Uzbekistani Architecture

Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan and one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, has long been shaped by a hybrid culture. Located at a strategic point along the Silk Road, the city developed an architectural tradition defined by inner courtyards, domes, decorative ceramics, and Islamic geometric patterns. The annexation by the Russian Empire in the 19th century introduced administrative buildings, orthogonal squares, and straight avenues, creating a dual urban fabric — between the “old” Eastern city and the “new” European one — in which contrasts and overlaps became the norm.

Known today for her poetic yet rigorous approach to architecture, Lina Ghotmeh has become one of the most compelling voices in contemporary design. Her work spans continents, from the British Museum's Western Range redesign in London to AlUla's Contemporary Art Museum, and includes landmark commissions such as the Serpentine Pavilion in London, Stone Garden in Beirut, the Bahrain Pavilion at the 2025 Expo Osaka, and the Estonian National Museum in Tartu, Estonia which she won the competition to design at just 25. Through a palimpsest of projects, Ghotmeh has established a distinctive architectural language that bridges memory and contemporary life. Wherever she builds, her process captures a constant dialogue between people, place, past and future.

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In April 2024, the Diriyah Biennale Foundation announced the AlMusalla Prize, an international architecture competition focused on designing a musalla: a flexible space for prayer and reflection accessible to people of all faiths. The winning project, designed by EAST Architecture Studio in collaboration with artist Rayyane Tabet and engineering firm AKT II, is a modular structure built with materials derived from local date palm waste, including fronds and fibers, and inspired by regional weaving traditions. Installed in the Western Hajj Terminal of King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the musalla served for four months during the Islamic Arts Biennale as a space for prayer, welcoming both Muslim and non-Muslim visitors. Conceived to be dismantled and reassembled, the structure was recently relocated to Uzbekistan for the inaugural Bukhara Biennial 2025.

Uzbekistan's architectural and artistic heritage reflects a layered history shaped by centuries of cultural exchange along the Silk Road. From the monumental ensembles of Samarkand and Bukhara to the scientific and educational institutions of the Timurid era, architecture has long been a vessel of identity and knowledge across the region. In the twentieth century, Tashkent emerged as a new urban laboratory, where modernist ideals met local craft traditions and environmental pragmatism. The city's reconstruction following the 1966 earthquake became a defining moment, fusing Soviet urbanism with regional aesthetics to produce a distinctly Central Asian expression of modernity, one that translated cultural continuity into concrete, glass, and light.

Since its inauguration this spring, Expo 2025 Osaka has captured global attention from multiple perspectives, demonstrating how architecture can function as a laboratory for exploring solutions to pressing challenges. After 55 years, Osaka is once again hosting the World Expo, with each installation organized around the sub-themes Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting Lives. These pavilions take forms that express the identity and values of their region through distinctive architectural languages, forming the central axis of their design. Building on this foundation, some installations serve as laboratories for the future society, utilizing technology to enhance experiences both inside and outside the spaces, transforming the visit through light, sound, visuals, and movement as part of the technological innovation showcased at the event.

The inaugural edition of the Bukhara Biennial opened on September 5, 2025, bringing over 70 site-specific commissions by more than 200 participants from 39 countries to the historic core of the Uzbek city. Commissioned by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) and Commissioner Gayane Umerova, the Biennial is described as the largest and most diverse cultural event in Central Asia to date. Curated by Diana Campbell under the theme Recipes for Broken Hearts, the ten-week event is staged across a constellation of newly restored sites, including madrassas, caravanserais, and mosques, all part of Bukhara's UNESCO World Heritage listing. Beyond an exhibition platform, the biennial is framed as part of a broader master plan, positioning culture as a catalyst for urban transformation and heritage renewal.

Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture has recently unveiled images of a project to transform a historic residence in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, into a "21st-century cultural destination." The proposal envisions a museum dedicated to the ideas and influence of Jadidism, a Muslim reform movement that advocated for the modernization of education across Central Asia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) has announced the transformation of a 1912 industrial building in Tashkent into the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA), set to become the first permanent institution dedicated to contemporary art and research in Central Asia. Designed by the French architecture practice Studio KO, led by Karl Fournier and Olivier Marty, the project integrates preservation of the city's industrial heritage with a new cultural identity for the historic site. The building, originally designed by Wilhelm Heizelmann, known for the Treasury Chamber, was constructed as a diesel station and depot for Tashkent's first tram line. After decades of serving the city's electricity network, the structure was transferred to the Foundation in 2019 as part of Uzbekistan's long-term cultural development strategy. Under the leadership of Gayane Umerova, the project now represents a major step in shaping a contemporary cultural infrastructure for the region.

The Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF) has announced the groundbreaking of the National Museum of Uzbekistan, designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Marking Ando's first major project in Central Asia, the museum is envisioned as both an architectural and cultural landmark in Tashkent. Planned to open in March 2028, the building reflects Ando's minimalist architectural language, integrating references to Uzbekistan's heritage with his characteristic use of geometry, natural light, and spatial clarity.

Uzbekistan has revealed the latest photographs of the pavilion for Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, after the recent opening. Designed by Atelier Brückner and realized by NUSSLI, the pavilion aims to showcase the country's vision for the future under the Expo's broader theme, "Designing the Future Society for Our Lives." Composed of modular, reusable wooden elements, the pavilion's architecture will later be reconstructed in Uzbekistan, serving as a studio, workshop, or school.