Broken Hearts Bazaar

For the Bukhara Biennial, under the commission of Gayane Umerova and the curatorial direction of Diana Campbell, GOLEM was asked to stage the Old City’s points of entry: a bazaar as the Biennial threshold, and kiosks dispersed throughout the Old City’s entry points.

GOLEM asked themselves a simple but radical question: what if architecture could be felt before it is seen? Rather than addressing vision first, the project takes as its starting point the point of view of those who do not see architecture – the blind, the untrained eye, and even the non-human.

The answer emerged from Uzbekistan’s own heritage: spices. Mounds of paprika, teas, and blossoms reappeared at the very site of the old bazaar, their scents piercing through the city’s newly gleaming pavestones. The conical kiosks echo spice displays in Uzbek markets and the pitched roofs of rural houses. Conceived for easy transport, they will later be donated to local communities.

The structures quickly became sites of exchange and play. A blind passerby returned with fifteen companions to identify the cones by scent. A guide began weaving folk knowledge of medicinal herbs into her tours. Bees rested on clover blossoms, cats licked paprika walls.

These encounters perfectly embody GOLEM’s vision of architecture as a mission to shift who design is for.

In the Architects’ words: « This project is about broadening the spectrum of architecture, opening it to those overlooked, starting from their standpoint – and in doing so, creating new forms and spaces that enrich the experience of life for everyone. »