When was Turner Field demolished?

Between 1996 and 1997, the inside of the stadium was demolished. The stadium was imploded on August 2, 1997; the remains were later removed and demolished. A parking lot, built for Turner Field now stands on the site, with an outline of the old stadium built in. The monument that marked the landing point of Hank Aaron's historic 715th home run stands in the same place it did when the stadium was on the site.

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, often referred to as Fulton County Stadium and originally named Atlanta Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in the southeastern United States, located in Atlanta. It was built to attract a Major League Baseball team and in 1966 succeeded when the Milwaukee Braves relocated from Wisconsin.

The Braves and expansion Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League shared the venue for 26 years, until the Falcons moved into the newly completed Georgia Dome in 1992. The Braves continued to play at the stadium for another five years, then moved into Turner Field in 1997, the converted Centennial Olympic Stadium built for the previous year's Summer Olympics.

During his 1961 campaign for mayor of Atlanta, Ivan Allen, Jr. promised to build a sports facility to attract a Major League Baseball team. After winning office, Allen chose a plot in the Washington–Rawson neighborhood for the building site, citing its proximity to the state capitol, downtown businesses, and major highways. Allen and "The Atlanta Journal" sports editor Furman Bisher attempted to persuade Charlie Finley, owner of the Kansas City Athletics, to move his team to Atlanta. Finley was receptive and began discussing stadium design plans with Allen. However, the deal ended in July 1963 when the American League did not approve the move.

In 1964, Mayor Allen announced that an unidentified team had given him a verbal commitment to move to Atlanta, provided a stadium was in place by 1966. Soon afterward, the prospective team was revealed to be the Milwaukee Braves, who announced in October that they intended to move to Atlanta for the 1965 season. However, court battles kept the Braves in Milwaukee for one last season.

The new stadium was built on the site of the cleared Washington–Rawson neighborhood, which a half-century before had been a wealthy neighborhood home to Georgia's governor, among others, but which by the 1960s had fallen on hard times. Forty-seven dignitaries took part in a groundbreaking ceremony on April 15, 1964, and that November, the Braves signed a 25-year agreement to play there, beginning in 1966. Construction was completed on April 9, 1965, for $18 million, and that night the Milwaukee Braves and Detroit Tigers played an exhibition game in the stadium. During that year the International League's Atlanta Crackers, whose previous home had been Ponce de Leon Park, played their final season in Atlanta Stadium.

In 1966, both the National League's transplanted Braves and the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons, an expansion team, began to use the facilities. In 1967, the Atlanta Chiefs of the National Professional Soccer League (re-formed as the North American Soccer League in 1968) began the first of five seasons played at the stadium. The venue hosted the second match of the NASL Final 1968 and two matches of the NASL Final 1971.

On February 11, 1975, the stadium's name was changed to the compound Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium after the county threatened to withdraw its financial support. However, the official website of the Atlanta Braves maintains that the name change occurred after Ted Turner purchased the team in 1976.

The Falcons moved to the Georgia Dome in 1992, while the Braves had to wait until the Olympic Stadium from the 1996 Summer Olympics was transformed into Turner Field to move out at the beginning of the 1997 season. The stadium sat 60,606 for football and 52,007 for baseball. The baseball competition for the 1996 Summer Olympics was held at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium while the Braves were on a three-week road trip.

Following the Olympics and the 1996 World Series, Fulton County commissioner, Marvin S. Arrington, Sr., had a plan to save the stadium and use it as a professional soccer arena and share the parking facilities between it and Turner Field but he was unable to push it through.

Upon the Atlanta Braves' move to SunTrust Park in suburban Cobb County after the 2016 season, the stadium site and the adjacent Turner Field were purchased by Georgia State University in 2016, with final approval from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on November 9 of that year. Georgia State will build a new park for its baseball team within the footprint of Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, while Turner Field was renovated into Georgia State's new football stadium.

The stadium was relatively nondescript, one of the many multi-purpose stadia built during the 1960s and 1970s, similar to Veterans Stadium, RFK Stadium, the Astrodome, Three Rivers Stadium, Busch Memorial Stadium, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum and Riverfront Stadium.

As was the case for every stadium that used this design concept, the fundamentally different sizes and shapes of baseball and football fields made it inadequate for both sports. In the baseball configuration, 70% of the seats were in foul territory. In the football configuration, seats on the 50-yard-line—normally prime seats for football—were more than away from the sidelines. One unusual feature of this stadium is the fact that, unlike most multi-purpose stadiums – where the football field was laid either parallel to one of the foul lines or running from home plate to center field – the football field here was laid along a line running between first and third base. Oakland Coliseum has a similar configuration. Thus, a seat behind home plate for baseball would also be on the 50-yard line for football. The stadium was refurbished for the 1996 season prior to hosting the Olympic baseball competition.

Unlike similarly designed outdoor stadiums—such as Riverfront Stadium and Busch Memorial Stadium—Fulton County Stadium always had a natural grass surface. However, for many years it was notorious for its poor field conditions. Until 1989, it didn't have full-time groundskeepers. Instead, it was tended by a municipal street-maintenance crew.

Due to the elevation of the Atlanta area (situated at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains), the stadium boasted the highest elevation in baseball when it opened, at above sea level. It retained this distinction for 27 seasons, until the expansion Colorado Rockies entered the National League in 1993. The elevation and Southern summer heat made it favorable to home run hitters, resulting in the nickname "The Launching Pad."

Fulton County Stadium was designed by a joint-venture team of FABRAP (Finch Alexander Barnes Rothschild & Paschal) and Heery, Inc.

The ballpark was built in the Southeastern Atlanta neighborhood of Summerhill. across the street from the former home of the Braves, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which was demolished in the summer of 1997 and replaced with a parking lot. The parking lot is painted with the field location and configuration of the old ballpark. The section of the outfield wall with the monument marking where Hank Aaron's 715th home run went over it was reinstalled in its original location, and still stands today. From 2002 to 2004, the failed Fanplex entertainment center was located adjacent to the stadium's parking lot. The stadium contained 5,372 club seats, 64 luxury suites, and three party suites.

Turner Field

Turner Field was a stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the centerpiece of the 1996 Summer Olympics, the stadium was converted into a baseball park to serve as the new home of the team. The Braves moved less than one block from Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, which served as their home ballpark for 31 seasons from 1966 to 1996.

Opening during the Braves' "division dominance" years, Turner Field hosted the NLDS a total of 11 times (1997–2005, 2010, 2013); it also hosted the NLCS four times (1997–1999, 2001), as well as one World Series (1999), one NL Wild Card Game (2012, the first in baseball history), and the 2000 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

The Braves played the final game at Turner Field on October 2, 2016, a 1–0 win over the Detroit Tigers. The franchise allowed its lease on the facility to expire at the end of the calendar year. In 2017, the team moved to the newly-constructed SunTrust Park, located in nearby Cobb County.

The stadium has been reconfigured for the second time, redesigned for college football as Georgia State Stadium. Architecture firm Heery was responsible for both stadium conversions.

The most popular name choice among Atlanta residents for the new stadium at the time of its construction (according to a poll in "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution") was Hank Aaron Stadium. After the ballpark was instead named after Ted Turner (and subsequently nicknamed "The Ted" by fans), the city of Atlanta renamed the section of Capitol Avenue on which the stadium sits Hank Aaron Drive, giving Turner Field the street number 755, after Aaron's home run total.

The stadium was originally constructed as the 85,000-seat Centennial Olympic Stadium and used for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Immediately after the 1996 Summer Paralympics, which followed the Olympics, much of the north end of the stadium was removed in order to convert it to its permanent use as a 49,000-seat baseball park. The stadium hosted the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball from to, following a multimillion-dollar renovation to retrofit the stadium for baseball by removing the temporary stands that had made up nearly half the stadium and building the outfield stands and other attractions behind them.

After the 1996 Olympics were complete the stadium was leased by the Atlanta Braves. Private entities, including NBC and other Olympic sponsors, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) sought to build the stadium in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion. This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves. The 71,228 seat Georgia Dome had been completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia, so there was no need for another large stadium in downtown Atlanta. Furthermore, the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority owns Turner Field and leased it to the Braves, who operated the stadium. The end of the Braves' most recent lease in 2016 coincided with the team's departure for SunTrust Park.

Because of the need to fit a track within the stadium in its earlier configuration, the field of play, particularly foul territory, while not large by historical standards, was still larger than most MLB stadiums of its era. The fence line around the north main entrance, beyond left field, marks the original extent of Centennial Olympic Stadium.

Turner Field was a relatively new facility, being younger than 14 of Major League Baseball's other 29 stadiums at the time of the Braves' last game there. However, the Braves executives complained that its downtown location restricted game attendance because of traffic into the city and a shortage of on-site parking. The stadium was ¾ mile (1200 m) from the nearest Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) stop, and many fans were unwilling to brave Atlanta's infamous congestion to attend games; plus, the team could not secure more parking spaces. In addition, team VP for business operations Mike Plant said the site "doesn't match up with where the majority of our fans come from", as the stadium is near some of Atlanta's poorest neighborhoods. Plant also said that while the Braves operated Turner Field, they had no control over the commercial development around the stadium. Other stadiums built in recent years have been accompanied by shopping and entertainment facilities in the surrounding area (as SunTrust Park later would be).

According to Braves team president John Schuerholz, Turner Field required $150 million in renovation costs merely for structural upkeep (i.e., not for fan experience improvements). He estimated that fan improvement renovations would have cost an additional $200 million. The Braves were in talks in 2013 with the Recreational Authority over extending the team's original lease, Plant said, but those talks broke down. Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed said the city could not afford to support the kind of renovations the Braves desired.

