MAY 2017 GQ.CO.ZA 83mosques, shopping
centres, a glass arts
centre known as the
‘Dog Bowl’, a circus
building that looks
more like a lying
saucer, a velodrome
shaped like a cycling
helmet, a pair of
conical golden
towers known as
the ‘Beer Cans’, and
man-made rivers
and lakes.
Also in development
is Abu Dhabi Plaza,
a cluster of
skyscrapers
containing oice,
residential, hotel
and commercial
spaces. he project’s
due for completion
in 2018, at a cost of
more than $1.4bn.
‘hey’re building
a bunch of new stuf
right now and
they’re doing a lot of
renovations. When
I irst went in 2011,
a lot of the major
buildings had just
been inished and
were so new that
maintenance wasn’t
an issue. Over the
years, I’ve noticed
some of the sheen
has deteriorated
a little.’
Koopmans says
the city is more
fascinating than
fun. ‘I wouldn’t say
I go there to enjoy it.
It’s interesting – for
curious adventure-
traveller types, there
are things you could
ind to do. But by no
means is there a
bunch of attractions.
hey’re trying to
change that, but
the extent of the
entertainment
would be the
mall and walking
around looking
at the garden
landscape and weird
ornaments and
whatnot.’
Many of the
buildings were designed by acclaimed global
architects, includingBritNormanFosterand
late Japanese luminary Kisho Kurokawa,
who was also responsible for the city’s master
plan. But its centrallandmark–acolossal
pillar known as Bayterek Tower – was
President Nazarbayev’s own handiwork.
Stretching 105m towards the heavens, it
resembles a giant poplar tree, with an
observation deck that overlooks the main
square, 97m abovegroundlevel–atribute
to the year Astana was adopted as the
country’s capital.
‘It has a big golden egg on top,’ adds
Koopmans, ‘and inside is a huge gold imprint
of the President’s hand, but it’s way bigger
than a regular person’s hand would ever be.
It shows his godlike status.’
Nazarbayev’s been leader of Kazakhstan
since the nation
gained
independence
from the Soviet
Union in 1991,
and remains the
country’s irst
and only
president. He
was returned to
oice for a ifth
term in 2015,
after winning
almost 98 per
cent of the vote.
‘he leader
has this cult-like
status where he
can do whatever
he wants. Astana
means “capital”
in Kazakh, and
the idea is that
when he dies it
will be renamed
Nazarbayev or
something like
that. But
corruption is big- highways are
constantly being
dug up because
a contract goes
to a friend of
so-and-so.’
And while many people may consider it to
be a relatively minor state, tucked away
somewhere between Central Asia and
Eastern Europe, the truth is it’s anything
but insigniicant.
Spanning almost 2.8-million square
kilometres (an area roughly equivalent in
size to Western Europe), it’s the world’s
biggest landlocked country and the ninth
largest in the world. It also happens to be
sitting on enormous reserves of oil and
‘It’s kitsch and over
the top, with gold
sculptures. Everything
is sort of bedazzled’
REPORTA golden ‘beer can’ in a city built to order in the middle of nowheregas – resources that
have fuelled
Astana’s dramatic
rise from the
Eurasian Steppe.
Kazakhstan
exported $35bn
worth of oil last year
alone – hence the
taste for lashy
architecture.
Nazarbayev has
also used that
money to reairm
the traditional
Kazakh identity,
dotting the capital
with symbols of the
nation’s past.‘It’s almost like they’re reappropriating
their own culture,’ says Koopmans. ‘A lot of
these symbols are from the nomadic Genghis
Khan era and they’re trying to revive them to
rebuild an identity that was wiped out during
the Soviet rule.
‘Nazarbayev is seen as the father of the
country. People may chuckle at the fact he
has such ultimate rulership, but since his
reign Kazakhstan has turned around from
a dusty place where the Russians used to do
nuclear tests. He’s really tapped into the
energ y and natural resources of the country,
which have actually made it quite wealthy.’
Still, beyond the conines of the capital,
things look rather diferent. ‘he majority
of the population would be fairly poor or
existing in this post-Soviet environment,
where they’re still living in homogenous >>