ARCHITECTURAL SUMMARY OF 2023_part 2

The architects of the leading bureaus of Armenia summarize the architectural results of the year. Part 1 is here

1_What was 2023 for your bureau?

It was a difficult year, I can call it a year of rethinking in many aspects. There were difficulties, ups and downs, and I can easily say that it was a turning point year. We are very glad that all difficulties have been overcome, and we are ready for the challenges of the international market. The year ended with the "Best Architect of the Year" award from the Tun Degh Design Awards, which gave even more confidence in promotion on the local market and abroad.

2_What was 2023 for Armenian architecture in general?

The development of the industry this year was spontaneous, I might say it was disorganized and chaotic. There is a lot of construction, mainly residential complexes, but a lot does not mean well, because the biggest problem was and remains the lack of a master plan for the city. Also, one of the most serious problems faced by the construction industry was the unprepared engineering infrastructure.

3_The main things in Armenian architecture in 2023?

I can confidently and even proudly highlight 7 main events. FA Convention (organized by Futuris Architects), NPATAK Architectural School and Festival, MEDS Workshop 2023 in Gyumri, opening of the Library for Architecture (LFA) with the support of local architectural bureaus and the Russian company MEGANOM, Seminar "Architectural Design" (organized by Archangel Architects), ARCHI WEEK (organized by Zetetic Architects Alliance) and Tun Degh Design Awards 2023 ceremony.

4_What do you expect from the next year?

Our main goal is to enter the international market. The city's goal is to prepare an electronic master plan for the city. The goal of the market is to develop strong specialists.

1_What was 2023 for your bureau?

There were many implementations: restaurants in Abu Dhabi (Avobar), London (Bar Du Champagne) and Yerevan (MOV), Cofix coffee shop in Yerevan, a farm in Ashtarak. We have started the construction of a business center in Yerevan, affordable housing in Nork, and a residential complex in Arabkir. We won the competition for the Koor winery, but there will be no implementation, because the client gave the project to a Western architect.

2_What was 2023 for Armenian architecture in general?

The year has been fruitful, despite the difficult situation in the country, there is a demand for high-quality projects. New challenges are associated with changes in the city government, the lack of clarity and accuracy of decision-making on permits, and many controversial decisions. There is a tendency to give projects to Western architects. There is still no sense of the presence of the professional community - at the moment it has no authority and, accordingly, no influence either on the city authorities or on the profession as a whole.

3_The main things in Armenian architecture in 2023?

The opening of Library for Architecture (LFA) and new Epigraph bookstore which is a great space with a good catalog of architectural books. The loss of the cinema building in Echmiadzin.

4_What do you expect from the next year?

Most of all, we expect a masterplan for the city of Yerevan and a clear structure for working with projects.

1_What was 2023 for your bureau?

We had two completed projects, three finished constructions, we took part in three international competitions. There were fewer projects than expected and fewer than it was in 2022.

2_What was 2023 for Armenian architecture in general?

In general, 2023 can be characterized with the plus sign. The problems were the same as before - same old urban planning problems.

3_The main things in Armenian architecture in 2023?

The event that is worth mentioning is NPATAK Architectural Festival that took place in the summer of 2023, as well as the project of residential building on Gevorg Emin street by TarberAK studio that can be described as an interesting one.

4_What do you expect from the next year?

We expect to have more challenging projects in our studio.

1_What was 2023 for your bureau?

The year has been busy. We moved to a new office, more convenient and comfortable for team work. There were many interesting projects, especially in HoReCa. We completed the construction of our most important project- the office complex in Nork, which took 3 years to build, and began to work on the interior. We received construction permit for a very special in terms of architecture office building project on Hin Yerevantsi street.

2_What was 2023 for Armenian architecture in general?

I don`t see a big progress in armenian architecture. More residential buildings are being built, architects and people with related professions now have a lot of work, but the quality of urban planning, if not decreased, certainly has not increased. The building density of Yerevan does not correspond to the transport and engineering infrastructure. I would like to see other typologies besides residential buildings.

3_The main things in Armenian architecture in 2023?

Several platforms for communication between architects have appeared, and there were several quite well-organized festivals and seminars, interesting to attend and important for the development of new visions in the profession.

4_What do you expect from the next year?

In the new year we expect the implementation of new, more ambitious projects for our studio, because we always try to strive for more interesting, large-scale achievements.

There is not much to say about architecture in Armenia. It sounds kind of depressing, but it is what it is.

____________________________________________________________________________

Initially, I didn`t want to publish this answer and thought to invite another architect to take the place of the 10th participant in the survey (fortunately there are more than 10 good architectural bureaus in Armenia), but then I thought that actually this is also an answer and quite eloquent. This reminded me of two works at the ArchMoscow 2020 exhibition, when all the invited architects demonstrated their projects or installations, and at the stand of Evgeny Ass there was only a black rectangle with the inscription "quarantine", and at the Megabudka bureau`s there was a stand with plants and a neon inscription "no architecture". So in the end, I regarded this response from the 10th participant of the survey as a kind of statement, and decided to leave it here, but make it anonymous.

I also didn't want to insert this answer at the very end of the survey, so that it wouldn't leave too pessimistic aftertaste, but then I decided that, on the contrary, it should only push architects and all industry participants to changes, new achievements and move forward. I sincerely wish that next year there will be something to say about Armenian architecture and exclusively with the "+" sign.

SHORT SUMMARY

Architects had a lot of work last year. So many that it was not easy for them to find time to complete this survey and to take professional photos of their projects and to supplement their portfolios on websites and social networks in a timely manner. Residential buildings (apartment and private) and offices were most often found among architectural projects, while cafes and restaurants were the most popular in the interior projects.

According to the architects themselves, the best thing that happened to Armenian architecture last year was a lot of interesting meetings, lectures and festivals. Almost all participants highlighted the NPATAK festival and the opening of the Library for architecture (LFA) (it is worth noting that 6 out of 10 architects I interviewed are co-founders of LFA)

There is a construction boom in Armenia, especially in Yerevan, but there are many construction and not much real architecture. Nevertheless, there are still a little more high-quality projects every year.

Everything is bad on the part of the state and municipalities - there is no master plan or an up-to-date general plan for Yerevan and other cities, there is no comprehensive urban development strategy, the cities are built up chaotically and haphazardly. There is no clear regulation, architects do not always understand the rules of the game.

Curiously, only two architects mentioned the projects of other bureaus that seemed interesting to them, although I asked about this in leading questions. There are several options here:

- no one has built anything memorable;

- architects don't really follow what their colleagues are doing;

- they do not want to name the buildings of one colleagues, so as not to offend others;

- they just didn't read a lot of my leading questions very carefully :)

Thanks to all the survey participants and a happy new year to everyone!