Uzbekistan has officially announced that architecture studio GRACE, led by curators Ekaterina Golovatyuk and Giacomo Cantoni, will oversee the country’s National Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2025. The exhibition, titled A Matter of Radiance, will explore Uzbekistan’s modernist architectural legacy.
At the center of Uzbekistan’s pavilion is the Sun Institute of Material Science, originally known as the Sun Heliocomplex, a large-scale scientific structure built in 1987 near Tashkent. As one of the final major scientific projects of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the solar furnace remains one of only two such facilities worldwide that study material behavior under extreme temperatures.
The pavilion’s curators will present a dual narrative of the Sun Institute, exploring its ambivalent legacy as both an advanced technological achievement and an infrastructure shaped by the constraints of its time. “Uzbekistan is a country with a rich cultural heritage, and this pavilion is a meaningful step in shining a spotlight on the brilliant and under-recognized Tashkent Modernist legacy,” said Gayane Umerova, Chairperson, Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation.
Image Courtesy: archdaily.com
