Architecture of Central Asia
Central Asia is an area that encompasses land from the Xinjiang Province of China in the East to the Caspian Sea in the West.
[11] In Sogdia, a number of vivid wall paintings have been uncovered in temples and private buildings in several towns,[11] such as the Penjikent murals.
[16] It is around this time, in the 10th century, that distinctive regional features begin to appear that would characterize Islamic architecture in Iran and Central Asia.
It is a small brick structure with a square floor plan covered by a dome that rests on four corner squinches.
Its decorative brickwork and its balanced, unified design make it an important monument in the region's architectural history.
[17] Turkic peoples began moving west across Central Asia and towards the Middle East from the 8th century onward.
[18]: 354–360 The Qarakhanids themselves were often vassals of other, more powerful states, but their monuments still exhibit some minor local features that distinguish them from other patrons in the region.
One feature is the presence of a wide central rib in the semi-domes of portals and squinches (e.g. at the Aisha Bibi Tomb in Taraz).
Another is the insertion of terracotta blocks, cut in various shapes, into the gaps between stacks of regular bricks that make up the exterior walls of monuments (e.g. in the Minaret of Vabkent).
[13]: 202–249 Among the most remarkable monuments of Ghurids and Ghaznavids in present-day Afghanistan are a number of ornate brick towers and minarets which have survived as stand-alone structures.
[25] Timurid architecture employed some Seljuk traditions, and featured grand scale buildings constructed from fired bricks.
[26] The exteriors of buildings were decorated with highly detailed blue and turquoise linear and geometric patterning of glazed tiles, inspired by Iranian Banna’i technique.
[31] As is consistent with other Timurid architecture, the mosque features glazed ceramic designs, a turquoise dome and geometric patterning of walls.
[33]: 6 [34] Despite only part of the original building remaining, Aq Saray also demonstrates being decorated by geometrically patterned glazed tiles, a feature found throughout Timurid Architecture.
[34] After the Timurids, various regional dynasties and ruling groups controlled Central Asia, including the Shaybanids and other Uzbek tribal leaders.
[35] In Bukhara, the Shaybanids created the present Po-i-Kalyan complex, integrating the Qarakhanid-era Kalan Minaret, renovating the old mosque in 1514, and adding the large Mir-i 'Arab Madrasa (1535–6).
[36]: 199–201 The mosque's design follows the traditional layout, with a large rectangular courtyard surrounded by four iwans and prayer halls covered by domes supported on pillars.
The maqsura (area near the mihrab) is covered by a large double-shelled dome set on a tall cylindrical drum.
It served as the gateway to madrasa and has an unusual design: a tetrapylon crowned by four heavy circular corner towers.
[41] These countries remained members of the USSR until declaring independence in 1991, the year of the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
[6] The building features geometric shapes, a flat roof and modern materials consistent with Soviet architecture, whilst also incorporating local ornamentation.
[9] Another example is The Bishkek White House that was constructed in 1985 as the Communist Party’s Central Committee’s Headquarters and contains the president’s office.
[47] Almaty is home to numerous Soviet buildings such as the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, the State Academic Russian Theatre for Children and Youth, and the Hotel Kazakhstan.
Buildings include the 62-metre-tall Palace of Peace and Reconciliation and the Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre, the tallest tent in the world.
[56] These buildings make up the “capitol complex”, which was moved from Rudaki Avenue (formerly known as Lenin Prospekt) intentionally, to a green area adjacent to the Dushanbinka River.
[54] At the city’s Wedding Palace, the building features a Turkmen star encapsulating an Earth displaying the country of Turkmenistan.
[54] Another marble structure in Ashgabat is the Monument of Neutrality, completed in 1998 to commemorate the president at the time, Saparmurat Niyazov.