After negotiations broke down, the team began planning a new stadium, SunTrust Park. The stadium would be built in southern Cobb County, with an Atlanta address, located "near the geographic center of the Braves' fan base." The new stadium was constructed in a public/private partnership. The projected cost was $672 million. It occupies of a lot, with the remainder of the space devoted to parking, green space, and mixed-use development. The new stadium is part of a 60-acre development called The Battery Atlanta. Although Cobb County is not presently served by MARTA, the Braves use a "circulator" bus system to shuttle fans to and from the stadium. Construction on SunTrust Park broke ground on September 16, 2014. Had SunTrust Park been behind schedule, the Braves had the option (but ultimately declined) to extend their lease at Turner Field up to 5 years. Braves executive vice president Mike Plant has stated that capital maintenance would be much less at SunTrust Park. While Turner Field was designed from the ground up with the Braves in mind, Plant said that it required higher capital maintenance costs in the long run because it was value engineered for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Plant estimates that capital maintenance costs at SunTrust Park will be no more than $80 million after 30 years – less than half of the $150 million in capital maintenance needed for Turner Field after 17 years.

In April and May 2014, Georgia State University officials expressed an interest in acquiring Turner Field and converting it into a 30,000-seat open-air stadium for the Panthers football program. New development, including retail, residential and student housing, would also be put into use on the Turner Field site. Additionally, a new baseball field would be built on the former Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium site, incorporating the outfield wall where Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run. While Mayor Reed showed preference towards Georgia State's plan, at least three offers from other developers were up for consideration. On August 13, 2015, the Braves officially gave notice to the city of Atlanta and Fulton County that the team would not exercise the option to extend their lease at Turner Field and would vacate the stadium by December 31, 2016, allowing the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority to move forward with any redevelopment plans. On November 23, 2015, Georgia State submitted an alternative proposal for redeveloping Turner Field, where portions of the current ballpark would be rebuilt into a mixed retail and housing development and a new football-specific stadium would be constructed north of Turner Field along with the new baseball field. While vetting bids for redevelopment, two casino firms showed interest in the Turner Field property; however, they did not submit bids due to Mayor Reed's and the community's opposition to casino gaming. On December 21, 2015, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority announced that they have accepted the joint bid by Georgia State University and real estate firm Carter for the stadium property. Georgia State was considered the front-runner for the property as the other two bids submitted were from little known entities with no documented redevelopment experience. Residents of the Summerhill neighborhood expressed their criticism for Turner Field's quick sale without their input; however, city and county officials stated that a quick sale was necessary to keep the burden of the stadium's security and upkeep from falling on the tax payers' shoulders once the Braves move out. On August 18, 2016, Georgia State and the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority reached a tentative purchase agreement for Turner Field, and the purchase and redevelopment plan was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on November 9, 2016. On January 5, 2017, the sale of the Turner Field property to Georgia State was officially closed, with the stadium conversion project beginning in February 2017. The stadium conversion will occur over multiple phases, while the first phase was completed in time for Georgia State's opener on August 31, 2017.

The Braves' final game at Turner Field was October 2, 2016, an interleague game against the Detroit Tigers, which the Braves won 1–0; the last run was scored by Adonis Garcia off a sacrifice fly ball from Freddie Freeman, and Julio Teherán had a career-high 12 strikeouts to earn the final win at the field.

Prior to the game, the Braves unveiled their All-Turner Field Team, as chosen on the team's website by fans: catcher Javy López, first baseman Freddie Freeman, second baseman Marcus Giles, shortstop Rafael Furcal, third baseman Chipper Jones, left fielder Ryan Klesko, center fielder Andruw Jones, right fielder Brian Jordan, utility player Martin Prado, pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Julio Teheran, and relief pitcher Craig Kimbrel.

In a post-game ceremony, home plate was removed and delivered to SunTrust Park by Hank Aaron and Braves chairman Terry McGuirk, as those remaining at Turner Field watched its progress on the video board. While home plate was being driven up Interstate 75, the ceremony included a parade of fans representing each state in the Braves' television footprint and speeches from Braves dignitaries, followed by a simultaneous performance of the Braves' signature "Tomahawk Chop" rally cry by the crowd still at Turner Field and the small gathering of team executives and Little Leaguers at SunTrust Park.

The first game played at Turner Field was an exhibition game against the New York Yankees on March 29, 1997; Braves starter Tom Glavine threw the first pitch, a swinging fastball strike, to Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and the Braves won the exhibition game 2–0. The first regular season game played at Turner Field was on April 4, 1997 against the Chicago Cubs. The Braves were losing 4–3 in the eighth inning when Chipper Jones drove in the tying run. A Michael Tucker single gave the Braves the lead as they won their first regular season game at Turner Field 5–4.

The first postseason game played at Turner Field was also during the 1997 season between the Braves and the Houston Astros in the NLDS. Starting pitcher Greg Maddux pitched a complete game, giving up only one run and leading the Braves to a 2–1 victory. Following a sweep of the Astros, the Braves went on to the NLCS, where Tom Glavine picked up the first NLCS win at Turner Field; however, the Braves lost to the eventual-World Series-champion Florida Marlins.

The first World Series game ever played at Turner Field was Game 1 of the 1999 World Series, where the starting pitcher Maddux and the Braves were defeated 4–1 by the New York Yankees' Orlando Hernández and series MVP Mariano Rivera; the Braves went on to lose the series by a four-game sweep. The only Major League Baseball All-Star Game ever to be played at Turner Field was in 2000. Atlanta's Chipper Jones hit the lone home run in the game, and Braves outfielder Andruw Jones drove in a run as the National League was defeated 6–3.

Turner Field was also home to the first NL Wild Card Game in 2012 between the Braves and St. Louis Cardinals. The Braves were behind 6–3 in the bottom of the 8th inning when Andrelton Simmons hit a fly ball to shallow left field that dropped in between Cardinals shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder Matt Holliday. Umpire Sam Holbrook called Simmons out, citing the infield fly rule. Had an infield fly not been called, Simmons would have been credited with a single and Atlanta would have had the bases loaded with one out. Fans at Turner Field began to litter the field with debris, prompting the game to be delayed for 19 minutes. The Braves lost the game 6–3, ending their season.

Significant renovations to the stadium were put into place for the 2005 season. Among the improvements was installation of a $10 million video display, which was at the time listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest high definition video board. The video board was kept by Georgia State as part of the football stadium.

Other renovations in that year included the addition of a 1,080 foot (329 meter) long LED display to the stadium's upper deck, primarily for advertising purposes.

Turner Field's left field vista was dominated by advertising fixtures from two iconic Atlanta corporations. In 2009, a new large Coca-Cola bottle was installed behind left field. Replacing an earlier version made of various pieces of baseball equipment, the new bottle featured a HD display around the label, as well as LED lighting. Next to this second iteration of Turner Field's Coca-Cola bottle was a Chick-fil-A cow, added in 2008. Wearing a Braves hat, the cow did the Tomahawk Chop along with fans while holding a sign with rotating slogans which tie in to the fast-food chain's successful "Eat Mor Chikin" advertising campaign. The cow was removed from Turner Field following the 2015 season for refurbishment before being installed at SunTrust Park.

The highest recorded attendance for a playoff game, and overall, was 54,357 and was set on October 5, 2003, against the Chicago Cubs. The number includes standing room tickets.

The longest game by time, and in Braves history, was played on July 26–27, 2011 between the Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes with the Braves winning controversially 4–3 in 19 innings. The Braves' previous longest game by time was 6:10 against the Mets on July 4, 1985, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium.
The most runs scored by either team in a single inning was 10, set on October 5, 2001 between the Braves and the Florida Marlins. The record was set in the 1st inning of the game. The Braves won the game 20–3.

On May 21, 2008, during a game against the New York Mets, fan Justin Hayes was attempting to slide down the staircase railing from the club level to the field level; he slipped and fell to his death. Police later confirmed alcohol as a factor in the accident.

On August 13, 2013, Ronald Lee Homer, Jr., a fan attending the game against the Philadelphia Phillies, fell 85 feet (26 meters) to his death after leaping over the fourth level wall in the rear of the stadium and landing in the player's parking lot. His death was later ruled a suicide.

On August 29, 2015, during a game against the New York Yankees, as Alex Rodriguez was being introduced for his first plate appearance of the series, a fan named Greg Murrey fell 40 feet (12 meters) from section 402 in the stadium's upper deck into the second and third rows of seats in section 202. He was pronounced dead on scene from his injuries. Greg Murrey was a 60-year-old man and longtime season ticket holder and "incredibly passionate Braves fan", the team said.

Turner Field featured multiple premium seating areas and suites. The "SunTrust Club" was named for the bank holding company headquartered in Atlanta and was reserved for official partners and luxury clients of the ballpark. This $6 million addition was completed in 2008 and its 143 premium seats were just 43 feet from home plate, closer than seats in any other MLB ballpark of the era (and closer to home plate than the pitcher's mound). SunTrust Club members also had access to an exclusive club area located under the Hank Aaron Seats (Section 101) that consists of free food and drinks for club members. The club area featured a waitstaff that catered to club members in their seats during the games. Members could choose to watch the games from their reserved seats, or from inside the club itself on high definition televisions.

The "755 Club" (named in honor of Hank Aaron's home run record) was the stadium's predominant suite location. The club was a area of space rented for special events and parties; individual suites were rented for individual games or for the entire season. The "Delta Sky 360 Lounge" was added in 2010 and was located behind the 755 Club suites on the second level of the ballpark. The lounge could only be accessed by members of the 755 Club. The lounge consisted of multiple premium eateries not found in the rest of the ballpark. Other Delta Sky 360 Lounges could be found at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, and one was included in the construction of SunTrust Park. The 755 Club became the "University Club" as part of the Georgia State football stadium.

Turner Field also featured the "Georgia's Own Credit Union Club" and "Superior Plumbing Club", consisting of 152 collective premium seats located directly adjacent to each side of the press box. The original club, sponsored by Georgia's Own Credit Union and featuring 80 seats, was added to the ballpark for the 2012 season and also contained multiple upscale dining options and in-seat food and beverage services. Instead of stadium seats, patrons faced the field in chairs around semicircular tables. A slightly-smaller second section, sponsored by Superior Plumbing and featuring 72 seats, was added for the 2013 season on the opposite side of the press area. The "Club Level" was another indoor premium concourse level located on the second deck of the ballpark. This level featured multiple VIP suites that could be purchased for individual games and used for party-style affairs, among other events. For Turner Field's final few seasons, the Club Level had no title sponsor; in previous years, it was known as the "Lexus Level" and "Golden Moon Casino Level".During its tenure, Turner Field was also used as a concert venue, with capacity of up to 60,000. Among the performers who performed at the stadium are the Dave Matthews Band, Metallica, Eminem, Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones.

From 2003 to 2016, the NCAA baseball teams of Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, which had previously played two games on each school's campus, replaced one of the home and home pairs in favor of a third game at Turner Field. This rivalry game at Turner Field was one of the most attended games in college baseball, with the 2004 game drawing 28,836—larger than that year's College World Series games. Proceeds from this annual match benefit Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. The annual event moved to SunTrust Park in 2017.

The stadium was used as a central location in many films and television series, including "Flight", "The Change-Up", "Trouble with the Curve" and the 19th season of "The Amazing Race", which took place outside of the stadium.

There were 11 retired numbers on display at Turner Field. The numbers were on display at the Monument Grove section of the ballpark, as well as on display inside the actual stadium. From the time of its opening in 1997 until the 2012 season, the retired numbers were commemorated by the number as pictured below hanging from the facade in left field. These were removed for the 2013 season and replaced with a modern representation of the player's first name followed by their number and last name (such as Dale 3 Murphy), which were located on the left and right sides of the club level.

Of the 10 Braves whose numbers were retired prior to Turner Field's closure, nine (Spahn, Mathews, Aaron, Niekro, Cox, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and Jones) were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, while Murphy's eligibility expired without election. Only Glavine, Jones, Maddux, and Smoltz appeared in games at Turner Field. Cox managed the team for 25 seasons in all, including its first 14 seasons in Turner Field.

Following the 1996 Summer Paralympics, Olympic Stadium was retrofitted between September 1996 and April 1997 with the synthetic 400 m athletic track and 35,000 seats removed. The new venue, called Turner Field in honor of then-Braves owner and former Goodwill Games founder Ted Turner, opened on April 4, 1997 with a 5–4 win over the Chicago Cubs. Turner Field hosted two games of the 1999 World Series (swept by the Yankees in four games) and the 2000 MLB All-Star Game. On November 12, 2013, The Braves organisation announced that the team would move into a new ballpark located in Cobb County, SunTrust Park, in time for the 2017 season. Then-Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed stated that the stadium site would be redeveloped once the Braves vacated Turner Field. The Braves' final game at Turner Field took place on October 2, 2016, with a 1–0 win over the Detroit Lions. In May 2014, Georgia State University announced its intentions to pursue the Turner Field site for a mixed-use development. One proposed development plan included reconfiguring Turner Field into a 30,000 seat (American) football stadium and building a new baseball field on the footprint of the former Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, incorporating the wall where Hank Aaron hit his historic 715th home run; an alternate proposal submitted in November 2015 would adaptively reuse portions of the ballpark for a mixed housing and retail development while a new American football-specific stadium would be built to the north along with the aforementioned new baseball field. On December 21, 2015, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority announced that it had accepted Georgia State's bid for the stadium property. On August 18, 2016, Georgia State and the Atlanta–Fulton County Recreation Authority reached a tentative purchase agreement for Turner Field, and the purchase and redevelopment plan was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on November 9, 2016. On January 5, 2017, the sale of Turner Field was officially closed, and the former ballpark was redeveloped into Georgia State Stadium starting in February 2017. The stadium conversion is occurring over multiple phases, with the first phase completed in time for Georgia State's home opener on August 31, 2017.

Venues of the 1996 Summer Olympics

For the 1996 Summer Olympics, a total of twenty-nine sports venues were used.

Several sports venues for the 1996 Olympics were built before the 1960s as college venues. The first professional teams in Atlanta came in 1966, when Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee and the NFL added the Atlanta Falcons as an expansion team. In 1968, the NBA came to the city when the Atlanta Hawks arrived from St. Louis, and the NHL arrived four years later with the expansion Atlanta Flames.

The Braves and Falcons shared Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium from 1966 through 1991, after which the Falcons moved into the Georgia Dome, playing at that stadium from 1992 through 2016. The Braves would remain at the former stadium through the 1996 season. The Hawks initially played at Alexander Memorial Coliseum, now McCamish Pavilion, on the campus of Georgia Institute of Technology before the Omni Coliseum was completed in 1972 for both the Hawks and Flames. After the, the Flames left for their current home of Calgary.

Bidding for the 1996 Games was held in 1990. Seventy-five percent of the venues used for the 1996 Games were owned by the state of Georgia. One of the new venues, the Georgia International Horse Park, had organization problems for the modern pentathlon event that included the competitors being forced to sit under an oak tree during the riding part of the event. The Georgia World Congress Center hosted the dramatic weightlifting 64 kg event that involved national tensions between Greece and Turkey.

After the Olympics, the Olympic Stadium, as intended from its construction, was converted into a baseball park known as Turner Field, which opened in 1997. That same year, both Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium and the Omni Coliseum were imploded within one week of one another. Philips Arena (since renamed State Farm Arena) was built upon the former Omni's footprint and opened in 1999, while the area where Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium stood is now a parking lot near Turner Field. The Braves vacated Turner Field after their 2016 season to move to a new ballpark, SunTrust Park, in Cobb County; Georgia State University acquired Turner Field and its surrounding parking lots in January 2017 and converted the former Olympic Stadium a second time into Georgia State Stadium to host their college football program.

Before professional sports came to Atlanta and the Southern United States in the 1960s, college sports were followed in a manner similar to that of professional sports in the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern part of the United States. The oldest of the venues in the South used for the 1996 Games was Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama which opened in 1926 and used from 1948 to 1988 for the Iron Bowl college football rivalry between Auburn University and the University of Alabama, a game that now alternates between the two schools' on-campus stadiums. Legion Field hosted the SEC Championship Game for the first two seasons of 1992 and 1993 before the venue moved to Atlanta and the Georgia Dome in 1994 where it had remained until the closure of the Georgia Dome. Three years after Legion Field was completed, Sanford Stadium opened on the University of Georgia campus in Athens and has undergone several expansions since its opening. The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida opened in 1936 and has undergone several expansions of its own. In Miami the following year, the Orange Bowl (known as Burdine Stadium until 1959) opened; the stadium served as the home of the University of Miami Hurricanes, who played in the stadium from its opening until its closure in 2007. Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the Georgia Tech campus opened in 1956.

In 1961, the District of Columbia Stadium opened in Washington, D.C. with the National Football League (NFL) Washington Redskins losing 24-21 to the New York Giants. The Stadium (renamed as Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Stadium in 1969 in honor of Robert F. Kennedy who had been assassinated the previous June) served as home to the second Washington Senators Major League Baseball (MLB) team from 1961 to 1971 when they moved to the Dallas, Texas area the following year and were renamed the Texas Rangers which they have been known ever since (the first Senators team were in Washington from 1901 to 1960 before relocating to Minneapolis in 1961 and being renamed the Minnesota Twins, a name they have retained to this day).

Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta Stadium: 1965–76) opened on April 12, 1966 with the Braves MLB franchise debuting following their move from Milwaukee after the 1965 season with a 3-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. That same year in the NFL, the expansion Atlanta Falcons debuted with a 19-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Fulton County Stadium (known locally) would serve as host to the Peach Bowl from 1971 to 1991 before moving to the Georgia Dome where it remained from the 1992 bowl season until 2016. In baseball, Fulton County Stadium hosted the 1972 MLB All-Star Game. The Stadium would host three World Series in the 1990s before the Olympics, losing twice (1991 to the Twins in seven games and 1992 to the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. The latter loss was Toronto's revenge for losing out to Atlanta for the 1996 Games two years earlier. ) and winning once (1995 to the Cleveland Indians in six games.). The Falcons would remain at Fulton County Stadium until the 1991 NFL season, then move to the Georgia Dome the following season, where they remained through the 2016 season.

The Georgia Dome hosted Super Bowl XXVIII where the Buffalo Bills lost 30-13 to the Dallas Cowboys. It was the Bills' second straight Super Bowl loss to the Cowboys and fourth straight Super Bowl loss overall.

The same year that the Falcons debuted in the NFL, the Miami Dolphins made their debut in the American Football League (AFL) at the Orange Bowl. The Dolphins would join the NFL in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger. They would remain at the Orange Bowl until the 1987 NFL season when they moved to Joe Robbie (now Hard Rock) Stadium the following year where they have remained to this day. Five of the first thirteen Super Bowls took place at the Orange Bowl, including Joe Namath's New York Jets defeating Johnny Unitas's Baltimore (now Indianapolis) Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III.

Following the 1967–68 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, the Hawks franchise moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Atlanta for the 1968–69 season. The Hawks spent their first four seasons at Alexander Memorial Coliseum until construction at the Omni Coliseum (known locally as The Omni) was completed in 1972. The same season that the Hawks moved into the Omni also saw the debut of the National Hockey League Atlanta Flames as cohabitants. The Flames would remain in Atlanta until the 1979–80 season before moving up to Calgary, Alberta, Canada the following season where they have remained ever since. For the 1980–81 to the 1982–83 NHL season, the now-Calgary Flames played in the Stampede Corral, then moved to the Olympic (now Scotiabank) Saddledome for the 1983–84 season where they remain to this day. Both Stampede Corral and the Saddledome served as venues for the Winter Olympics when Calgary hosted in 1988. Other noted events hosted by The Omni were the 1977 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 1978 NBA All-Star Game, the 1988 Democratic National Convention, and the 1993 NCAA Women's Final Four.

