State Circus

The State Circus is among the largest circuses built in the USSR, with a seating capacity of 3,000 people. Unlike many other Soviet circuses of the postwar period, it was not designed according to a standard typology provided by Moscow, but as a custom project tailored to local functional, geological, seismic, and climatic conditions.

The Tashkent State Circus was designed by Tashgiprogor Workshop No. 1 under the direction of architects G. Aleksandrovich and G. Masjagin between 1962 and 1976. It is one of the few remaining Soviet modernist buildings in Tashkent whose design began before the 1966 earthquake, though it was inaugurated a decade later. At the time of its design, it was the second-largest circus in the Soviet Union, after the circus on Vernadsky Avenue in Moscow; it was estimated to host 3,000 people, whereas the average capacity of standard Soviet circuses was around 2,000. The building occupies an important urban position at Hadra Square, at the crossing of two major roads: Furkat Street and Navoi Street. The Hadra Square, where the circus stands, originally marked the edge of the old city. The circus sits at the strategic urban position at the top of Furkat Street, the primary north-south axis, at the opposite end of which the Palace of People's Friendship is located. The relationship between the two buildings — one at either end of the same axis — is a defining element of Tashkent's modernist urban plan. The structure of the main pavilion is characterised by the mixed use of steel and reinforced concrete. Twenty-four monolithic reinforced concrete ribs mark the rhythm of the façade and sustain a lighter steel truss structure covering the 74-metre-diameter dome, which spans the main performance hall and the two levels of circular foyer around it. The elegant concrete sun-shading device encloses the upper level of the foyer, forming a suspended ring, while the lower foyer is recessed and wrapped by a transparent glass façade. Next to the main circular volume, a lower rectangular block containing rehearsal, administration, and support spaces completes the complex on the northern side, facing a park. The building still fulfils the purpose for which it was designed. Internally, most spaces remain preserved, despite some parts of the foyer being compromised: the balustrades, the glass façade on the first floor, the cladding of the ribs, and the ceiling. Externally, some changes occurred as well — the stone cladding of the ribs was removed and substituted with plaster, and the roof was painted blue instead of the original grey. Partial interventions were carried out at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, without significantly compromising the authenticity of the original design. The large public square on which the building stands has not undergone any interventions, and its appearance conforms to the design of the 1970s. The State Circus is listed for national heritage protection; the main risk identified is deterioration through lack of maintenance.