Ashgabat Cinema

The Ashgabat cinema is the first 3D cinema hall in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat on Magtymguly Avenue near the Köpetdag stadium. This was a design-build project for the construction of a 2D cinema hall with 500 seats and a 3D cinema hall with 70 seats, a café with a capacity to hold 50 people, a cyber café, two shops and an office area for the cinema operators. Inaugurated on 29 June 2011, it was the country’s first 3D cinema.

BACKGROUND

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov commissioned us to construct the first three-dimensional cinema in Turkmenistan. Since his accession to power, the Turkmen national film production company was renamed Oguz Khan Turkmenfilm and brought under the control of the Ministry of Culture and Broadcasting. Cinemas reopened and the new 2008 Constitution guaranteed the right to artistic, scientific and technical creation (article 39). This is the context in which the construction of a new cinema complex took place. The building was inaugurated on 29 June, 2011.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

The project included two halls – one big with a seating capacity of 500 and the other small with a seating capacity of 70. This was the first cinema in Turkmenistan where 3D and digital films could be watched. The complex also has an Internet café, a shop selling books and souvenirs and an open-air café. The exterior features include a 3,500 m2 pedestrian zone, 2,257 m2 of roadway, 2,330 m2 of green spaces as well as a semi-basement technical room.
The building façade is covered with white marble and grey granite and decorated with stained glass windows. The flooring is marble in the hall and mezzanine, granite in the café and Internet café. It has fitted carpeting in the cinema halls, tiles in the café kitchens, shops and office corridors and bamboo parquet in the offices.
Finally, for this project, we organized the direction, filming and production of Turkmenistan’s first 3D film so that it could be shown on the day of the inauguration.

With a growing economy and population since the 1990s, Turkmenistan – Ashbagat in particular – has been developing non-stop. The construction of this cinema was part of this development.

IMPACT

Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat is a city with a population of one million where new buildings mushroom right before our eyes. This boom has led to the demolition of old brick building from the Soviet era so that they can be built all over again. With so many construction and renovation projects, Ashgabat has been keen to develop and create conditions that are favourable for local life. With the construction of this cinema, the country has shown that it is opening up both to culture and leisure.
In 2011, the capital could boast of 3 public cinemas: the Vatan (the Fatherland), Turkmenistan and since 29 June, the Ashgabat with a 3D facility. The opening up of the country marks a new page for cinema in Turkmenistan. Apart from all this, the complex has multipurpose halls, which are not exclusively reserved for cinema but are also used for live shows such as concerts, plays and ceremonies.
Finally, this construction was an opportunity for VINCI Construction Grands Projets to gain a foothold in this country which has been independent since 1991. After the Ashgabat cinema was delivered, we started the Government palace project.

Project participants

Client
Turkmennebitgazgourlouchyk

Key figures

Implementation dates
May 2010 to June 2011

Width
62.50 m

Depth
48 m

Height
11.50 m

Palais du gouvernement

Achgabat

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