Emma Harden-Wolfson

Happy new year to you all! Kicking off my 13th year of blogging, as-independent-as-they-get Tajik newspaper Asia-Plus has a lovely photo story from the archives that I just had to share (and give you a reason to read to the end).

It showcases a series of designs by architect Hikmat Yuldashev for the newly minted Tajik Academy of Sciences, founded in 1951. The plans, presented to the Academy of Sciences President and distinguished academic Sadriddin Aini two years later, set out the concept for a palatial classical building replete with Greek sculptures, elaborate chandeliers, and columns a-plenty.

The proposed new building, designed in high Stalinist style, would have been located in Putovsky Square, also symbolic as the place from where modern Dushanbe begins, and now at the heart of the city.

Alas, this neo-classical marvel was not to be. Shortly after Yuldashev presented his plans, Stalin died, and all large-scale building works were postponed. In 1957, the intended site became home to the central committee of Tajikistan’s Communist party, and from 1992-2016 served as the presidential palace on the renamed Shahidon Square.

As part of a huge wave of demolitions that have seen Dushanbe’s facade transformed in recent years, it was removed in 2020 (side note: civic opposition to these demolitions was widespread and one of very few times in recent years that dissent has bubbled up publicly). Later this year, this part of the city will get its newest incarnation as the home to the national government.

Photo gallery of the planned Tajik National Academy of Sciences. All photos (c) Asia-Plus.

A nugget for those of you who’re still here: find wonderful vintage views of Dushanbe at https://shaitanarba.narod.ru/photoalbum29.html.