The person who ascends to that height leaves behind the masses that take and incorporate into itself any sense of being either an author or spectator. Above these waters Icarus can ignore the tricks of Daedalus in his shifting and endless labyrinths. His altitude transforms him into a voyeur. It places him at a distance. It changes an enchanting world into a text. It allows him to read it; to become a solar eye, a God's regard. Michel de Certeau (Blonsky, 1985: 122)
The initial thought for this work came from trying to define my culture and my own identity. Brought up in a special and unique place, like Uzbekistan and being educated in a country like Australia, raised a few issues about my identity, culture, ethnicity and tastes, and how to define these aspects. When my body was no longer criss-crossed by the streets that had bound and re-bound it; it was not possessed by the sounds of their contrasts or by traffic, I could stand outside my culture and understand the reasons and forces that came together to shape my life.
My journey takes us to a place, the city of Tashkent, with a complex history. It examines and untangles influences that create a sense of place and gives life to an otherwise silent maze of streets and buildings.
Being educated in Australia and taught the formal rules of design and faced with the opportunity to apply these to my own culture, I realised that this design discipline needs to be negotiated in order to make this transition. The main aspect of this problem is that Uzbekistan has very different requirements. Design in Australia has become an independent industry and suggests status and value. For Uzbek society, design has a different meaning. The term 'design' was adopted from the West and appropriated to the culture, but it is a manual process that involves minimal creativity and is bound by the restrictions of the social environment.
This thesis works through a spiral argument, where it is difficult to establish a cause or an effect. To start with, architectural design affects place, by influencing its social and cultural order, and in turn, the culture and social situation in the country dictate architectural trends. Then this mechanism acts on the way individuals and the way they perceive the city. As my own approach to analyzing architecture and establishing my sense of place is influenced by my culture, traditions and ethnicity and these aspects at large affect the production of architecture in Tashkent, it is difficult to define the Islamic craft and Modernist design without addressing the issues of culture and ethnicity first.
Who are we outside our class, gender, ethnicity and nationality? I believe that our ideas and beliefs are influenced by these concepts. Some say that these notions are discriminatory and unjust. However they play an important role in society, helping to identify and stabilise one's position within a community.
My nationality and ethnicity are very strong aspects of my identity and personal style. My Russian and Uzbek backgrounds allow me to expand my understanding of who I am, or who I am not!. ethnicity forms our norms, values, believes, cultural symbols and practices. And what we think of as our identity is dependent on what we think that we are not.(Barker 2000: XXX). Since I came to Australia I learned to respect and appreciate the cultural heritage that was passed on to me I believe it helped to construct and form my identity and I wish to protect it. The experience of place is very much defined by the nationality and ethnic factors, therefore the ideas that are going to be put forward in this thesis reflect the dynamics of appropriating architecture and inhabiting patterns based on my own background.
The consequences of being born and brought up in a Muslim environment, has certain influences on how I would relate to my gender identity as well. From a feminist perspective Uzbek society still has a strong distinction between masculine traits like independence, power and reason and feminine, like interdependence, constraint , emotion. Plain, thick-walled street facade with few or no windows is designed to not only withstand severe elements like hot winds and sand, but also keet the secret of the sacred household: its women. The introverted Islamic house expresses the need to exclude the outside environment while protecting that which is inside - the family and the inner life. Women in Islamic communities had and in some regions still have a very distinct role in a family and male host of the house makes sure to protect his women from the world outside. Islamic architecture is architecture that must be experienced by being entered and seen from within. The architecture of the Middle East and partially Uzbekistan has been called the architecture of the veil. Even though I am aware of the issues of male-domination, I am here not to promote a feminist cause. However it would be impossible for me to write this work without acknowledging how strongly gendered my position is and that in fact unusual now to have a woman, commenting upon the perspective of architecture.
Architecture and building design are a culturally sensitive, reflecting the inner mechanisms of the society and influencing its development, progress and change. It is important to analyze Tashkent, with its complex history and culture, which will allow interpreting its architecture, understanding its sense of place. The research will be beneficial to the society as it will attempt to develop strategies that will encourage the positive shift in architectural discipline. Improvement of architecture and place making practices will accent on different values and demonstrate alternatives behaviour in a changed city environement, allowing people to achieve the best in themselves and improve the situation in the society they live in.