For the 1994 FIFA World Cup, RFK Stadium and the Citrus Bowl served as venues, including Round of 16 games. RFK Stadium's round of 16 game was between Spain and Switzerland, while the Citrus Bowl's was between the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands.

Atlanta was awarded the 1996 Olympics at the 1990 International Olympic Committee meeting in Tokyo. Seventy-five percent of the existing sites used for the games were on property owned by the state of Georgia. Fifty additional sites would be acquired to use for logisitical needs. Venue design lasted from July 1992 to the end of 1994 for new venues while construction lasted from 1993 to March 1996. Among the new venues constructed, expanded, or retrofitted were Olympic Stadium (known locally at the time of the 1996 Games as Centennial Olympic Stadium), the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers (east of Atlanta), and the sailing (then yachting) venue at Wassaw Sound in Savannah. The velodrome and archery venues at Stone Mountain Park were temporary venues for the Games.

Olympic Stadium witnessed American Carl Lewis win his fourth straight Olympic gold medal in the men's long jump. Lewis tied Al Oerter, who won four straight Olympic gold medals in the men's discus throw from 1956 to 1968. Oerter, who carried the Olympic flame into the Stadium during the Opening Ceremonies before handing it off to boxer Evander Holyfield, embraced Lewis after his win.

Ocoee Whitewater Center on the Toccoa/Ocoee River was dry until 1950 though it was redirected into the dry riverbed in 1994. Water was released for 77 days into the course for training, a pre-Olympic event, and the Olympics themselves.

Rain on the streets of Atlanta affected two of the four road cycling events. During the men's individual road time trial event, the race was held in an intermittent rain that became a deluge with the middle starters that created up to of flooding in downtown Atlanta. It cleared up by the time the last ten riders started their runs. In the women's individual road race, a downpour occurred midway through the event causing several racers to skid and fall as a result.

The Georgia International Horse Park (known locally as The Horse Park) had the endurance part of the eventing competition begin at 7 AM EDT to combat Georgia's torrid summer heat. Mesh protected unshaded parts of the course to filter out ultraviolet light and misting fans were used to cool the horses along with 80 veterinarians on site and three available equine ambulances. In the individual dressage event at The Horse Park, kür, or freestyle dressage to music, was added to the competition. Germany Isabell Werth on Gigolo came from behind to win gold performing a medley that included "Just a Gigolo" and Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". Organizing issues in the modern pentathlon event affected spectators in their travels from downtown Atlanta to The Horse Park in Conyers away. This included lack of shuttle buses from parking to the competition sites, forcing spectators to walk that distance. Modern pentathletes had to sit under one shady part of the oak tree during the riding portion of the event.

During the men's 10 m air pistol shooting event at Wolf Creek, the ninth round of the final was halted when a fallen tree hit a power line and knocked out the electronic scoring system. The competition resumed after several minutes of delay. Italy's Roberto Di Donna came from behind to defeat China's Wang Yifu by 0.1 point. Wang collapsed in his chair and fainted suddenly. Stretcher bearers had trouble finding the medical center, but Wang recovered to take part in the men's free pistol event three days later.

Georgia World Congress Center witnessed two dramatic events. At the table tennis women's singles final on 31 July, a five-game final between China's Deng Yaping and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan/Republic of China)'s Chen Jing took place that had Deng leading 2-0 in the third game that was tied at 15 when a delay occurred. Taiwan was under IOC rules to compete as Chinese Taipei to appease the Chinese and could not use the national flag of Taiwan. One fan in the stand displayed his own Taiwanese flag, resulting in police arriving to remove the fan. Another fan responded by punching a policeman in the mouth and both fans were removed. Chen won the third game when play resumed, then tied the final by winning game four. Deng won the deciding game decisively to win the gold medal. Nine days earlier in the men's 64 kg (featherweight) weightlifting event, a battle between Turkey's Naim Süleymanoğlu and Greece's Valerios Leonidis had Greek fans sit on one side of the stands of the hall where the weightlifting events were held while the Turkish fans sit on the other side of the stands. The 2.5 hour final had the audience give both Süleymanoğlu and Leonidis standing ovations that was won by the Turk.

The Georgia World Congress Center, first opened in 1976 and expanded twice before the 1996 Olympics, was expanded again in 2002. As of 2010, the three buildings containing the twelve total exhibit halls had a total of.

The Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, opened in 1977 as the Student Athletic Center. The venue was converted into the Aquatic Center for the 1996 Games. It was enclosed in 2004 and renamed the Georgia Tech Campus Recreation Center, which remains in use today.

The temporary structures at Stone Mountain Park were removed after the 1996 Olympics. As of 2010, the former archery and track cycling venues are part of the songbird and habitat trail.

Lake Lanier hosted the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in 2003, the only time they have ever been held in the United States.

Atlanta Beach (now the Clayton County International Park) and The Horse Park continue to be used as of 2010 in their local communities of Jonesboro and Conyers, respectively.

The Hawks remained in The Omni for the 1996–97 NBA season. Following that season, the Hawks moved back to Georgia Tech's Alexander Memorial Coliseum. On July 26, 1997, The Omni was imploded to make way for a new arena for the Hawks and the NHL's expansion Thrashers. Alexander Memorial Coliseum and the Georgia Dome both served as home for the Hawks for the 1997–98 and the 1998–99 seasons while the new venue built on site of the former Omni was being constructed. Philips Arena, the new arena, opened in September 1999 and the Hawks moved in. That same year, the Thrashers moved into Philips to join the NHL. The Hawks continue to use Philips Arena to this day, while the Thrashers would leave Atlanta after the and become the current version of the Winnipeg Jets. On August 29, 2018, Philips Arena was renamed State Farm Arena, coinciding with a $192.5 million renovation to the arena.

The 1996 season would be the last for the Braves at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium. Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium played host to three games of the 1996 World Series where the team lost to the New York Yankees in six games. Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium was imploded on August 2, 1997 and is now a parking lot adjacent to the former Olympic Stadium.

The Georgia Dome hosted Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 when the St. Louis Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans 23–16 in a game that came down to the final play. The venue also played host to the NCAA Men's Final Four in 2002, 2007, and 2013. The Dome was home to the football program of nearby Georgia State University from the team's inception in 2010 through 2016, after which the team moved to Georgia State Stadium. The Falcons' final game in the Dome took place on January 22, 2017, with a 44–21 win over the Green Bay Packers in the 2016 NFC Championship Game. The Dome was closed after its final public event on March 5, 2017, and the stadium was demolished by implosion on November 20, 2017. Its replacement, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, located just south of the Dome, opened on August 26, 2017. Most of the former Georgia Dome site became greenspace for tailgating at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and other community events; a 600-car parking garage and a high rise convention center hotel are also planned for the site. On April 17, 2014, Falcons owner Arthur Blank was awarded an expansion franchise in Major League Soccer, Atlanta United FC; the team began play in 2017 and shares Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the Falcons; however, due to construction delays with Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the soccer club played its home matches at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium, which was not used during the Olympics, during the first half of the 2017 MLS season.

RFK Stadium has remained in use for (American) football, baseball, and soccer since the Games. In football, it hosted its last NFL game on December 22, 1996 with a 37-10 Redskins victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The Redskins moved to Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (FedExField since 2000) in Landover, Maryland (east of Washington, D.C.) the following season, making their debut at the stadium with a 19-13 overtime win over the Arizona Cardinals. Football would return to the stadium in 2008 with the debut of the EagleBank Bowl, a college football bowl game renamed the Military Bowl for 2010. The Military Bowl would continue to be held at RFK through the 2012 edition, after which it was moved to Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

For the 2005 MLB season, RFK was put into use once again as a baseball venue after the relocation of the Montreal Expos to become the Washington Nationals. The Expos left their previous home at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, a 1976 Summer Olympic venue, after the 2004 season. The Nationals made their debut at RFK a winning one, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5–3 on April 14, 2005. The Nationals' final game at RFK Stadium was on September 23, 2007 with a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The team opened its 2008 season in the new Nationals Park, also in the District, where it has remained ever since.

RFK Stadium has seen its most enduring post-Olympics use as a soccer venue. It has been home to the Major League Soccer team D.C. United since the league's creation in 1996, and also hosted the MLS All-Star Game in 2002 and 2004. The Washington Freedom, a women's team originally in the defunct Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), played its home games at RFK during the league's entire existence from 2001 to 2003. In 2009, the WUSA would be effectively relaunched as Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), with the Freedom returning as charter members and playing occasional home games at RFK. The stadium is no longer used for women's club soccer, as WPS folded just before its scheduled 2012 season, and the Washington team in the current National Women's Soccer League does not use RFK. In the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, RFK Stadium hosted six games that included a 1–1 tie between Brazil and France. It has also hosted the USA men's national team 20 times, with the USA winning 12 of the matches—the most wins by the USA at any single stadium. On February 27, 2017, D.C. United broke ground for a new soccer-specific stadium, Audi Field, to be located near Nationals Park. The final D.C. United home match at RFK took place on October 22, 2017, with a 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. D.C. United opened Audi Field on July 14, 2018, with a 3–1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

The Orange Bowl was demolished in 2008, with the site now redeveloped as Marlins Park, a baseball stadium which now serves as the home of the Miami Marlins (formerly the Florida Marlins). The Miami Hurricanes moved to Dolphin Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) after the Orange Bowl's closure and demolition, sharing a home stadium with the NFL's Dolphins for the second time; the Hurricanes and Dolphins had previously shared the Orange Bowl from the Dolphins' AFL inception in 1966 until the 1986 NFL season, when what would become Hard Rock Stadium opened.

