The building of the National Centre of Archaeology (previously known as the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts and later as the Institute of Oriental Studies) was constructed in 1968 in the newly developing Akademgorodok in the north-east of Tashkent.

Architects: L. Karash and V. Sutyagin; engineers: I. Shakhsuvarov, Ye. Chernyshov, and G. Kalinina.

The austere seven-storey structure has been and remains the most prominent landmark at the intersection of Mirzo Ulugbek Avenue and Darmon Yuli Street. The brutalist concrete block is decorated with fragments of non-national ornamentation. The fifth and sixth floors, which house the manuscript archive, have no windows at all — this enhances the feeling of functional minimalism.

To the right of the high-rise section, along Mirzo Ulugbek Park, stands a strict three-storey wing with sun-shading structures on the courtyard side. Its exterior was recently clad in alucobond, which has diminished its value as a modernist monument.

On the left side of the main building is an attached conference hall decorated with a concrete panjaroy lattice.

In the vestibule, a wall painting by Chingiz Akhmarov has been preserved, though it is in need of restoration.