The History of Armenian Architecture 4

The architecture of the Soviet Union at the time included more than just industrial buildings; it also included opera houses, movie theaters, public buildings, and museums, in addition to housing that was being constructed more and more to accommodate the dense population.

Therefore, the architecture of Soviet Armenia is a unique chapter in Armenian history, a repository of shared memories and aesthetics that are vying for recognition and inclusion in the nation's overall transformation.

Yerevan's sights, the capital

The majority of buildings of Soviet architecture are located close to the centre of the capital and within walking distance from the main attractions and each other.

Cascade Complex

One of the highlights is the Cascade Complex, which is one of the most impressive sites besides being the main tourist attraction in Yerevan.

It was designed by architects Sargis Gurzadyan, Jim Torosyan and Aslan Mkhitaryan. Work on the complex began in 1971, and nine years later, the first part of it was completed. Further work continued in the 2000s.

The complex consists of several levels, where many modern sculptures can be found in addition to Armenian folk motifs, and where the best view of Yerevan and the famous Mount Ararat can also be enjoyed. You can also visit the Cafesjian Art Center—the Museum of Modern Art—to see the works of some world-famous artists.

The 572 steps of the stairs of the complex are made of limestone. The stairs are interspersed with tiers of greenery, fountains and waterfalls. This exotic masterpiece of the Soviet era, essentially an Armenian copy of the ancient hanging gardens of Babylon, has undergone a complete renovation and revitalization although it was only partially completed in the early 1980s.

Cinema Rossiya

It was the largest cinema in Armenia, built between 1968 and 1975 with a design similar to Mount Ararat, with its peaks, accommodating up to 2500 people. After the Soviet Union collapsed, it turned into a shopping center. Designed by architects Spartak Khachikyan, Hrachik Poghosyan, and Artur Tarkhanyan.

Yerevan Opera Theater

On January 20, 1933, the building was officially opened with Spendiaryan's Almast opera performance. Its building was designed by the Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian. It consists of two concert halls: the Aram Khatchaturian Concert Hall with 1,400 seats and the Alexander Spendiaryan Opera and Ballet National Theatre with 1,200 seats.

Based on Tamanian's design and under the supervision of his son, the theater hall was completed in 1939, and the opera building was renamed after Alexander Spendiaryan. Large-scale construction work did not conclude until 1953, when the entire structure was finally completed in its current form.

Yeritasardakan Metro Station

One of the most famous metro stations in Armenia, it is known for the characteristic tube above the entrance and its close location to the Cascade Complex and the Opera House. Designed by architect Stepan Kyurkchyan, it was built between 1972 and 1981.

Tigran Petrosyan's Chess House

Zhanna Mescheryakova is the architect who designed the triangle-shaped building, which was built in 1970 and opened in 1971 and is considered one of the best chess education centres in the world.

Chess in Armenia is important; children are taught chess lessons in schools compulsorily from the age of 6 (Armenia is the only country in the world where chess plays such a crucial role in the education program).

Residential complexes in Soviet Armenia

?Russian-born Armenian architect Alexander Tamanian created the first general plan for Yerevan under Soviet rule, which was approved in 1924. The plan, which was overlaid on the preexisting city layout and was influenced by the Garden City style of the time, was created to house 150,000 people. The new one took into account the majority, of the existing urban fabric.

Many buildings didn't survive this significant transformation as a result of the Soviets' early internationalist ideological approach to religion and history; as a result, hundreds of homes and historic structures, including churches, mosques, baths, bazaars, and caravanserais, as well as the old Erivan fortress, were destroyed.?

Similar to other socialist cities, urban Yerevan was typically envisioned as having a perfect balance of labour and economic efficiency, social justice in terms of access to urban goods and services, and a high standard of communal life for the urban populations.

Rapid industrialization sparked a mass emigration of people from rural areas to Yerevan. The socialist government engineered and planned the population's flow into a unified workforce using urbanization.

After Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, urbanization accelerated and was underpinned by new ideologies from the early 1960s until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Mass production, functionalism, and rationalism were supposed to take the place of Stalinism's "wasted" ornament and grand planning. Architects were instructed to prioritize easy-to-reproduce designs, lower costs, and quicker construction. Prefabricated concrete and modular construction methods are notable results of these changes.

The resurgence of Armenian nationalism and the strategic repositioning of the diaspora as an essential component of Armenian national identity were made possible by Khrushchev's relative comfort with social and cultural constraints. Housing became increasingly scarce in Armenia, especially in Yerevan, as a result of Armenians' return home in the 1960s and rising rural-urban migration.?

The lack of housing persisted despite Khrushchev's mass housing campaign into the 1980s, peaking in 1988 as a result of widespread evictions brought on by the Nagorno-Karabakh "Artsakh" ethnic conflict with Azerbaijan and the devastating earthquake that year.

Many Armenians transformed their state-owned prefabricated homes into distinctive domestic spaces over decades of addition, expansion, and improvised interior remodelling. This was a natural reaction to such spaces' spatial shortcomings in allowing for rural and local lifestyles.