The Orlando Citrus Bowl Stadium continued to host the UCF Knights football team until the end of the 2006 season, after of which the team moved into their own on-campus stadium. In an effort to modernise the Citrus Bowl, the stadium's lower bowl was demolished and rebuilt during most of 2014. The renovated stadium officially reopened on November 19, 2014. The stadium, since renamed Camping World Stadium, was home to the Major League Soccer team Orlando City SC and its sister team in the National Women's Soccer League, the Orlando Pride, through their respective 2016 seasons; both teams moved into Orlando City's own soccer-specific stadium for the 2017 MLS and NWSL seasons.

Alexander Memorial Coliseum remains home to the Georgia Tech men's and women's basketball teams. In 2010, the Institute announced that the facility would undergo a major renovation, and would be renamed Hank McCamish Pavilion, after the patriarch of the family that contributed one-third of the $45 million cost. During the 2011–12 season, the teams played at Philips Arena and the Arena at Gwinnett Center, now Infinite Energy Arena, in suburban Duluth; the renovated arena reopened in November 2012.


What was Colette Justine's first art installation?

Colette's first performance/photo work took place in 1970 when she had herself photographed as "Liberty Leading the People" after Delacroix. She presented this work to the public in 1972. In an installation, composed of white parachute silk, embedded lighting, [lightboxes, lavender-painted floors inscribed with her personal code and audios, she posed as Liberté. This tableau vivant could also be viewed from the windows of the gallery. Fred McDarrah photographed it for "The Village Voice" in January 1973.

Colette Justine

Colette Justine better known as Colette and from 2001 Colette Lumiere (born 1952 in Tunis, Tunisia) is a French-born, American multimedia artist known for her pioneering work in performance art, street art and her use of photography constructed photograph. She is also known for her work exploring male and female gender roles, different guises and personas and for her soft fabric environments where she often appears as the central element.

By 1973 Colette had completed the opus of her work: With white silk ruched parachute silk and embedded lighting and no visible furniture she turned her living space into a "Minimal Baroque" sculpture and included herself as part of it. The same year, Stefonatty Gallery NYC, which had just opened its doors, offered her a solo show. The painter Malcolm Morley, and the conceptual artists Les levine, Dennis Oppenheim, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley and Roger Welch also exhibited at Stefonatty. In her first solo show there, sixteen larger-than-life, three-dimensional paintings resembling her, titled "the Sandwomen" were showcased. The gallery office was transformed into a dreamlike environment, in the style of her living space. In this room she posed still everyday for the duration of the exhibition as the "Sleeping Gypsy" after Henri Rousseau and titled it "The Transformation of the Sleepy Gypsy without the Lion". In 1974, Colette posed as Persephone in "Persephone's Bedroom" in a billowing parachute dress for the Norton Museum, in Miami, Florida. The environment created for that theme was made up with what became her trademark, muted treated rushed soft fabrics, which became her trademark. In this space, she embedded mirrors into the fabric walls. Her street works were exhibited in an adjacent room.

In the early 1970s she began creating large street paintings anonymously and soon became known when her identity was discovered by Willoughby Sharp of "Avalanche magazine". In 1973, Al Hansen, the late Fluxus artist, interviewed her in a video tape "The Ear" which records artist painting a huge ear at the Spring Street intersection in SoHo, while Arnold Newman was shooting her for "Verizon magazine".

Colette painted the streets during early morning hours not only to not be identified but also in also to avoid being arrested by the police. One of her better-known street works is "The Lips". In 1974 she painted huge lips on the intersection of West 57th Street, which could be seen from above the windows of her gallery during her exhibition. During her show at the Norton Museum also in 1974, she executed a very long street work "It was here" which included the federal highway in front of the museum. On the morning of Friday 13 December 1974, during an eclipse, Colette completed painting Aristotle text on the pavements. Dressed in a pink satin slip, she ended the work with a sleeping performance on the steps of the museum. It did not take long for the police to arrive and interrupt. That summer, she was invited by Art Tape Florence to do two videos of street art performances: "There Is No Place Like Home" and "L'incident a la place st Unnunziata". Her love partner at the time, furniture designer Dakota Jackson, assisted her and performed in both street works.

Colette's Early Street Works and Window Works were presented the Academy of Arts, Berlin for the "React feminism" exhibition in 2008 and in the traveling show "React Feminism II" which opened October 7, 2011 in Centro Cultural Montehermoso, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The show traveled, with its last presentation in July 2013 in Berlin.

In 1975 Colette was asked to participate in "Fashion as Fantasy" at Rizzoli's bookstore. In this fashion/art event (co-curated by Frederico Suro), a larger-than-life perforated light box of Colette was featured, while throughout the store and its windows Colette performed as "Ragdoll" with veiled breasts, a Victorian corset, bloomers and boots. Images of her "look" and her habit of wearing and incorporating undergarments began to appear not only in art publications, but also in fashion and popular press: "Art News", "Women's Wear Daily", and "Daily News". References to Colette's look worn in art and life, are still made as having inspired a young Madonna and later Lady Gaga. During this time Colette begun to be referred to as a "walking performance".

In 1975 she appeared in many group shows. For the Idea Warehouse in NYC she staged a sleeping tableau "If it takes forever, I will wait for you" using slide projections and musak. Another show, "Lives", also took place downtown in the Fine Arts Building" and was curated by Jeffrey Deitch. In these shows her work was placed with some of the same artists she had exhibited before: Dennis Oppenheim, Roger Welch, Lynda Benglis, Hannah Wilke, Vito Acconci, Bill Beckley, Laurie Anderson, Charlemagne Palestine, Phil Glass, Willoughby Sharp, and Carolee Schneeman.

Later that year at Clocktower she presented "The Dream Series", an exhibition curated by Alanna Heiss. In a large square room, "Real Dream", made of rushed pink satin, embedded lighting and audios, Colette slept nude at its center everyday for the duration of the exhibition. This show was a topic of Jeffrey Deitch interview with Colette for WPS1 art radio in 2009.

For the opening of "PS 1", as part of the "Rooms" exhibition in 1976, she transformed the attic with brown satins and tulle, embedded lighting, props dipped in resin and audios. The work was titled "David' Wraith"and she posed as Marat.

In 1977, Colette represented the US in the Paris Bienale, with "Let them eat Cake" reclining in a lavender and salmon color boudoir. She also constructed "Clearance Sale" in the bedroom of Nancy Gillesby Delaage Gallery in Paris. Two other rooms were occupied with Annette Messager's and Laurie Anderson's work. A few weeks later, she was featured in the performance section of the Cologne Art Fair with other artists: Jack Smith, Marina Abramović, Jurgen Klauke, Laurie Anderson and Michel Butta. She lived for six days in her piece "Ancorra Tu" which resembled her living environment in New York City with her personal belongings and art works, and the public could see her room through a light veil.

For the opening of her street art show "It reappears" at the Eugenia Cucalon gallery which also took place in 1977 she slept in a light blue satin box as "Femme Fatale" which could be seen from the streets and the windows of the gallery. Also exhibited were light boxes referring to famous artists she either admired or knew. ex; "Dennis's chair" (referring to a chair from his work 'the lecture' a gift to the artist; she draped in blue satin and embedded with light). Another work in the show was: "Sleeping on a Carl Andre": a photograph of herself (in a light box) - sleeping on one of his large minimal sculpture nude as it were a pedestal for herself.

In December 1977, at the Museum of Modern Art she performed "Camille II". Adjacent to her performance were installed fragments of "Camille I", (these works now are part of the permanent Brooklyn Museum collection). Another version of Camille was presented in Washington, D.C. at the Polo Gallery. Also on view was her video tape of the performance in the "Downtown NY" show held in Berlin 1976 at the Akademie der Künste, curated by Renee Block. In her performance "Memory of Ophelia and all those who died of Love and Madness" 1976, she laid in an exotic silk and satin room (with sand color, and blue fabric satins and rags), reclining nude next to another female Tabea Blumenschein.to the sound of echoes of her voice with sound of Hamlet's soliloquy "To be or not to be".

In 1978 Colette staged a mock death in an installation/performance at the Downtown Whitney titled "The Last Stitch" part of the "Out of the House" exhibition. She performed her resurrection at PS1 now part of MOMA a few days later as "Justine and the Victorian Punks" (the first in a series of living personas). Justine armed with Colette's vision posed as a recording star, fashion designer, inventor & conceptualizer of products - "The Beautiful Dreamer" (Colette) doll, perfume, beautiful dreamer bed, fashions, lps etc... And was the head of the Colette's estate.

In 1978 Fiorucci invited her to do an exhibition, which included a sleeping installation performance in the windows of the West 59th Street store in NYC. Soon after, Fiorucci began using live models in the store and Colette's "Victorian Punk Look" became part of the 1980s NYC "Downtown New Wave" world. In 1979 Emilio Fiorucci commissioned her to create a line of clothes for the store. Her "Deadly Feminine Line" was showcased in the windows of the boutique and Colette staged a fashion art performance at the Mudd Club in celebration.

