As a collective, the objects evoke the atmosphere of the gardens that once ringed Samarkand, former capital of the Timurid Empire (14-15th c.). Evidence from miniature paintings and literary descriptions suggests the gardens were laid out in the chahar-bagh style inspired by Islamic accounts of paradise, containing a central pavilion surrounded by channels of running water and a variety of plants, fruit trees, and flowers. As spaces for imperial leisure, ritual, and celebration, the gardens and pavilions within them were replete with a rich material world of objects—including ceramics, textiles, furniture, and fashion—produced by highly-skilled artists and artisans from across the empire.

 The designers showcased here, Tigran Erdman and Timur Parmanov, Nigora Hashimova, Madina Kasimbaeva, and Alisher and Shokhrukh Rakhimov, connect to a long tradition of artistic production in Uzbekistan. The throughline in their practices is a balance between the influence of centuries-old traditions, reflected in form, material, and technique, alongside innovations that situate their works in a contemporary context.

 Highlighting the power of design that reinterprets the distant past for the current moment, the title of the pavilion, ‘The Once and Future Garden,’ ultimately proposes a future vision of the nation’s urban gardens. As Uzbekistan, like so many nations around the world, responds to a changing climate, its strong heritage of garden culture and thoughtful landscape architecture offers a model by which to reconsider green space, one connected to tradition, but open to reinterpretation and reinvention—a vision of the future with deep roots.