What was changed in memorable “velvet revolution 2018” year in the construction life of Armenia? What was created or built? What urban problems were solved? Armenian Chamber of Architects Established Mkrtich Minasyan, the Chairman of the Chamber of Architects of the Republic of Armenia: It was a long-awaited event that finally became a reality. Our Chamber is a self-governing body, we have our own laws, which will henceforth protect the activities of architects, determine the norms of architectural ethics. Unpleasant situations, that used to prevail in the relationship between the architects and the developers, will be excluded, like situations, when the developers dictate their tastes and wishes to architects, and in the course of the construction works the entire idea of the architect is being violated. Often the architects used to disclaim their own projects, because they did not want their names to be associated with the ugly buildings, distorting their initial idea. From now on, the license on architectural activity will be issued by qualified commissions, consisting of specialists. About 50 licenses are already prepared and soon will be solemnly provided. Grigor Azizyan, the Director of Armproject company: From now on, the Armenian Chamber of Architects will unite architects and civil-engineers. We will hand activity licenses taking into account their experience and completed projects. We have to be consistent and not repeat the same mistakes as was done by Licensing Committee. The Tasks on Protection of Cultural and Historical Monuments Are Revised Sirekan Ohanyan, the Director of Yerevanproject company: The year 2018 was special, because our country started to discuss the issue of inclusion of the Historical and Cultural Monuments Protection Agency (within the Ministry of Culture) into the structure of Urban Planning Committee. Immovable monuments are urban units, and the tasks of their protection, operation, restoration and reconstruction are elements of urban planning activities. It is the architects and urban planners represented by the Urban Planning Committee who are called upon to work on the restoration and preservation of the cultural and historical environment. Mkrtich Minasyan: In 2018, seven buildings were included in the list of immovable historical and cultural monuments (the old building of Zvartnots airport, Russia cinema, the summer hall of Moscow cinema, Hrazdan stadium, underground stations Republic Square and Yeritasardakan, Cafesjian Center for The Arts). We have long fought for it and finally the decision was made. So far, we have not begun the work on strengthening and restoration of these monuments, but an important step was taken, and, I hope, it will be continued. Micro-regional Urban Planning Documents Were Prepared for Syunik and Ararat Provinces Grigor Azizyan: I would highlight the development of micro-regional urban planning documents as major work carried out in 2018. In 2017 we completed the work for Tavush province, most of Syunik and Ararat provinces. The rest was done by other companies. This work will be continued. Master plans of rural settlements are created with emphasis on their economic relations, further development opportunities and the places where you can implement these or other investment projects. Sirekan Ohanyan: One of the major projects in 2018 was a micro-regional design of 30 settlements in Masis region of Ararat province ordered by the Urban Planning Committee. With the help of these documents we identify the opportunities for our villages, the prospects for their development, outline and evaluate new areas and chances in terms of investment. What Was Built ? Sirekan Ohanyan: In the beginning of 2018 we have completed the work begun in the previous year on the project for improvement and landscaping of Jermuk town. The project covers the improvement of neighborhoods, streets, sidewalks, roof repair of 24 houses, modernization of the frontal part of the houses on Shahumyan street, reconstruction of the city park, etc. The construction work continues in accordance with the project. The construction of an educational and sports complex in Avan is almost completed, only landscaping left to be done. The complex will include figure skating sports school, fitness center, school and kindergarden. In 2018 two parks have been landscaped: 1) the park in the area between Mashtots Avenue and Saryan Street, 2) the park in Komitas pantheon In the park adjacent to Mashtots Avenue, a “dry” or pedestrian fountain with color-sound design was built. Mkrtich Minasyan: In 2018 two large projects were put into operation: 1) the medical center in Vanadzor and 2) the Business Center Kamar on Shahumyan Square in Yerevan. We have a great architectural potential, which will be more productive with the help of the Chamber. Grigor Azizyan: In 2018 Armproject carried out the project for the construction of the Yerevan branch of Kempinski Hotels chain. The hotel is being built on Charles Aznavour square next to Stanislavsky Russian Drama Theater. Another major project is also associated with a well-known hotel brand: on the area adjacent to Republic street, next to Erebuni Business Center, a Park Inn hotel is being built. Thereby Revolutionary 2018 was a turning point in the political life of Armenia. Hopefully 2019 will bring many opportunities for construction industry new investments and projects.

The construction of Davtashen-Ashtarak highway is almost finished. The construction works of this section of the highway is carried out by B.S Group from Georgia and Armenian Vahagn and Samvel LLC. Entire project completion will provide Yerevan with new 23 km bypass highway connecting the Northern and Southern gates of Yerevan and its four administrative districts Shengavit, Malatia-Sebastia, Ajapnyak and Davtashen. The Davtashen-Ashtarak highway construction project is funded by the Asian Development Bank in the framework of the investment program for sustainable development of cities Tranche-2. The new section of the highway will consist of six lanes, on average, 28 meters wide and about 5.4 km in length․ According to the project, the administrative district Davtashen will be connected with the western gates of Yerevan in Ajapnyak administrative district at Ashtarak highway. To ensure uninterrupted traffic at the intersections “Chaush street-Ashtarak highway” and “Halabyan street-Yeghvard highway”, two-level traffic intersections are built. There is another construction work underway in the framework of the project of sustainable urban development "Tranche 2" and financed by the Asian Development Bank, that is the new section of the highway Babajanyan-Ashtarak along the bypass road with a length of 9.4 km, 6 lanes, average width - 24 m.