During that year, Banco gallery in Brescia, Italy presented "Les actions de Justine"; a mostly blue satin installation with slide projections. She posed as "the Pietà" in it for its opening. In the second room of the gallery, her record album covers, collages embedded in satin, which recorded her life as "Justine" were exhibited.
In 1979 in a store window art exhibition curated by Peter Pakesh held in department stores over the city of Graz, Austria. In her window at K&O, Justine of the Colette is dead Co. posed as a recording star in a white satin environment in her "Victorian Look" promoting her conceptual "beautiful Dreamer Lp" (not yet released). Her music played outside on the streets. Concurrently she transformed one of the large mirror rooms of the Neue Gallery for the exhibition "Masculin Feminin" (curated by Klaus Honnef) as Justine's Disco Punk Church Club. This term has currently surfaced in the music industry to describe current music.
In an installation at Victoria Falls, a vintage boutique on Spring St. NYC, she presented her multimedia spectacle "Ripping myself Off". Clothes she designed, inspired by her image, which had filtered into the commercial world, were displayed inside the store. In its windows she posed as Joan of Arc, in a work entitled "Paranoia is heightened awareness". For its opening a fashion show was staged including the song "Ripping Myself Off" she co-wrote with Albert Crabtree.

During this period nightclubs also became a venue for reaching younger audiences and an ideal setting for her multimedia spectacles - Colette was a regular and performed and exhibited in most of them: Mudd Club, The Underground, Studio 54. Her close association with Rudolf the German nightclub impresario who created Danceteria influenced her to do more nightclub spectacles. Her first installation there, was "Fuck Art Lets Dance" for the opening of the club in May 1980. This led to other young artists showcasing their art there. Colette also appeared in the day and the Night life in her "beautiful dreamer" uniforms inspired by the walls of her legendary environment as a living sculpture: an experiment in walking architecture. The fashion photographer Chris Von Hohenberg assisted her in recording her wearing these uniforms for her series of photo works. In 1981, she joined Niki Carson's La Rocka Modelling agency for unusual models, and staged a multimedia performance in his club Armegedon. By 1984, art in nightclubs was the vogue. The Palladium showcased not only her work but also those of Keith Herring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel.
In 1981 she broke record attendance in three consecutive museums shows: her retrospective - "Colette - 10 Years of Work" at the Kunstverein Munster (with a monograph published by Politi); "Other Realities" at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas (other artists that participated with individual openings weeks apart were Robert Wilson, Joan Jonas, Vito Acconci, and Eleonor Antin); and in the show "Persona" at the New Museum with the Mr. Apology, Lynn Hershmann and Eleanor Antin.

Other public installation/performances putting closure to a period before Colette's departure for Berlin, were Justine's thrift shop on West Broadway (her beautiful dreamer uniforms and gowns were offered for sale to the public with a window work of that theme), and "Art on Stage" a multimedia event held at Danceteria.

In 1984 she received the DAAD one year grant from city of Berlin. Prior to her departure she dismantled her "living environment" - a continuously evolving work of art. The late Leo Castelli was involved in placing this inner sculpture in a well known museum. This fell through, and the environment was dismantled in 1982. The environment was dismantled and placed in storage. Its actual wall fragments (made up of rushed salmon colored satin and white silk parachute material), lightboxes, draped lamps and other furniture as well as her "beautiful dreamer" uniforms have been exhibited over the years: The living installation has never been shown in a public space in its entirety and is currently still in search of a permanent home.

In Berlin she took on a new persona, "Mata Hari" and the Stolen Potatoes. She exhibited her new works and paintings at the Silvia Menzel gallery and Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, and the Danny Keller gallery in Munich. In 1985 she created sets and costumes for the Berlin Opera production of Ravel's "L'heure espagnole" directed by Knutt Summers, and participated with a video room installation in the Venice Biennale for the Italian pavilion.

In 1985 during her stay in Berlin, Three monographs were published on her work: 1."From Silk To Marble" - a series of photographs of Colette transforming herself with a white sheet into sculptures of different periods of history, thus documented the style and fashion of that period.were exhibited with an opening performance re-enacting the images live. Künstlerhaus Bethanien (with the Torkil Gudnason) helped her document the images right before her departure to Berlin. 2."Colette new works and paintings" - 85 for her solo show at the Berlin Kunstverein (published by Kammerer & Unverzagt) and 3."Art on Stage", distributed by the Stadtische Galerie Nordon (Germany). Colette presented a multimedia installation / performance with her works on the stage of its auditorium. Its co-publisher was Daniel Newburg Gallery (New York Gallery which represented her work during that period).

Beginning 1986 Colette moved to Munich, while still maintaining her Pearl St. atelier in New York City. Bavaria became new source of inspiration and a new persona "The Countess Reinchenbach". During this time she created staged photographs from her private performances in the Ludwig Castles, the "Dial C for Scandal" series, "The Secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach", the "Light Figures", which aimed to blend fantasy and reality, art and life (she accidentally lived on Reichenbach Strasse. Her boyfriend's mother was Countess Reichenbach).

During this period, Colette's installations with her art and fashion designs were showcased in the windows of Munich's most prominent department stores: Loden Frey and Ludwig Beck (where her couture wedding dresses were available). At the beginning of her stay there May 1986 she was awarded a studio at Lothringstrasse, which she immediately turned into an environment. In Munich her works were shown at the Dany Keller Gallery and in Berlin where she often commuted to exhibit her works. There, Nathan Federowsky gallery presented "Colette and the Russians", which included Colettesized Russian icons. Her haute couture clothes of ruched and crinkled satin and other fabrics were on view at the Boutique DurBruch. A special presentation was held there with models staged inside the store wearing Colette's one of a kind creations. In NYC, the Gallery of Wearable Art carried her evening one of a kind couture and commissioned her to do a window. During her short return to New York in 1986, before going to Munich she had a solo exhibition at Daniel Newburg gallery "Autobiographs" with an after-opening celebration held with a special installation at Area where the impersonator "Zet "posed in a Colette bed. In a group show, Logosimmi, curated by Alan Jones, Daniel Newburg was introduced to Colette's work and gave her a solo show "Autobiographs" the same year. In 1987, in another solo show "An exhibition for dolls" was presented there. A group of upcoming artists; Richard Prince, Jeff Koons, Sinclair Cemin, Wolfgang Stahle, Taro Suzuki and Frank Shroeder also were exhibited at Daniel Newburg gallery.

In 1988 works from her "Bavarian Adventure", which included, tall light sculptures, large scale altered photographs, objects and collages were exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Frauen Museum in Bonn with a catalogue published by Dumont Verlag in Cologne.

In 1990 in an exhibition in Munich at Carol Johnssen Gallery "Visits to the Normal World" Colette began to use the name Olympia. It was the first of seven solo shows at that gallery. In 1991 she presented her Colettesized commissioned portraits in "The Aristocrats"; among the portraits of local aristocrats were Leslie and Dedlef Von Waggonheim, Kiki and Eckbert Von Buehlen & Urbach; and an installation featuring "The Unnunciation". The subject Colette as "the Countess Reichenbach" (with her then boyfriend actor Misha Tregor ("Count Reichenbach") a regular at the Kammerspiele theater in Munich). In 1991

By 1992 Colette returned to New York and made it once again her primary residence, while continuing to travel and exhibit abroad, especially to Munich and Berlin. During that time her art was represented by the Dorsky Gallery where she exhibited new works from the Bavarian adventure and "the figures come to life". In 1990 the Rempire Gallery in SoHo presented "Through the Looking glass" and "Love in ruins /the artist and her Muse"_ The works from "The secret lives of Count and Countess Reichenbach" were featured among other works referring to other muses, friends, and well-known personages: a portrait of Frida Kahlo and a large light box "the bath" with a young Jeff Koons- (made from a still image of her video "Justine & the Boys"). The Persona Olympia" emerged in 1990 in Munich when she was beginning the process of returning to New York permanently. In 1991, her work was exhibited with Joseph Beuys, John Armedledder in the group show "The Invisible Body" curated by Alan Jones at the Rempire Gallery in NYC.

Once she re-established herself in New York (1992), she named her New York Downtown atelier "The House of Olympia". The work of that decade was inspired by the eighteenth century. Like all her personas, Olympia developed a philosophy based on a message as well as a "look".
The rules of the House of Olympia:

In 1993, an exhibition at LOK gallery in the Meatpacking District titled "The Ruins and Rise of the House of Olympia" Colette presented her new works. A Colette mannequin replaced her presence.

Through the nineties Colette continued to seek various settings and stages in which to exhibit. Eighteenth century salon inspired and "Colettesized"artworks were installed in environments created for them:- ex;" Colette goes Uptown "Uptown Downtown gallery" (1995), Eugenia Cucalon (1996) "the House of Olympia persists its way unto reality ", "Me Myself and I", Carol Johnssen, Munich. At the Lowen Palais part of the Starke Foundation in Berlin, she was given her own "Colette Salon". There she periodically appeared and entertained in eighteenth century style, and presented her latest comissined portraits and works of art work of her choice.

In 1997 the "Salon de la Refusee" at the Gerswirn Hotel was viewed both by an art audience as well as random passers-by. Through its windows a Colette mannequin sculpture was installed in the gallery space, along with Colette's new works and objects, that incorporated her life's costumes. Simultaneously, In a show titled Art?fashion, another Colette mannequin sculpture dressed in one of her rushed gowns worn in live performances during her"Nightclubbing"days of the early 1980s was featured at the downtown Guggenheim Museum. Nightclubs continued to be a place of celebration after her opening exhibitions as well as a and showcase for her art. ex; The Palladium 1992, Life Club in 1997 after the opening of Le Salon de La Refusee, The Limelight in 1990, and in 1998 a multimedia production with art work, video installations, and a tableau appearance for the opening to songs co-written with Jacob Engel. 1990& 1998-., Club U.S.A "to celebrate chivalry and good manners".

During her House of Olympia period, the Guggenheim Museum in 1992 acquired and later exhibited a large scale box sculpture from the Justine - "Reverse Pop Series " (1978) with LPs and other personal items. In 1993, another of her life-size light boxes from the series "Major works form the estate" (1980) which was exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Art (1980) and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Houston, Texas, was acquired and exhibited at the MOCA. In 1993 another large work from that series was placed in museum of FIU's permanent collection in Miami, Florida. 1993, Newport Harbor Museum, Los Angeles, acquired and exhibited a large wall fragment from her living environment(1982. In 1995 one of her large constructed photographs from "Real I Dream" (1975) became part of the Ludwig Museumin Cologne collection, and also exhibited in "The Nude Photograph".

In 1999 "Poses", a retrospective of her constructed and stage photo/performance works, (beginning with the early seventies till 99) was held at the KIM Foster Show in Chelsea. A monograph "The Essence of Olympia" dedicated to that persona and its creations was published by "the Institut" (a gallery in Berlin Mitte) where she had a solo exhibition, and the Carol Johnssen gallery in Munich in 1997.

Colette begun using the name "Lumiere" publicly following the September 11 attacks after she was allowed to reenter her Lower Manhattan atelier, which had been covered with white dust from the nearby catastrophe.

Her introduction to her new paintings as "Lumiere" was in NY at Egizio's Projects in January 2002. Later that year, more works by Lumiere were featured in the 3rd Montreal Biennale curated by Claude Gosselin - "The New Me" in 2002. Inside the Mexican Consulate gallery space (loaned to the biennale for the duration of the show), Colette reinstalled her downtown atelier now called "Maison Lumiere". Located in the center of the city and with large ground floor windows, the space was intentionally designed to give the appearance, at first glance,of a high-profile fashion boutique, a home, or a showroom. For its audios the theme song "A la Maison de la lumiere " was co-written with Jacob Engel.

Other shows and highlights of that period concentrated on reaching larger audiences and Colette began using the label "C.I.A. - Colette Institute of Art" and its no 1. Moto - "Fight Terror with Glamor, also " beware of When In Pink ". She presented her C.I.A. (Colette institute of Art) with an installation performance on April 1st at the NYC club" Crowbar". In "Domestic Bliss" (1994), an arresting vision that featured a long pink table with Lumiere plates, could be seen from the streets of Rosenthal's Madison Avenue Rosenthal's Show Room. The Mannequin replacing Colette, was attached to a long table with a train containing at its end a large pile of record albums size artworks from "The Story of my life" series.(78-)

"The Bedroom" in Tokyo - 2004-5 - an entire floor of HPGRP Fashion building in Ginza, a "gesumpkunstwerk" made of light pink rushed satin with her paintings, light sculpture, furniture, clothes, accessories and CDs.

Solo gallery shows in 2006 included: new works from "Maison Lumiere" at Pablos' Birthday gallery, "Lumiere's Dinner at eight" at Carol Johnssen Gallery, and "Intriguing Faces" featuring new "Colettesized portraits" at Vivian Horan Gallery. A portrait of the filmmaker art collector Katerina Otto Bernstein in an eighteenth-century costume, and that of actor Gabriel Byrne dressed as a general, were in the show.

Other installations incorporating fashion and "Fragments of her life" were -" The "ApARTment" exhibition at HPGRP gallery in the Meatpacking District 2007, with installations within the installation :In one of the corners was an installation work titled "Be bold with new beginnings" featured a Colette mannequin sculpture with long white gloves, viewed from the back looking at the window with a series of white suitcases following her. Other sections displayed racks of clothes, furniture,and art made at different times displayed on shelves or stacked against the walls. The exhibition addressed the nomadic life of the artist, particularly addressing personal concerns at the time and the uncertainties of human existence in general. "The Closet" - at Windows Gallery, Long Island City, reconstruction of the clothes of her closet resembling a thrift shop with street painting leading to it from PS1.connecting the artist history there to the current show.) These shows proceeded the unnounced vacatefrom her loft, that came soon after and were somewhat prophetic. By 2008 Colette had relocated and was awarded a wonderful studio space at The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art foundation in Dumbo for a year. She transformed her new atelier into a living space and there was able to begin a new body of works. She travelled to Berlin, to participate "React Feminism" (2008) held at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. Early street works and store window installations performances were presented, as well as a live re-enaction of a "Beautiful Dreamer" installation with performance and audios.

Her Pearl Street atelier in New York, which was written about by Arturo Schwarz, Peter Selz, Brendan Gill, Jeffrey Deitch and Alan Jones, and published in "Vogue", the "New York Times", Art Forum, and "The National Enquirer" (1995) was demolished in November 2007. A 16-minute film "The Last Days of Pearl Street" documented the destruction with Street Work "Appearances" by Colette.

In 2008–2009 Colette converted her studio at the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art into a home environment, and began a series of new metaphysical portraits; mostly of friends and colleagues :Alessandra Anderson Spivy, Roger Webster, Anthony Hayden Guest, Katerina Otto Bernstein, Donald Bachlor, Kevin Baker etc.. ; and a few celebrities of her generation; David Bowie, Jim Jarmusch, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Blondie and Richard Gere. the studio was open to the public in spring 2009. In February 2010 Colette exhibited these portraits and her "Street Paintings" at Destination Art Space in an installation : "That's All She Wrote" (a 3-minute music video documenting this transition and putting closure to the tragedy of losing her atelier). For the Windows of Boutique/art space she created a Valentine onsite installation "The Letter" with light blue rushed and torn satin, shredded soft white wig material and a Colette Mannequin sculpture holding "a return to sender" envelope.

In 2010/2011 Pavel Zoubok gallery represented Colette's work in New York with a show called "Girl Talk".. And her work has been exhibited and in the collection of his "Collage Center".She continues to present her multimedia works internationally. Due to the current interest in Street Art and the seventies and eighties style and culture, her earlier works are being re-exhibited. Her "Sepia Color Beautiful Dreamer LP" with Peter Gordon (1979) was released on November 9, 2010 by the DFA label. The archival video "Justine and the Boys" (1979) starring Jeff Koons and Richard Prince was presented as part as the "Indomitable women" show in Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art in 2010. Her lightboxes, part of her living environment (1972–83) (that Leo Castelli helped to preserve and which was written about by Peter Selz in "Art of our times" and Arturo Schwarz in Poliliti's monograph "Colette - 10 years of work") was shown at the James Graham & Sons Gallery in NYC in an exhibition called "Consider the Oyster" curated by Ingrid Dinter. At Black and White Projects, in a show called "Basic Instinct" curated by Sasha Oykstein, early staged photographs from the 1970s are part of her installation, which also features a larger-than-life image of herself as living doll (wrapped in satin) in her living environment 1978. "La reine soleil" an installation with artworks was showcased at Pavel Zoubok gallery booth "Basel - Pulse art fair" in Miami, December 2010. During the Art show at the Armory, March 2010. she performed The Arrival of Mademoiselle Lumiere at the Pavel Zoubok booth.

list of other shows in - Laboratoire Lumiere has participated in 2011:In 2011, art critic Alan Jones curated a solo show of her works at Paolo Barozzi Gallery in Venice during the Biennale;and the following her The Film "A Pirate in Venice" a documentary on Colette shot in Venice by Friedericke Taylor, was presented for the first time in NY at the Gershwirn Hotel May 2012 and again the following year.
On 14 February 2013, Valentine's Day, Colette had a solo exhibition titled "Colette & Sandy " where she exhibited over 40 works from the 70's till 2012. Works that had been excavated,some embellished from Laboratoire Lumiere. her studio/storage which had been under 9 ft of water due to Sandy. Her works were also featured MAy 2013 on 98 bowery on line site. and can still be viewed there. She was featured in group show at Peanut Underground NYC'Pirate Utopia" opening the same day as another viewing of her film "A Pirate in Venice", which was also featured in the Mikenos Art Biennale that summer.
In October 2013, she participated on the panel at the Brooklyn Museum, organized by the Collage center, and the Sackler division of feminist art at the museum. About the same time the travelling show React Feminism II. closed at The Berlin Akademie Der Kunste curated by Beatrice Stammer and Bettina Knaup. For the new Year, and Thru Feb 2nd. 2014 IFAC curatorial, opened their headquarters on Delancey St, with a" Homage to Colette" which presented works from her "Reverse Pop" Justine of the Colette is Dead Co. 78-83. February 6 to March 6 she was featured in "Japonism in Contemporary Art"at the Nippon Club, curated by Emil Memon and Kyoko Saito Ono. On Feb 18, 2014 (till March 23rd). Undercurrent Projects, previously knows as Peanut Underground, opened their new space on March 18th with a solo exhibition "Metaphysical Portraits and other Experiments from Laboratoire Lumiere>. An installation in process. Featured were her new "Metaphysical Portraits " which included the series "Artists& the silver Screen".

