AA Visiting School Samarkand: Imagined Skies

AA Visiting School Samarkand: Imagined Skies was a programme held as part of Climate Cartographies, bringing together 20 local and international students from Uzbekistan and countries including Bahrain, China, India, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom to explore the relationship between the history of astronomy, methods of observation and changing understandings of climate.

Through conversations, studio sessions and site visits across Samarkand and Tashkent, students explored how the sky and cosmos have been observed and understood through different artistic, architectural and scientific traditions. Visits to Ulugbek Observatory, Maidanak Observatory and the Sun Solar Furnace & Heliocomplex offered insights into the connections between astronomy, architecture, technology and the history of the region.

Working in groups, students developed their own observational tools through research, mapping and architectural experimentation. The programme concluded on 14 September with presentations of their work.