Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The reconstruction of the building of Republican Children’s Library began in September 2020 according to the project of the St. Petersburg architectural bureau Ludi Architects. The mansion was cleared of historical deposits, the structures were strengthened and a new engineering system was introduced. Now the finishing of the library has begun. Art and Culture Development Foundation shares the final sketches of the interior project. Finishing work will take several months - the opening of the library is scheduled for 1 May.

“Any new public building must be subordinated to some mission. In the case of the Republican Children’s Library, these are education, culture and communication. We are creating a modern accessible space, open to everyone - there will be no restrictions in it, you will want to explore it, it will be filled with air and light. The library is designed in such a way that nothing prevents children from learning about the world around them, broadening their horizons and gaining new experience. We want people to live in the space and appropriate it for themselves, so that employees bring their children here, bring flowers from home, and visitors read on the mezzanine, sit on the steps of the amphitheater, enroll in educational circles,” said Gayane Umerova, Executive Director of the Development Fund culture and art of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The library space is planned to be multifunctional: in addition to reading rooms, there will be co-working spaces for children, laboratories and a studio for working with digital content. Lectures, master classes and film screenings will be held in the spacious transforming hall. In that part of the wooden roof where the attic was, cozy mezzanines will appear. The architects also came up with special modular elements, upholstered in soft fabric, to add intimate spaces for solitary work. The reconstruction minimally affected the remaining elements of the interior and layout. The project was conceived by architects as a modern design continuation of the historical appearance of the building. This symbiosis is especially noticeable in interiors with authentic finishes, which have added modern details.

“Working with history is always a limitation. However, only under such conditions are non-trivial solutions born. For example, modern elements can significantly increase the amount of storage and create additional functional areas and rooms. The new mezzanines, amphitheater and furniture are laconic, they do not argue with the historical context, they do not try to dissolve in it or mimic it in order to blur the line between the old and the new. We are not shy to show that we live here and now, but we really respect the history of the place where we are,” Lyubov Leontyeva, author of the reconstruction project, head of the architectural bureau Ludi Architects.

Almost all furniture will be made to order according to the author’s drawings of architects. It is not standard and is designed specifically for the Republican Children’s Library.

These are storage systems, desks, modules for listening to lectures, reading and relaxing, and booths for individual work with audio. All furniture is also adapted for people with disabilities. Most of it will be produced in Uzbekistan.