fortress were extended with the loss of the wide esplanade location Additionally, a linkage between the direction of new quarters to the contour of walls and bastions was established In the general plan of 1822, both present buildings and degrees with red lines of new quarters were followed. It was noticed that building density in a new part of the suburb was not high, and the chaotic feature of the existing building clusters was still remaining. It is possible that certain parts of these clusters remained from the rabad period, and this phenomenon can be observed in the properties built before 1806.

Perso-Russian wars had a significant impact on urban life inside the fortress. In 1826 while Persian forces sieged the fortress, urban life significantly increased as suburbs, and surrounding villages were destroyed These attacks destroyed the suburb of rabad time so that they could not be completely revived.

Afterward the Turkmenchay Treaty, Azerbaijan entered a new stage of socio-economic prosperity with a capitalist transformation "It facilitated the growth of its cities, and a new type of developments of another architectural-art type were used in their construction.“1

Components of the rapid suburb growth have been formed as enemy threats decreased, resulting in rectangular quarter net, streets of the expanding town district full of light and air

Population growth led to the eventual territory expansion to the suburban side: "in 1807 there were 500 houses at Baku fortress, but there were 1832, during cameral account, in the fortress with suburb 1358 houses". This information illuminates the scale of the development area that tended to expand to the east.

A new general plan was drawn in 1843. The size of the suburb has grown significantly, and the total area was approximately 46 hectares, according to Fetullayev As the fortress lost its defensive feature, the focal point of the trade dissolved into the wide quarters of the suburb. It was noticed by the famous traveler Ivan Nikolayevich Berezin, who visited Baku in 1842 He wrote that here, in the suburb: "more space, than in the town, streets are wide, houses are not in ruins, and sometimes are decorated with gardens "

The newly forming volumetric-spatial structure was offered by the construction of one or two-story structures consisting of shopping streets, baths, caravansaries, and storage. However, an obstacle in the widening of the suburb was faced when expansion conflicted with the "Karantinnaya" area on the eastern part outskirt of the town and the solider barrack on the west

Source: Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku

The city went into a new stage of transformation in 1843, Baku was gaining more importance and was planned to be a possible provincial center. In the 1850s, on the other hand, the suburbs have gone through significant alteration While the fortress lost its essence as a defensive and strategical object, it was still an administrative entity, as both government establishments and accommodations for highest-ranking officials were settled in this location The suburb was split into rectangular streets and quarters, although a considerable portion of areas was not developed yet.

"Suburb "was divided into right streets and quarters, though many places were not built yet" , and fortress also "left its boundaries" Very valuable and useful for planning and building characteristics of district Baku became a "General plan of Baku fortress with suburb and surrounding area at 2 5-3 vests from counterscarp" was taken off the nature by plan lable in 1854" It's a most convicting by fullness of content about present planning shown a degree of building of quarters, and it gave an opportunity to define common direètion of development and inclination of almost formed parts of suburb"“

On May 15 1859, a devastating earthquake wrecked the Shamakha city Hence, the plan to move the provincial center to Baku started to be considered. However, implementing this plan was challenging as some of the buildings for provincial institutions were absent, the area of the fortress was already overpopulated, and the housing crisis was already persistent.

The new General Plan of Baku fortress and Forstadt was prepared in 1864 Butnik-Siversky states that, "the new plan was the first unsuccessful plan of the suburb by its practical significance, but it was not be ignored" because of the following reasons 2

Growth of Baku during XIX century

Between 1872 and World War I, Baku's privately owned oil fields produced more than half of the world's oil, which was defined as the first oil boom in Baku By 1903, the fast-growing population reached 140,000, attracting a wave of fortune-seeking entrepreneurs, industry experts, and blue-collar laborers. Subsequently, this oil boom has followed a construction boom

"Baku is greater than any other oil city in the world. If oil is king, Baku is its throne I know of no oil city that will compare with it, either in subterranean wealth, or, to leave the commercial for a moment, in wealth of history and tradition, leg end and story Los Angeles, chief town in the oil fields of far-away California; Petrolea, Canada's petroleum capital; Beaumont, the four-yearold creation of Texas oil; Boryslaw, chief of the widely scattered group of oil fields in Galicia, home of the ancient Poles; Campina in Romania, and a score of other oil-producing centres can in no way be compared with Baku."

(J. D. Henry, 1905)

The Baku oil industry was also greatly influenced by foreign oil companies such as Nobel Brothers, BNITO, owned by the French Rothschild family, and later Royal Dutch/Shell

Since the process required only small labor groups, most European companies brought their skilled workforce and management to Baku They hosted them in company-built enclaves by separating the ex-pats from the locals during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Foreign oil companies' investment in the non-oil economy can be considered very low. On the other hand, the flow of investments can be traced to Saint Petersburg, London, Paris, Berlin, and New York In order to reach European markets and consumers, 1915's Baku oil had to travel great distances through a transcontinental network of pipelines, tankers, river barges, and railways

Similar to any other city, an obligation to local taxes or labor and environmental conditions were excused for foreign oil companies. Irreparable environmental damage was done by foreign producers of kerosene in Baku in the early decades resulting in an enormous scale of waste.

BLACK TOWN PLANNING: GRID AND BLOCKS

By being the first example of a planned industrial zone and the first representative of zoning in the past of a Tzar's city planning, The Black Town was a brilliant planning exemplar The Black town became the heart of the new urban industrial district. Broad streets with a square grid roughly 80 meters wide

Source:

A square grid of approximately eighty meters with broad streets to accommodate the transport of crude and refined oil, the plan of the Black Town imposes an urban discipline and geometry on the infrastructural components of the oil refining process -from pipelines and railway tracks and cars to storage facilities, refineries, chemical factories, vats Moreover, open pools of oil -compacted them into a regular urban fabric.

The oil boom turned into a construction boom in the late XIX and early XX centuries The population growth reached 210,000 from 14,000, a rate exceeding most major European cities and even New York. City growth was outward from the walls of Icheri Sheher in the first half of the nineteenth century In the mid-nineteenth century Forshtadt, the Russian garrison, and the martial/executive district in Bailov were constructed. The city expanded to the east side from the 1880s to the 1890s through the construction and planning of the Black Town and White Town

Source: Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku