Crowning the lavish 70th birthday of Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev on 6 July in his capital, Astana, was the grand opening of Khan Shatyr: a giant, peaked, transparent tent. In this bizarre structure, 10,000 citizens at a time will be able to stretch their legs in the city’s bleak winter, when temperatures drop to minus 40oC and punishing winds rush in off the frozen steppes. Richard Orange visited the project during its construction, and explores the impact of Foster & Partners’ work on this new city.

The tripod spire is 150m high making it the biggest structure of its type in the world

The Royal Marquee viewed through the arch of the Khazakshstan Oil (KMG) headquarters building, which being central to Astana’s $1bn (£670m) building spree, sits between the tent and Foster’s Pyramid

Source : BluePrint Magazine