ASTANA’S WINTER URBANSCAPE (Kazakhstan, 2011)
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, is the second coldest capital city in the world. But thanks to income from oil and gas, the city has been transformed from a barren Siberian outpost to a metropolis with a bubbling night life and futuristic buildings. There are tropical swimming paradises, and its oceanarium has the distinction of being the most distant from an ocean, of any in the world. Yet the city has been unable to significantly increase its population – the cold frightens people off. In a series of diptychs Ikuru Kuwajima displays the ironic beauty of Astana.