Laboratoire Lumiere Relocates - 2015-2017 Since 2015 Colette Has Relocated her "Laboratoire Lumiere " in Berlin, as artist in residence @ the Lowen Palais /Art Foundation Starke. While still commuting to NYC. in 2015. She participated in many shows in Berlin.:"Spring Fever "@HAgn. 2015. "Lumiere Occupies the Lowen Palais". 2015. Group shows ; "Displaced "(Luckenwelde) June 2015. curated by Emily Puetter.," Macrocosmi", curated by Pascual Jordan and Petra Dregger, (Rathaus Schoneberg, Wekstadd Gallery, "Time Lies" @ Kino International etc. & in NYC. Sept Oct. 2015. Glenn Horowitz /Rare Gallery., "The Dowtown Decade". work of street arrest in early seventies for painting the streets of Soho. (from series " Records from the story of my life"70's till now lp size.)
"'In 2016. in Berlin" : @,'"Dreamcatcher;" for the Wurfel for Neumeister Barn Am, (May/June 2016), "Vis a Vis :may july."Photo Kunst," gallery, Sleeping on a Carl Andre@ ArtVon Frei summer show. NYC;"Concept Performance, Documentation@ Mitchel Algus Gallery. Feb. 2016. Lisa Cooley Gallery. "Active Ingredient", Jan. 2016. & #40 exhibition @PS1 Moma. a large scale installation In the attic "There's a Mermaid in the Attic" with another installation/ tableau performance within it. a"Homage to Duchamp's Extant Donne; June/Nov. 2016.
In 2017. Berlin; "Me Myself and I" @ 68 projects Berlin (with Jurgen Klauke, Nan Golden. Ming Wong etc., A on-site installation for Thanda Projects in Zulu Land "Les Tresors de Lafrique > /Lumiere in Zululand. created while in residency for Star for Life Foundation, Curated by Johan Faulker. In her solo exhibition at Starke Foundation, Lumiere occupies the Lowen Palais II March 2017. Colette Previewed new works in the main gallery. Many Of the new works Featured different versions " of "The Woman with the Golden Mask" tribute to the unknown artist" post ups of the image of Colette in a Gold Venetian Mask were plastered all around Berlin, particularly Charlottenburg in 2015 when Colette first arrived to Berlin, in recognition of the multitude of artists in the transformed crowded, competitive city seeking recognition. During the exhibition a screening room presented for the first time to the Berlin Public "A Pirate in Venice" a most recent documentary on Colette by Friederike Schaefer. 2012. And An room installation /video marathon presented other Documentaries of her work by Michel Auder, Anton Perich, Robert Polidori, Paul Tschinkel, Marc Miller, Charlie Ahearn, Enzo Cupia. etc. Other rooms dedicated to other living personas of her history, were on viewed throughout the building.
Other news for 2016. Colette was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Multi Media., A limited edition of "Colette Street Works/70's " was published by Antoine Levfebre Editions and presented in an installation at the Hamburger Banhoff Dec 2016, (also At the Book Fair At PS1 MOMA. Sept 2016 and LA. Book Fair 2017). She has also Been involved in An going collaborative Project Investigating a found cassette of herself being interviewed by Warohl in 1975. which will be presented as A Film/Exhibition. in 2017.
recent interview : http://www.sopranointhecity.com/blog/2017/4/22/who-is-that-woman-in-the-golden-mask -may 2017.

Colette the artist has been documented in films and videos on her life and art. the most recent documentary a Pirate in Venice by Friedericke Schaefer, "Looking for Gaga " by Josh Gilbert. went viral January 2012.Colette the Artists (Art Tapes by Paul Tschinkell (1993), Charlie Ahearn (1995), Enzo Capio (2000), Michel Auder (1970s to 1980s), Anton Perich (1970s to 1980s), Robert Polidori (1979), Wolfgang Staehle (1983) and Werner Rauenne (1984). Marc Miller interviews her in Paul Tschinkell's Inner Tube. in 1983. in a video that also included interviews with Robert Longo.


What is the surface area of the Caspian Sea?

The Caspian Sea is the largest lake on Earth by both area and volume, with a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres (143,244 mi²) and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres (18,761 mi³). It is a landlocked endorheic body of water and lies between Asia and Europe. It has a maximum depth of about. It is called a sea because when the Romans discovered it they tasted the water and found it to be salty. It has a salinity of approximately 1.2 percent, about a third the salinity of sea water.

Environment of Azerbaijan

The environment of Azerbaijan includes a wide diversity of climates, animals, plants, and habitats.

Due to the tapping of oil reserves in the early 20th century, Azerbaijan has had sufficient resources to develop an industrial sector, which in turn led to a significant increase in pollution. Under the centrally-planned Soviet command economy Baku became an industrialized capital city. Moscow could, for example, order that all air conditioners in the Soviet Union be built in Azerbaijan, such arbitrary and unilateral control of industrial output often led to environmental neglect and increased pollution, which caused serious damage to nature within Azerbaijan.

Since the independence of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani government has taken drastic measures to preserve the unique nature of Azerbaijan. But national protection of Azeri nature started truly functioning after 2001 when the state budget increased due to new revenues provided by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. Within the last four years protected nature areas doubled to is equal to eight percent of the country's territory. The measures taken by the president were applauded by foreign organizations, in fact, President Ilham Aliyev was awarded Germany Mikhail Zhukov Fund's prize for his successful ecological policy on 19 October 2006.

Since 2001 the government has set up seven large reserves and almost doubled the sector of the budget earmarked for environmental protection.

On October 4, 2016 Azerbaijani officials announced their plans for further improvement of the ecological situation in Baku Bay, which will take place during 2016-2020.

The state-run Nature Reserves aim to protect nature, wildlife and the environment. They allow scientists to conduct natural research. They are specifically designed for the protection of common and rare species of flora and fauna. Azeri law strictly prohibits industrial development or meddling with animals or plants within the borders of the state parks.

There are 16 state natural parks in Azerbaijan that preserve and protect the fauna, flora and their ecosystems. See below for the list:National Parks of Azerbaijan refers to the National Parks in the territory of Azerbaijan. National Parks have peculiarities and ensure a strong security system and all favorable conditions for animals living within the park. National Parks in Azerbaijan are restricted tourism zones but are open for observation of the natural processes. Ecotourism and other infrastructural constructions are currently being established in the national parks of Azerbaijan.

As a country located in both the Caucasus and Asia Minor, between the Black and Caspian Seas, Azerbaijan has a rich natural culture, and the widest biodiversity of all the European states and has enormous natural resources. The natural reserves play a crucial role in the preservation of this biodiversity.

Azerbaijan has a total of 7 national parks, 13 state natural parks and 21 reserves, which can be seen here below. A seventh national park the Shakhdag National Park was established in 2008, Shakhdag is the largest national park in the Caucasus and one of the largest in Europe.Game Reserves are reserves with the purpose of maintaining wildlife. Some game reserves also allow hunting. The State Game Reserves in Major Caucasus in Azerbaijan are:

The natural complexes with the Minor Caucasus are:

Four State Game Reserves of Azerbaijan (Lachyn, Gubadly, Dashalty, Arazboylu with a total area of about 440 km²) are not currently operating as a result of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

Azerbaijan is home to a vast variety of landscapes. Over half of Azerbaijan's land mass consists of mountain ridges, crests, yailas and plateaus which rise up to hypsometric levels of 400–1000 meters (including the Middle and Lower lowlands), in some places (Talis, Jeyranchol-Ajinohur and Langabiz-Alat foreranges) up to 100–120 metres, and others from 0 – 50 meters and up (Gobustan, Absheron). The rest of Azerbaijan's terrain consist of plains and lowlands. Hypsometric marks within the Caucasus region vary from about -28 metres at the Caspian Sea shoreline up to 4466 metres at Mount Bazardüzü.

The geology of Azerbaijan forms a constituent geological part of the Alpine folded belt. Sedimentary deposits embracing the southwestern parts of the Major and Minor Caucasus, including the intermountain Kur-River trough, as well as the Mid- and South Caspian basins consist of diversity fold systems. The Earth's crust thickness in Azerbaijan varies in the range from 38 to 55 km. Its maximum thickness is observed in the Minor Caucasus area, while its minimum thickness is typical for the Talysh foothills. Geological setting of the area consists of sedimentary, volcanic-sedimentary, volcanic and terrestrial deposits embracing almost entire stratigraphic range beginning from pre-Cambrian period up to Holocene time.

The climate of Azerbaijan is unique, as nine of the Earth's eleven climate zones are found in Azerbaijan.

Temperature, precipitation, humidity, evaporation and cloudiness all influence the landscape and climate of Azerbaijan.

The climate varies considerably from east to west. In the western mountains, the weather is drier and more extreme. The eastern part of Azerbaijan, near the Caspian Sea, has a more moderate climate.
As a predominantly mountainous country, Azerbaijan is surrounded by the Greater Caucasus, Lesser Caucasus, Talysh Mountains and North Iranian Mountains.

All these aspects create a unique climate in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has a rich flora, over 4,500 species of plants have been classified in the country. Due the unique climate in Azerbaijan, flora is much richer - based on the number of species - than that of other republics of the South Caucasus. About two thirds of all of the species present in the entire Caucasus region can be found in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan has an amazingly rich and diverse fauna. The first reports of the diversity of animal life in Azerbaijan can be found in travel notes of Eastern travelers. Animal carvings on architectural monuments, ancient rocks and stones survived up to the present times.

There are 106 species of mammals, 97 species of fish, 363 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians and 52 species of reptiles which have been recorded and classified in Azerbaijan.

The natural habitat of various types of animals varies within the country. Some species only populate special restricted areas (lakes, parts of mountainous areas) while others are spread throughout the country. For example, passerines can be found anywhere in the territory of Azerbaijan. Protozoa parasites are also registered in all areas of the country, depending on natural habitat of carrier animals such as cattle and poultry. Among mammals, jeyran gazelles populate plain areas, Caucasian goats inhabit the Major Caucasus areas, most species of birds can be found in forests, some in water basins. Some insects occupy agricultural fields, while others are only present in defined ecosystems.

A number of animal species are protected from hunting within the natural reserves of Azerbaijan.

The symbol of fauna in Azerbaijan is the Karabakh horse which is a mountain-steppe racing and riding horse found only in Azerbaijan. The Karabakh horse is esteemed for its good temper, speed, elegance and intelligence. It is one of the oldest breeds, with ancestry dating to the ancient world. The horse was originally developed in the Karabakh region in the 5th century and is named after it. Due to the Armenian occupation of Karabakh the last remaining Karabakh horses reside in Shaki.

Rivers form the principal part of the water systems of Azerbaijan. There are 8,359 rivers of various lengths within Azerbaijan. Of them 8,188 rivers are less than 25 kilometers in length. Only 24 rivers are over 100 kilometers long.

Like most republics of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan experienced rapid development of all spheres of economics and human activity, which led to an all-round negative impact on the environment, including the inefficient usage of natural resources.