Tashkent — here and now

Chorsu is more than a market. It is worth looking past the colours and noticing how the bazaar actually works.

Ask someone to explain an unfamiliar ingredient or compare two kinds of bread. Then the bazaar becomes part of city life, not just a colourful photograph.

The Tashkent Metro is part of the city walk. Mosaics, light and decorative elements turn the stations into architectural spaces.

Choose a few stations with different characters and compare their colour, rhythm and the way the architecture works in everyday life.

In 20th-century architecture, look at form, façade depth, shadow and the space in front of a building. The pandjara, a sun-shading lattice, responds to the climate while creating a distinctive pattern.

At the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan, notice the pandjara. It works with the intense light while creating the façade's distinctive pattern. Details like this show how architecture can be beautiful and practical at the same time.

In Tashkent, past and present do not compete; they exist side by side. Modern buildings, bazaars, the metro, cafés and parks create one urban rhythm. It is worth noticing not only how old the architecture is, but how different spaces are used today.

At this pace, contemporary Tashkent begins to feel like a chapter of its own.

Leave time for an ordinary Tashkent evening: dinner, a walk or a conversation around the table. It is not there to add another item to the programme, but to keep the journey feeling like a holiday.