The Art and Culture Development Foundation of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ACDF) announces the title of the Uzbekistan National Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. The Uzbekistan National Pavilion, entitled Unbuild Together: Archaism vs. Modernity, is curated by the architectural firm Studio KO. The curatorial team will include Karl Fournier, Olivier Marty, Jean-Baptiste Carisé, Sophia Bengebara.

In response to the theme of the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Laboratory of the Future, the Uzbekistan National Pavilion entitled Unbuild Together: Archaism vs. Modernity addresses different horizons of Uzbekistan’s architectural heritage as a potential tool to envision the future and a key element to challenge the concept of modernity.

Unbuild Together: Archaism vs. Modernity, is a research-based project which will be centred around the ruins of the qalas, ancient fortresses of the Karakalpakstan, heritage of the Khorezm civilization, and the multiple possibilities that earth offers to build, especially the bricks. Bricks, both a universal and archaic material, are the building block of Uzbek architecture.

Together with the architectural students and professors of the Ajou University in Tashkent, and associated artists, Studio KO will explore the materiality of bricks, soil, and clay. Through this collaboration combining theoretical work experimentation with the students and a reinterpretation of the modes of brick fabrication, its techniques of construction and its types of finishes, the spatial proposal of the Pavilion will emerge.

Certain briks in the installation will be glazed by Uzbek artist and ceramics master Abdulvahid Bukhoriy, one of the few craftsmen to master the nearly lost Blue Bukhara ceramics technique.