Project concept for reconstruction of the Museum of Arts building, developed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando, approved

The final project will be presented by the end of 2020. The project for the reconstruction of the State Art Museum of Uzbekistan, planned for 2019-22, is being implemented by the Fund for Development of Culture and Arts under the Ministry of Culture.

The area adjacent to the museum at the intersection of Shahrisabz, T. Shevchenko and Yakka Chinor streets has been transferred to the State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan for expansion and modernization. The additional space allows for the full implementation of the Tadao Ando concept. A new exhibition gallery made of glass and concrete and with a total area of more than 17,000 square meters, typical for Tadao Ando architecture, will be built in the allotted area.

At the same time, a green terrace will be built on the roof of the existing building – an intermediate space that will serve to connect the new and old buildings. Reconstruction of the museum building will increase the total area of the facility to 25,000 square meters, which will expand the exhibition area of the museum and create a new warehouse that meets modern requirements.

The current museum building, designed by architects I. Abdulov, A. Nikiforov, S. Rosenblum, was built in 1974 and is an architectural monument. The special significance of this project is that the project of reconstruction of the museum building, developed by Tadao Ando, combines modern trends in architecture with the historical value and integrity of the object and reflects the social architecture of today.

“I would like the concept of this museum to be a circle and a square. I want to create a modern museum that combines the basic elements of the values of history and tradition,” Tadao Ando said.

Tadao Ando, born 13 September 1941, is a Japanese self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as “critical regionalism”. He is the winner of the 1995 Pritzker Prize. Ando’s buildings are often characterized by complex three-dimensional circulation paths. These paths weave in between interior and exterior spaces formed both inside large-scale geometric shapes and in the spaces between them.

It should be noted that the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts under the Ministry of Culture has established cooperation with such world-famous museums as the Louvre, the Arab World Institute (Paris, France), Albertina (Vienna, Austria), James Simon Gallery (Berlin, Germany), Tretyakov Gallery, Hermitage (Russia) to implement joint projects at the renovated State Museum of Art of Uzbekistan.