A square, a triangle, and a circle: Tadao Ando’s new museum in Uzbekistan

The foundation stone has been laid in Tashkent for the new National Museum of Uzbekistan, which is scheduled to open to the public in March 2028. The design of the country's most important museum was entrusted to Tadao Ando, one of the most influential and well-known architects of our time: Pritzker Prize in '95, AIA Gold Medal in 2002, as well as guest editor of Domus in 2021.  The museum will rise in the heart of Tashkent, in the area near the park dedicated to poet Alisher Navoi and next to some of the city’s 20th-century landmarks, including the Abulkasym Madrasa, the Istiqlol Art Palace, and the more recent Parliament building. Covering over 40,000 square meters, Tadao Ando is developing the first major project of his career located in Central Asia. The masterplan is composed of three essential elements: a square, a triangle, and a circle, linked together in a monumental composition.

Inside the National Museum of Uzbekistan, there will be 8,500 square meters of exhibition space, capable of housing one of the largest art collections in Central Asia—over 100,000 pieces—alongside a public library, multipurpose rooms, green terraces, and visitor facilities. From the first renderings, the project employs Ando’s signature materials: vast glass surfaces and exposed concrete marked by the famous form-tie holes, which have become a distinctive hallmark of his work.

"By building with these pure forms, I wanted to return to the origins of thought and create a space from which powerful ideas could be sent out into the world," commented the Japanese architect. As in the Chichu Art Museum in Naoshima (1988-1992) or the Buddha Hill in Sapporo (2015), Ando once again works with the elemental force of geometry. The difference here lies in the dialogue with a very different urban and cultural context from Japan: the pure, austere geometric forms are set within a city shaped by both Islamic heritage and Soviet modernism, creating a bridge between local tradition and his vision of architecture.

In Tashkent, Ando's language plays a role within a broader process of the country's cultural renaissance: the renovation of the Tashkent Center for Contemporary Arts, participation in the Osaka Expo 2025 - where Ando's project was previewed - and the programs of the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), which has launched a vast campaign to raise awareness of the capital's modernist heritage. Within this context, fueled by new cultural projects and signed by one of the great masters of contemporary architecture, the National Museum aims to become an important point of connection between Uzbekistan and the world.

Opening image: Render by Tadao Ando Architect & Associates. Courtesy of Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation