Seismic Modernism

Tashkent, the southernmost metropolis of millions in the ­Soviet Union, is a city redolent with architectural contrasts and ­para­doxes. Home to the most beautiful prefabricated buildings in the world, it features a prominent urban ­duality pre­dicated upon the oriental Old City and the ­Russian New City. ­Never was this contrast brought into sharper ­focus than during the ­severe earthquake of 1966 which left the New City rela­tively ­unscathed but the Old City in ruins. Yet one respite was ­offered: a rebuild­ing effort which triggered an upsurge of inno­vation. The city thus became the face of ­seismic ­modernism - unprece­dented in history, the earthquake stimulated the modernisation of ­urban development in ­Tashkent. Archi­tects incor­porated regional building traditions in their social­ist modern designs, includ­ing the visually intrig­uing ­façade mosaics attri­buted to the little-known ­Zharsky brothers. The rebuild­ing of Tashkent provides a perfect example of Soviet ideas about urban planning - in which technical standardisation and social require­ments were no more of a contradiction than the design of experimental living concepts and the simultaneous search for an expression of national identity in building. ­Tashkent thus represents a unique example of radical urban redevelopment in a Soviet megacity with standard designs.