Tashkent – ASIAN CITIES RESEARCH

“Although the Uzbek culture was preserved to some degree, the physical form of the vernaculars were slowly being chipped away in the name of reconstruction[1]. This struggle would go on for another decade until the 1966 Earthquake put an end to the valuable history of the old Tashkent city.[2]”

– Ian Law Man Ki, “After the 1966 Earthquake,” 2019

Narratives

Tashkent Earthquake 1966: Redevelopment with soviet ideology/Tashkent out of the limelight : after the Soviet enthusiasm

Ying So Yi

After the redevelopment of Tashkent was completed, Tashkent had hosted numerous international gatherings, serving as the showplace for visitors from Africa and Asia and a window for the third countries enjoying the joyful and quality life provided by the Soviet Union (Stronki, 2010). The rebirth of the city was nonetheless a showcase of the cooperation ...

Stimulation: 1966 Earthquake, Shattered Tashkent of Uzbek

Choi Gyuhyeon

On the morning of April 26, 1966, Tashkent was struck by a 5.3 Richter scale earthquake, that shattered buildings and shaken citizens, damaged and destroyed housings and buildings. Recovery of the city began just in few days after the disaster, construction workers and materials for demolition of damaged buildings and reconstruction of the city arrived ...

Moment I: Foundation for a Soviet Tashkent in 1930s

Choi Gyuhyeon

The capital of Uzbek Republic was relocated from Samarkand to Tashkent in 1930, allowed redesigning the architectural landscape of the capital city. As similar to other Soviet-republican cities, it needed to be injected with appropriate Soviet imagery and iconography, and rehabilitate. In 1920s, Tashkent was divided into old, webbed with twisting roads, and new, radial baroque ...

Moment III: Culture and Nationalism of Public Landscapes of Post-Soviet Tashkent

Choi Gyuhyeon

With Uzbek’s declaration of independence from the Soviets on 31 August of 1991, Uzbek finally unravelled from Soviet multinationalism. The declaration came after the collapse of Communist Party against the pro-democracy demonstrators in Moscow. The most visible expression of the nationalism was the organisation Birlik (Unity), founded in 1988 by Tashkent’s intellectual community. Began with the ...

Moment II: Tashkent, The model Soviet city in Asia: focal point of Asian socialism.

Choi Gyuhyeon

The public landscape of Tashkent has been taken over by the USSR for soviet nationalism. After the 1966 5.1 Richter scale Earthquake, Tashkent had to go through renewal of city planning. Masterplan of new Tashkent was developed by several Soviet Architects: архитекторы Л. Адамов (руководитель), М. Савельев, В. Ломаченко, Г. Левченко, Ю. Халдеев, Ю. Мирошниченко, ...

5. After the 1966 Earthquake

Law Man Ki Ian

Previous entries illustrated the slow but gradual Russianisation taking place in Tashkent over half a decade and the struggle of Islam culture. Although the Uzbek culture was preserved to some degree, the physical form of the vernaculars were slowly being chipped away in the name of reconstruction. This struggle would go on for another decade ...

4. The Asian city, on Islam culture, Bazaar and its origin

Law Man Ki Ian

Following the previous entry, the vernacular ideologies and Uzbek communities was going through an alteration process after Stalin’s death in 1953. Spiritual leadership was allowed a degree of freedom for better administration of Uzbek citizens and to release the internal pressure building within the government. With this in mind, it also represented an era ...