Hotel Uzbekistan
A darling of postcard views, featured in countless articles, blogs, books and albums on Soviet Modernism: the Hotel Uzbekistan is an architectural icon. Alexander Fedorov from the Tashkent Modernism poster-art project takes us on a guided journey through one of the most well-known buildings in Uzbekistan.
By: Alexander Fedorov
Built in 1974 by a team of designers led by Ilya Merport, at the planning stage the hotel was slated to be branded the ‘Intourist Hotel’ (Intourist being the primary Soviet travel agency) and was to be smaller with fewer floors. But at the time, Tashkent was becoming increasingly important as the ‘Eastern Facade and Showcase City’ of the Soviet Union, and there was a flood of international events and tourist flow to the city. So, the plans for the hotel were scaled up, making it into one of the most important construction projects of the time. Designed primarily to receive large groups, such as participants in international competitions and conferences, the number of floors was increased to 17 and the capacity went up from the initially planned 750 to a whopping 900 guests.
Comparisons have been made with the grand Cosmos Hotel, which was built several years later, as well as the famed ‘book houses’ – a series of tower blocks on New Arbat Avenue in Moscow. Hotel Uzbekistan certainly shares similarities with these structures, particularly the open-book shape of the book houses, but it also stands out with its delicate, detailed and yet structural and functional features. It represents a kind of synthesis of two stylistically different directions of Modernism: Orientalism and Brutalism.
Brutalism is most present in the large details on the hotel’s eastern facade and the monumentality of the building with its almost ‘blank’ ends and a plastic ‘visor’ on the roof of the restaurant block.
Due to Tashkent’s sunny, warm climate, there was an urgent need for additional cooling systems. The designers did this by adding an aluminium screen on the western facade, which had a functional purpose and served as an expression of both Uzbek Modernism and vivid Orientalism. This sun screen was later nicknamed the ‘paranja’ (Uzbek-style burqa or ‘pandjara’ in some sources).
Structurally, the hotel building consists of a high-rise tower with residential rooms adjacent to a two-storey stylobate (base with columns). The stylobate and the addition of a wide entrance staircase emphasise the building’s monumentality and enhance its height.
Adjacent to the high-rise tower, the two-story section forms a courtyard with a gallery that offers improved aeration in summer months. A restaurant is situated around the free space of the courtyard, which also contains a teahouse overlooking a reflecting pool designed to keep the space comfortable even when the temperature soars above 45°C. Sufas (in Arabic architecture, a protruding stone ledge or bench) in the form of cantilever slabs hang over the pool. The use of sliding panels (glass in aluminum bindings) in the enclosing structures made it possible to connect all rooms with the courtyard. The courtyard is accessed from the gallery via a spiral staircase made of monolithic, reinforced concrete. A sun screen was installed over the patio to shelter the space from direct sunlight.
Tashkent lies in a heavily seismic zone, so the high-rise part of the building was reinforced with a metal frame to protect it from earthquakes. A two-storey basement made of monolithic, reinforced concrete with 100cm-thick, 9m-high walls serves as a box-like foundation. The frames of all of the building’s blocks were designed for nine-point seismic loads. Each block was separated from each other by anti-seismic seams and articulated, reinforced concrete beams with support systems to prevent damage from earthquake shockwaves.
Hotel Uzbekistan, much like the country itself, has welcomed countless guests over the years, from almost every country in the world. In the 1980s, the International Film Festival of Asia, Africa and Latin America was held in Tashkent every two years, and Hotel Uzbekistan hosted guests from all over the world. During its time, it has seen major historical changes, been home to visiting dignitaries and served as a temporary haven for people attending important festivals and events.
Despite generally good preservation of the building’s facades, the repainting of the western side, which has become polychrome, and a new foreign-style visor over the entrance spoil the overall impression. The reconstruction of the interiors was associated with the destruction of some of the works of monumental art that were located here.
Today, Hotel Uzbekistan remains a landmark of Tashkent and is open to guests. You can make a reservation via most hotel booking sites – rooms have splendid views of the city centre. Even if you’re not staying overnight, you can grab a drink and take in Tashkent from the panoramic windows of the bar on the top floor. Though there are better-value places to stay in Tashkent for overall experience, the location and architectural splendour of the hotel is unmatched.
The state share of the hotel (80.13%) was sold to a Singaporean company in 2020. Within two years, the building will be renovated without changing the facade, though what will happen to the hotel is anybody’s guess. We can only hope it won’t suffer the sad fate of most of the architectural monuments of international importance of this period in Tashkent, and that this symbol of Uzbek architecture will be preserved for generations to come.
Hotel Uzbekistan design team:
Architects: I. Merport, L. Ershova, V. Roshchupkin, V. Narubansky
Engineers: L. Gorlitsky, V. Staroseltsev, V. Burdman, M. Lebedinsky, A. Podlipnov
Artists: S. Bondareva, V. Chub, I. Lipene, Y. Strelnikov
Follow Alexander Fedorov on Instagram at @tashkent_modernism.
