Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled its design for a scientific research center in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Named the Alisher Navoi International Scientific Research Center, the project is defined by arching facades and interiors built from bricks produced in local kilns. 

The center’s defining arches seek to echo the curvilinear geometries of traditional Uzbek architecture, as well as introduce passive heating and cooling principles. Courtyards have also been incorporated within the center to improve natural light and ventilation and create a variety of outdoor gathering spaces.

“Informed by the wind towers of Central Asian and Middle Eastern vernacular architecture that maintain cooler interior temperatures, the geometries and composition of the center’s supporting arches have been designed as hollow structures with openings that capture the wind and channel cooling ventilation into the building,” Zaha Hadid Architects explains. “In the hottest months, this system will be supported by fans and misting to cool the air before it circulates within the structure.”

“In weather conditions without wind, these hollow arched structures create a pressure gradient which extracts hot air upwards, producing a thermal chimney allowing warmer air to escape through the openings at the top of each arch,” the firm adds. 

The center will incorporate the Navoi State Museum of Literature along with a 400-seat auditorium for performances, events, and conferences. The scheme will also contain the International Research Center and a residential school for 200 students specializing in Uzbek language, literature, and music. 

The museum will sit at the heart of the center, with programs for research, archives, and exhibitions that include a restoration workshop and a repository for 3,500 historical books and manuscripts. The museum will also feature 13 permanent exhibition halls around a central courtyard, presenting centuries of Uzbek literary history. The center itself is named after the 15th-century poet and author Alisher Navoi.

News of the scheme comes in the same month that Zaha Hadid Architects updated progress on its Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum, which is currently under construction. In September, meanwhile, the firm collaborated with Epic Games to create a London-themes Fortnite experience.