Ten buildings form Uzbekistan and Central Asia’s first modernist World Heritage sites
Tashkent
Uzbekistan
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The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has officially inscribed Tashkent’s modernist architecture on the World Heritage List during its 48th session in Busan, Republic of Korea. This recognition includes ten landmark buildings in Uzbekistan’s capital, constructed between the 1960s and the early 1990s.
Tashkent modernism
Central Asia has participated in the international modern movement since the 1920s, with Tashkent’s architectural landscape representing a key second chapter of twentieth-century modernisation. The UNESCO designation acknowledges the “Outstanding Universal Value” of these sites, highlighting how international modernism successfully merged with Uzbekistan’s specific cultural, climatic, and spatial traditions.
The inscribed properties—which include civic, cultural, scientific, and residential structures—feature a unique blend of standardised systems and site-specific construction. They combine modernist abstraction with traditional elements like courtyards, loggias, and monumental art, reflecting Uzbekistan’s ability to synthesise diverse historical influences into a cohesive identity. This recognition supports President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s vision of positioning cultural heritage as a pillar of national development.
Gayane Umerova, Chairperson of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation and the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO, says:
“This inscription brings a vital part of Uzbekistan’s recent architectural history into the international account of twentieth-century heritage and the global modernist movement. These buildings record how Tashkent imagined public life, collective identity and the future through architecture. The UNESCO recognition also carries a long-term responsibility: to conserve these buildings with rigour, keep them part of the life of the city and pass their knowledge to future generations.”
Tashkent’s modernist transformation was significantly accelerated by the 1966 earthquake, leading to wide-scale urban planning that integrated prefabrication and seismic engineering with local architectural heritage. These buildings remain active parts of the city today.
From research to legal protection
The path to recognition began with Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI, a 2021 research project initiated by the ACDF and an international team coordinated by Milan-based architecture and design studio GRACE. Core collaborators include: Politecnico di Milano’s Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, architectural historian Boris Chukhovich, Laboratorio Permanente, Novaya Zemlya, and photographer Armin Linke. Rem Koolhaas and Jean-Louis Cohen were close advisors to the project.
The team documented twenty-four buildings, producing detailed “passports” that informed conservation efforts. Between 2019 and 2024, twenty-one of these buildings were added to Uzbekistan’s State Cadastre of Cultural Heritage. The research was disseminated through various exhibitions, academic conferences, and publications, including Tashkent: A Modernist Capital (Rizzoli, 2024) and Tashkent Modernism XX/XXI (Lars Müller Publishers, 2025).
Ekaterina Golovatyuk of GRACE and Davide Del Curto of Politecnico di Milano say:
“Our research aimed to contribute to the broadening recognition of the diverse ways modernism has manifested itself globally. It stimulated a conceptual rethinking of modernism’s cultural and geographical roots and the way and places it arose and flourished worldwide.”
The UNESCO World Heritage nomination
The research provided the foundation for the official nomination. After sixteen buildings were placed on the Tentative List in early 2024, a coordinated effort by the Cultural Heritage Agency of Uzbekistan and Politecnico di Milano refined the selection to ten core components. ACDF submitted the final dossier in January 2025.
World Heritage status provides an international framework for long-term stewardship. ACDF will co-manage the sites within the Tashkent Modernist Architecture Expert Council, prioritising the preservation of architectural fabric, monitoring, and ensuring that future urban adaptations respect the significance of these modernist landmarks.
