Regional identity and conceptual depth in the creativity of modern Kazakh architects-philosophers: Dialogue between form, image and meaning

Elvira Danibekova; Gulnara Abdrassilova; Serik Rysbekov

Authors

Elvira Danibekova School of Architecture, Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering (KazGASA), International educational corporation https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4421-9875
Gulnara Abdrassilova School of Architecture, Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering (KazGASA), International educational corporation https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3828-9220
Serik Rysbekov School of Architecture, Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering (KazGASA), International educational corporation https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6875-4451

Keywords:

architectural form, image, meaning, regional identity, creativity, architects-philosophers

Abstract

The creativity of Kazakh architects has evolved from the pursuit of innovation during the Soviet era to the identification of national and regional characteristics in the years of independence. Among Kazakhstan’s many talented architects, Bek Ibrayev and Saken Narynov act as both builders and conceptual thinkers. Their projects synthetise form, image, meaning, and cultural context. Carriers of local identity, they used architectural space as a philosophical statement, expressing ideas about time, memory, and human experience.
This research aims to analyze the distinctive features of the their architectural heritage, revealing approaches and conceptual depth establishing their role as architect-philosophers in shaping regional architectural identity. The methodology combines field research, architectural and compositional analysis, semantic interpretation, and comparative study of completed projects. Material and spatial characteristics, along with intellectual and symbolic content reflecting the authors’ ideas and their relationship to regional identity, were examined.
Key techniques of form creation and semantic transformation were identified that contributed to a new architectural language combining cultural memory and local identity. It demonstrates that regionalism in Kazakhstan can be understood not as stylistic adaptation, but as a philosophical and cultural strategy rooted in nomadic archetypes, the mythopoetics of space, and the sacred geography of the steppe.

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