In Soviet years a program called Dzoragyugh was launched, which was dedicated to creation of ethnographic district. Within the frame of that program Sergei Parajanov's House Museum was rebuilt, and several more buildings on the left side of Hrazdan canyon, upwards the Victory bridge. Yet the project remained unfinished after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The buildings were privatized. One of the partly reconstructed buildings was given to Armenian Apostolic Church. And due to this building undertook Yerevan, My Love Foundation was reopened. In Soviet years the frontal part of the house was built of the bricks taken from demolished monument-house on 12 Molokov street (now Hanrapetutyan street, 3rd lane). The main walls of the building overlooking the canyon were erected on Israelyan street, the fence wall was built of large and porous half honed basalt stones. After the collapse of Soviet Union the construction works were stopped. During theses 30 years the unfinished building has turned into a shelter for homeless people, the residents of adjacent buildings used it as a dump. Arshak Karapetyan, the director of Foundation Yerevan, My Love recalls, that the garbage was removed from the territory with the help of many trucks, “The works that were done during Soviet years had been almost annulled”. The reconstruction of the building is done by Haik Ayvazyan, Chief Architect of ArmProject OJSC and the Head of the Architectural studio. In order to increase the seismic safety of the old building, large and small halls on the first and second floors were arched. To connect with other buildings a glazed balcony was added from the backyard. To increase the seismic stability, the building overlooking the canyon was shifted by 2.5 meters from the edge of the canyon. A wall fence made of half honed basalt stones has been added. The small hanging balconies on the edges were preserved, and a big one was added, which is a continuation of the open roof of the building and creates a beautiful harmony with adjacent buildings. The open roof (300 m²) is a metal frame with wooden coating. It is used for official meetings, outdoor concerts and other events. Entrance leading to the center is gradual. That was a mandatory solution due to terrain relief. The Urban Development Committee has decided to cooperate with the Fund for the reconstruction of buildings that have architectural value, but are in desperate condition. Yet, there are some issues, as the director of the Fund notes, “Most of the buildings of architectural significance are privatized, therefore, purchasing such a building in the center of the city is worth of an entire charity budget. It is necessary to find old buildings that belong to the state, which after the reconstruction will serve to people, implementing social, educational and charitable projects. No profit-making activity in our reconstructed buildings can be held." Today a Rehabilitation Center is open there with comfortable auditoriums, where about 200 children with disabilities or socially insecure conditions can benefit from rehabilitation and study free of charge. Yerevan, My Love Foundation plans to reconstruct the adjacent park near Echmiadzin Cathedral in the coming year and build there a children’s center. Horticulture, cooking, landscape design will be taught at the center. “Now certain construction works are underway on the territory of the Mother See. After finishing them we are going to start the renovation of the park and construction of the building,''- said Arshak Karapetyan. Another building the Fund is going to reconstruct is on the territory of Kond district, near Saint John the Baptist church: ''The project is ready, the budget is available, but we postpone the construction works upon the request of people living in Kond. The houses of the residents living there were demolished, with the condition of getting a home in a new multi-apartment building in the same area. And yet the people did not get their promised homes. They applied twice to The Board of Trustees of Yerevan, My Love Foundation for postponing the construction works. There is no issue with Foundation itself. Simply they are primarily against the launch of any construction work in that area until their apartments are allocated,''- clarifies Arshak Karapetyan.

New condo “Van” is under construction on Yeghvard Highway, in the administrative district of Davtashen, Yerevan. Being far from the city noise, the township gives a perfect opportunity to enjoy a country house life within the city. At the same time, it is quite easy and quick to reach the downtown Yerevan because the distance to Davtashen Bridge is only about 800 meters. The condo will consist of 80 two- and three-story houses made of stone walls and reinforced concrete frames, stretched in 3 rows with common neighbor walls. The houses will be put on market without interior finishing, so the owners can implement the internal planning themselves, at their own discretion. The exterior finishing for the all buildings will be the same. All houses will have a garage for one car. Houses are built in 3 sizes and each has an open terrace of 70 square meters. 30 houses are ready for sale and 50 others under construction for now. The total fenced area of the condo will be 25,577 square meters with a large garden stretching between the rows of the houses, as well as a bicycle path. Now under construction are 1500 square meters universal playground, tennis and badminton courts, six-story housing and public building. The places for a shop and car wash also provided inside the territory. Completely the condo “Van” will be commissioned in November 2018.

The construction of the new district will soon start on the area near to Republic Square. The District 33 will be built on the plot of land between Tigran Mets Avenue, Hanrapetutyan, Buzand and Khanjyan Streets, with residential, public and service facilities, business centers, hotels, as well as with new ways of transport communication. The project construction site area is more than 5 hectares. According to the design, there are three intersecting radial streets will start from the round square with a diameter of 85 meters to the directions of Tigran Mets Avenue, Khanjyan and Buzand Streets. A unique, strictly round, square for Yerevan will be built in the center of the district with two-story underground parking lot. The round square will serve only as rest zone for walkers. Green zones, playgrounds, pools and some small architectural forms will be set up in the district. The construction area will be about 200,000 square meters with the building density about 33%. The permissible height of the buildings will vary from 27 to 50 meters, and only 3 areas neighboring Khanjyan Street will be allowed to build structures up to 60 meters high. The central square’s buildings permissible height will be up to 30-36 meters. The project is planned to be implemented in 3-4 years. At present, work is underway to develop the territory.

A well-known fact is that over time urban and architectural tendencies change, therefore, cities can lose their architectural and cultural heritage. From this point of view Yerevan is certainly not an exception. The proof of this is the construction works where a number of architectural monuments were dismantled or demolished. And yet the historical appearance should be preserved in all the cities, not only in the capital. All these changes should be realized in harmony with the existing environment. Old Yerevan project is a kind of way out of the situation. It is designed to recreate the lost heritage and to reveal to us the beautiful architecture and urban environment of Yerevan of 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. The project will be realized on the area between the streets Abovyan-Buzand-Kohbatsi-Arami. 14 monument buildings will be joined to other 16 buildings dismantled in recent years. By the decision of the government, the buildings must have 3 ground floors plus attics. Since all the buildings in Yerevan were either single or two-story, the project architect Levon Vardanyan tried to give such concept, where added floors will not interfere with the visual perception of architectural monuments. According to the architect, the project will have 150 thousand square meters of usable area. He intends to recreate the atmosphere of old Yerevan with its courtyards, wooden balconies, cellars. 3 underground floors will stretch along the development. On the first ground floor there will be cellars and vault of buildings, under it will be located 2 parking floors for 1400 places. This will help to solve parking problem in the adjacent streets and significantly offload this part of city. Of course, the project caused some disagreements that recreated buildings cannot be called a monument. If you consider that the law on the protection of monuments says. “Historical and cultural monuments are state-registered, historical, scientific, artistic or cultural structures, their structures and complexes, occupied by them or historically connected with them ...... irrespective of the degree of their preservation” then with the above mentioned opinion it is difficult to disagree. The transference of the monument deprives its value, especially when new stones are used for the building recreation. From architectural and urban planning point of view this step can’t be considered an excuse. According to the architect, 17-meter plastic roof provided by the author can be considered as a solution for scale problem and separates the inner space from foreign environment, thus, deprives panoramas of adjacent high-rise building. Taking into account all the positive aspects of this project, on the other hand, we must note that Yerevan's urban development and architecture should not develop in this direction, since existing monument buildings on different parts of the city revive the city turning it into a quest. By Hasmik Terzyan