Restoration and preservation of old houses of Bukhara, Uzbekistan

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 54).Based on the new architectural excavations by Prof. E. Nekrasova, the thesis will re-read and re-analyze the historical development of the Ark and the Shahristan, the historical cores of the city of Bukhara, and the relationship between them in the formation of the city's urban fabric. Most of the previous theories on the development of Bukhara were based on old historical chronicals. Analyses of the urban fabric were not supported by actual archeological facts. Drawing from my extencive fieldworks and surveys in Bukhara during the last two years, my thesis intends to combine the most acceptable ideas and facts into one persuasive proposal. The theoretical analysis of the paper argues with proposals made by two scholars from Uzbekistan. It takes into account the theoretical framework from both of them and applies it to my analysis of the historical formation of Bukhara. The first is the proposal of Prof. Notkin, who has based his theory of the city's development on the reading of the urban fabric. He believes that the city of Bukhara grew gradually and extended its borders in all directions throughout the city's development. The second proposal, by Prof. Bolshakov, contents that hte city of Bukhara was created according to Roman rules for a city grid, and then subsecuently defonned over the course of 2,000 years. Based on the generalized understanding of the city grid, Prof. Bolshakov presented a theory of the city plan in the beginning of its existance. Beginning with the 5th. c. A.D. through the 19th. c. A.D., my thesis will analyze the urban pattern of Shahristan and its relationship to the Ark in the smaller scale. Using architectural excavations within the Shahristan, my thesis will interpret the words of Narshahi, a writer of the 10th. c. A.D.who said that "Shahristan was divided into four parts and every part was organized as a village" - in a new way. Many scientists interpreted this sentence in the relation to the two roads that crossed the Shahristan from the North to the South and from the West to the East. Recent archaeological excavations reveal several patterns of the old wall in different parts of Shahristan. Using this data, my thesis will recreate and analyze the developments of the patterns of the Shahristan and the Ark and their relationship to the city and society of Bukhara.by Georgiy G. Levashov.S.M