Is Uzbekistan the next great architectural destination?

The former Soviet republic is teeming with brutalist, orientalist, modernist, futurist and neoclassical buildings — and has ambitious plans for new architectural landmarks.

Driving through Tashkent feels like flipping through an architecture picture book teeming with examples of Soviet brutalist, orientalist, modernist, futurist and neoclassical styles. One marvel after another, buildings in Uzbekistan’s capital city whiz by like a carousel for design lovers. After an earthquake leveled much of its infrastructure in 1966, Tashkent became a laboratory of urbanism. Architects arrived en masse to rebuild roads, apartment blocks, hotels, theaters, shopping malls, metro stations and a panoply of public structures that offered different takes on progressive socialist living. Today, new landmarks designed by the firms of “starchitects” such as the late Zaha Hadid and Tadao Ando are in the works, as well as an “Olympic City” comprising five state-of-the-art sports venues for the 2025 Asian Youth Olympic Games. Beyond the capital, the cities of Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva contain an array of ancient “toki” (domed markets), “madrasa” (schools) and “caravanserai” (inns) built for traders who traversed the Silk Road. Now, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s government is pouring resources into highlighting this rich architectural legacy as part of a campaign to open the former USSR republic to the world. Conservation work on its historic sites is a top priority. “By preserving and restoring these unique architectural treasures, we position Uzbekistan as a global cultural destination,” said Gayane Umerova, chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art & Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) in a statement to CNN. The investment, she added, will be paid off “through increased tourism revenue, job creation, urban revitalization, and cultural branding, as well as preserving and reimagining our heritage in this new era.” Reimagining a collective identity is something of a preoccupation for a nation that only gained its independence from the USSR in 1991. Within Uzbekistan, where 60% of the population is under 30 years old, not everyone is particularly enamored with vestiges of its Soviet past. Young Uzbeks often opt to live in Western-style apartments and point to the gleaming towers in the international business district, including the sprawling Tashkent City Mall, as points of pride. Inevitably, generic glass-and-steel modernity sometimes buts against preservationists’ agendas. The demolition of the iconic Dom Kino cinema house — to make way for a business park — in 2017, in particular, spurred heritage advocates to action.