Cinematheque, the National Cinema Museum of Armenia, will soon be opened on the first three floors of the residential high-rise building, which was rescued when selling the former Cinema house building. On the area of 3118.7 square meters there will be permanent and temporary expositions, dedicated to Armenian cinema and filmmakers, but the main place will be occupied by virtual space with smart screens and other technological solutions. In addition to museum, Cinematheque will perform an important educational function. Here it is planned to open classes of creative film education, equipped with modern film technology, where the representatives of the younger generation will be able to create their own films. It will be like the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies but in the world of cinema. The cinema halls together with the big hall of Cinema House will create a new film atmosphere and a film culture in Yerevan. The 510 seat Cinema House hall, which is now the largest operating hall in the capital, stood idle for 30 years and was in a deplorable state, was finally renovated. To preserve the unique acoustics of the hall, facing wood was restored and specially treated. It should be noted, that this is one of the rare halls preserved in Europe, which is built according to the canons of special engineering and is lined with special wood. Due to the wide possibilities and modern infrastructures, it will be possible to connect to global Cinematheque network in Armenian National Cinema Museum. The head of Armenian Union of Cinematographers Harutyun Khachatryan held preliminary negotiations with the cinematheques of various cities and countries, including the Amsterdam cinematheque. This direct connection with international cinematheques will allow movie lovers in Yerevan to watch films from Amsterdam or Paris cinema museum funds. The Cinema Museum will be a three-story multifunctional building consisting exhibition and other halls, film archives, wardrobes, cinema-cafes, auditoriums and small video halls. The main entrance to the building will be from Khanjyan street. Special elevators, entrances to cinema halls and other infrastructures will be adapted for disabled people. President of Armenia Armen Sargsyan, Chairman of the Urban Planning Committee Avetik Eloyan expressed their approval and support for the idea of Cinematheque. They visited the site of Cinematheque and promised “all possible help”. The Union of Cinematographers addressed the issue of creating a National Cinematheque to the Ministry of Culture and the Prime Minister of Armenia, who replied that it would be discussed when some extra-budgetary funds will be allocated for 2019. The project requires an investment of 485 million drams (US$ 1 million).

The year 2018 was full of events not only in the political and legislative sphere, but also in the field of urban planning. The city of Yerevan celebrated its 2800th anniversary, as well as the appointment of Arthur Meschian to the post of the chief architect. Arthur Meschian is well-known not only for his songs, but also for his rich architectural activities. We all know, that our capital has many construction and architectural problems. Then which one is priority? This question was addressed to the chief architect of Yerevan, ''Construction technology with the help of which today we build residential complexes, is the technology of 50-60-s. Monolithic frames, rebars, all these are vestiges of the past. The only opportunity to start large-scale housing construction in Yerevan is the use of house-building factories, i.e. prefabricated modules of sandwich residential buildings, with the help of which you can quickly assemble a whole residential complex within a year. And the cost of using this technology is cheaper compared to the monolithic structure''. This approach will help to solve in a short time the problems of housing fund and employment, which in its turn will lead to economical growth and will reduce the immigration. It's no secret that the city center needs to be unloaded. How does the chief architect see the solution to this problem? ''It is a very good question! We must start construction projects outside the city center ․․․ And such a tendency seems to be already there, people are already beginning to understand that the city center is overloaded, there is no more room'',- explained Arthur Meschian. Hopefully the newly appointed chief architect, approving new projects, will take into account that the number of floors must be appropriate for the area and for the general panorama of the city. The fact that the capital is losing its image due to the demolition and painting of historical buildings was also noted by Arthur Meschian. '' While I am the chief architect of the capital, no any monument could be demolished here ․․․ Developers who purchase a certain piece of land on which a monument is located will be required to finance the restoration works of that building '', - assured Artur Meschyan.

This year, the city of Yerevan celebrated its 2800th anniversary, a holiday, which brings pride to every citizen of our capital. But what holiday without a nice gift? The park dedicated to 2800th anniversary of Yerevan became such a gift for our city. Another gift was the restoration of the park between Saryan Str. and Mashtots Ave. and construction of Smart Park by Vardanyan family, which is a new venture for Yerevan. Yet, the opening of the park dedicated to 2800th anniversary in November has been postponed until spring, for a number of objective reasons. The main work in the park is completed, but operation of fountains is impossible due to technical standards. “Fountains, which are complex hydraulic structures, have clear technical requirements for weather conditions’’, said Valentin Bukovsky, the Chief Engineer of VODALUX, the famous manufacturer of fountains, “Weather conditions, from abscission to frost, can harm the entire system of the fountains”. The famous Malibu park, already renovated, opened its doors this year in the city center. The restoration work was carried out by the owner of the company “Tashir Group” Samvel Karapetyan. The park is equipped with 100m long new fountain systems and small houses for children covered with artificial grass. The number of trees in the park has increased by three times. Taking into account the fact that Yerevan was designed as a garden city and not for so many people and heavy traffic, also given the rhythm of today's life, the need to increase green areas in the city has become urgent. For 2800th anniversary of Yerevan in the administrative district of Erebuni, the first smart park in the city was built, which is a gift to citizens of Yerevan from Vahagn Badalyan charity foundation. The idea of creating such a park in Erebuni district of Yerevan is very important, because the birth and further development of Yerevan began from this area. '’Our dream was to build a park and give it to the citizens, and we are happy to realize this dream. There will be no commercial structures in the park - neither a shop nor a cafe. This is a new kind of park using only solar energy. It is like a piece of forest in a big city'‘, - said Vahe Badalyan. It should be noted, that the park has been in a terrible state for a long time. Now it has a playground, a chess table and skateboard track. The park has a picturesque artificial lake, a stage, a reading room and an amphitheater. It is important, that the design of the park took into account the needs of people with disabilities.