Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - The Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts announced the creation of a new type of educational institutions, which include a modern library, a coworking center, a cinema and a restoration laboratory.

The building of the former Intourist Cultural and Information Center in Tashkent  was built in 1987 and is considered one of the monuments of Tashkent modernism. During the years of independence, the building housed the office of the State Committee for the Development of Tourism of Uzbekistan.

After reconstruction, it will house two new cultural institutions at once - the French Cultural Center and the Center for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage Objects. Both institutions were established at the initiative of the Foundation for the Development of Culture and Arts under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, whose office will also be located in this building.

According to the executive director of the Foundation Gayane Umerova, the decision to place these organizations side by side was made on the basis of plans to hold international exhibitions in the coming years, including an exhibition at the Louvre Museum in 2022, when more than 300 exhibits from various collections of Uzbekistan will be presented in Paris. ... Also, a memorandum was signed with the National Center for Restoration in France, experts who advise the Foundation on the creation of a Center for Restoration in Uzbekistan.

Scientific and research work will be carried out in this building - where not only restorers, but also ethnographers, historians and art critics will be involved. This whole process will take place in an open mode - it will be possible to observe the restoration work, and, if desired, to learn this profession. In the same building there will be a modern and trendy cinema and an open-air cafe, which will be open to everyone. The combination of history and modernity will give its result and attract a young audience to the museum business, a new generation of restorers will appear, in demand not only in Uzbekistan, but throughout the world.

The design project of the building was created by the founders of the Grace bureau, Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni. The portfolio of architects includes a project for the reconstruction of the State Hermitage (St. Petersburg) and the reconstruction of the Garage Museum in Moscow under the direction of Rem Koolhaas (OMA). According to the architect, one of the main tasks of the project in Tashkent is to preserve to the maximum all the most valuable that has been preserved in this building. Particular attention in the project is paid to the facade of the building. To preserve the original appearance, expand the area and more functionality, new techniques and high-tech materials will be used, including translucent fiberglass gratings, which will protect the existing brickwork from the effects of climatic factors.

Co-founder of the Grace architectural bureau Ekaterina Golovatyuk:

“In the case of the building in Tashkent, we are trying to preserve what is possible and what makes sense to preserve. For example, we will restore the former public spaces of the center - the way they remained in the collective memory of the townspeople. We have placed there those programs that are similar to the original ones and require similar premises. That is, the former foyer, cafe and monumental staircase will be used in about the same way - with the same openness and similar decoration. The former cinema hall will be modernized inside and adapted for new needs, but the outside will be completely preserved.

In the U-shaped block, which was used as offices and was not accessible to visitors, we housed the French Center, offices and a restoration laboratory. In the wing where the laboratory will be located, we allowed ourselves to make more serious interventions. In the Soviet era, they were built very economically and according to other standards, therefore this part of the building has very low ceilings, there are deaf or too narrow rooms. From our point of view, it is impossible to qualitatively adapt these spaces to modern requirements, especially to the requirements of a laboratory. Accordingly, in order to accommodate the new restoration laboratory with its stringent spatial requirements, we have to replace part of the structures and designed this part as an obviously new modern and very transparent architecture. "