Designed by internationally renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando, the National Museum of Uzbekistan recently broke ground in the capital city of Tashkent in the Republic of Uzbekistan. With its foundation stone laid on August 27, 2025, the museum is set to open to the public in March 2028. Commissioned by the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation (ACDF), the museum will collect, preserve, promote and research the nation’s cultural heritage, while proving a global frontier to introduce it to the world.

The museum, through the landmark project and commission, plans to make a mark on the global discourse on art and culture, aiming to build institutions as part of a long-term development strategy. “The National Museum of Uzbekistan reflects our country’s revitalised cultural potential and serves as a vivid expression of our noble aspirations to create creative spaces that inspire, unite and set an example for future generations,” says Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in the official release.

The museum architecture reflects Ando’s signature design language, featuring geometric forms of exposed concrete interplaying between solids and voids, to facilitate built environments that foster a strong relationship with the natural landscape through their definitive spatial sensibilities. “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,” says the Japanese architect in the official release. The project marks Ando’s first major work in Central Asia, its forms partly reminiscent of his projects such as the Chichu Art Museum (2004) in Japan’s Naoshima island, known for its contemporary art landscape, the Space of Light Pavilion (2023) in South Korea and the MPavilion 10 (2023) in Melbourne, Australia.

The museum design and its formal language can be visually identified as a linear assemblage of three distinct volumes emanating from elementary geometric footprints. One can observe large water bodies integrated within this built fabric, especially at the terrace levels along where visitors can promenade and savour the views of the natural landscape. A sequential flow of semi-open and enclosed spaces enables the visitors to explore the varied scales and proportions of the concrete architecture. The interior spaces cleverly conceal and reveal the outdoors through the building’s glass elements, systematically establishing visual and sensorial connections with its adjoining volumes.

Germany-based Atelier Brückner, a narrative architecture and scenography studio, is developing the museum’s exhibition design in close collaboration with Ando. Fusing architectural storytelling with sensorial design, the team will give shape to immersive experiences that evoke the visitors’ imagination and hopefully elicit strong emotional responses from them. Offering a broad range of exhibitions, publications, residencies and educational initiatives, the museum will introduce several public programmes, commissions and inaugural installations upon its opening in 2028.

Among its permanent collections will be the country’s acquired works that embody historical depth and contemporary resonance, along with masterpieces from the national holdings that will reflect the nation’s evolving cultural identity. Acting as a bridge between the nation’s past and future, the museum plans to nurture the country’s young creatives and deepen their connection to the cultural heritage of Uzbekistan. “It reflects our national identity and confidence in Uzbekistan’s cultural capacity to shape a new society,” says Gayane Umerova, chairperson of the ACDF and HoD for Creative Economy and Tourism of the presidential administration, in the official release.

Furthering the pursuit of proliferating the country’s contemporary cultural leanings, the National Museum of Uzbekistan sets a collection of spatial theatres as a backdrop to showcase Uzbekistan’s rich history of traditional and modern innovation. The contemporary design, embodying the nation's foray into the future, also adds a significant milestone to Ando’s vast portfolio as he channels decades of his experience in designing public and institutional architecture projects.

The commissioning of the museum further makes visible a broader cultural strategy seen across several constituting nations across Central Asia, wherein such museums and the prestigious commissions they entail may become instruments of international visibility, along with being promoters and preservers of national heritage. Much like many of these ambitious institutions and entire districts across countries in the MENA region, the National Museum of Uzbekistan signals the phenomenon—and the increasing validity and importance—of leveraging art and culture to project a markedly intellectual presence on the global stage.