(b Kurakr, Dagestan, 15 Sept 1929). Turkmenian architect. He studied from 1948 to 1953 at the Azerbaijan Polytechnical Institute, Baku, with Mikael’ Useynov. His first buildings, in Turkmenia (now Turkmenistan), such as the district Waterworks Building (1954) above an artesian well in Archman and the building of the Ashkhabadstroy Trust (1956) in Ashkhabad, followed the neo-classical trend. In subsequent years he adopted a Rationalist approach, which combined adaptations to the extreme climatic conditions and cultural traditions of the republic. His first significant building, the Hotel Ashkhabad (1969), Ashkhabad, is distinguished by its bulk, which is emphasized by the deep chiaroscuro of its loggias and the powerful sculpting of the non-figurative reliefs on the terrace parapet. In the 1960s Akhmedov directed the planning of the centre of Ashkhabad, the focal point of which is a main square with irrigated flowerbeds. Its sides are defined by the isolated masses of the principal buildings designed by Akhmedov: the headquarters (1967) of the Karakumstroy Trust, the Library of the Republic of Turkmenia (1969–74) and the memorial to Revolution (1970s). The character of the buildings is unified by the use of complex forms and powerful, expressive sculpting of the surfaces of monolithic reinforced concrete. Particular originality can be seen in the architecture of the Library of the Republic of Turkmenia, where the interiors of the reading rooms are arranged around small courtyards with ‘aquatic joke’ fountains. The façade has prominent concrete ribs, which are turned at an angle to its plane and its horizontal framings, and its sculpted surface is raised on huge pillars over a stone garden of geometrical design. In the plans he drew up in the second half of the 1970s, such as those for a new building for the Academy of Arts, Moscow, and for a library in Makhachkala, Dagestan, experiments with complex curvilinear forms, in the tradition of Expressionism, conflict with an interpretation of Rationalist orthogonal forms. He was Chief Architect of Ashkhabad from 1965 to 1987. From 1989 he worked in Moscow.

• Akhmedov, Abdulla (Ramazanovich) (b 1929)
  • Turkmenistan, §2: Architecture