Indian architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi has been named the 2018 laureate of the Pritzker Prize, architecture's most illustrious award, reported The CNN. Doshi, one of India's most influential 20th century architects, is the 45th recipient of the Pritzker Prize. He is the first Indian architect to be awarded the prize. Doshi and his practice Vastu-Shilpa has a portfolio spanning over 70 years, including collaborations with both Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn. "My works are an extension of my life, philosophy and dreams trying to create treasury of the architectural spirit. I owe this prestigious prize to my guru, Le Corbusier," said Doshi. "His teachings led me to question identity and compelled me to discover new regionally adopted contemporary expression for a sustainable holistic habitat." After graduating in Mumbai, Doshi began his architectural career in Europe. He apprenticed at Le Corbusier's Paris office and later went on to oversee the construction of some of his mentor's pivotal projects in Chandigarh and Ahmedabad. Doshi deftly integrates the principles of modernism within the realities of the Indian climate and context. His work addresses serious social issues, developing low-cost housing and urban planning throughout India’s cities, particularly in Ahmedabad, India, where he is based. Some of his own key projects include the Ahmedabad School of Architecture (1966), which he both designed and founded; the barrel-vaulted studio he created for his studio Vastu-Shilpa in 1981; and his experimental, cave-like Amdavad ni Gufa (1995) gallery. In 1989 he designed Aranya Low Cost Housing, a labyrinthine complex of russet homes providing affordable residences for 80,000 people in Indore. Doshi was awarded the prize by a jury including Richard Rogers, Sejima Kazuyo, Glenn Murcutt and Martha Thorne. "Balkrishna Doshi has always created an architecture that is serious, never flashy or a follower of trends," reads their citation. "With a deep sense of responsibility and a desire to contribute to his country and its people through high quality, authentic architecture, he has created projects for public administrations and utilities, educational and cultural institutions, and residences for private clients, among others." Doshi will receive a grant and bronze medallion at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto, Canada on 16 May 2018.

The opinion of the architect Sashur Kalashyan The Kumayri museum-reserve was created by the decision of Armenian government in 1980 to preserve the original historical and architectural heritage (about 1200 buildings) of Gyumri. In the late seventies of the last century city was using its last free lands for new developments within its administrative borders. To continue development program, it was necessary to demolish historical one-story buildings in the center of the city. But demolishing them meant depriving the Gyumri people of historical memory. Each of these buildings was talking about whole era, a stone witness of the past. The earthquake in 1988 and the following years left their destructive trail on these buildings: abandoned, cracked, with some weird additions, they resembled those that had lost the former glitter of beauties. In 2017, the program for the development of the historical center “Kumayri” was developed and implemented, and work began on the restoration of some buildings. Will Gyumri find its former spirit and brilliance? We represent the opinion of the honored architect of Armenia, the chief architect of Gyumri in 1976-1994, Sashur Kalashyan. At the behest of fate, I was one of the authors of the establishment of Kumayri museum-reserve. In 1976, I was appointed the chief architect of Leninakan (the former Soviet time name of Gyumri). In accordance with the five-year urban development plan, it was necessary to determine the locations of new developments for factories, residential and administrative buildings. The number of land plots, free of buildings, was limited in Leninakan. We would have completed their development in the next two or three years. But for the continuation of the development plan, we would have to demolish the old buildings in the central part of the city. I, as an architect, could not allow the demolition of buildings of cultural and historical value. True, cultural tourism was not developed in those years, but in some cities of Russia, Georgia, the Baltic republics, steps were taken at the legislative level to preserve the historical and architectural environment. I and a group of like-minded colleagues decided to study their experience and legislatively consolidate the preservation of old buildings in Leninakan. I visited these cities (Nizhny Novgorod, Tbilisi, Tallinn), got acquainted with the contents of the relevant legislative packages, understood what they were aimed at. Then we decided to take an unprecedented step to give the whole administrative district the status of the museum-reserve, prepared a large legislative package and submitted it for approval to the Armenian government. In 1980, the government approved the establishment of Kumayri museum-reserve. Large-scale restoration and improvement works began. The wide media coverage of this work led to the fact that in two or three years groups of specialists from Yerevan, Tbilisi, even from Russia and the Baltic republics began to come to see and understand how we do it. And it is quite natural that the result of the work done in 1985 was marked by a high state award of Armenia. Unfortunately, the earthquake of 1988 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union interrupted our noble mission. The museum-reserve for obvious reasons was abandoned: the staff of the administrative staff was reduced, the buildings-monuments handed over to the directorate, some were privatized, many damaged buildings were demolished. However, the collective concept of the museum-reserve, to the credit of Gyumri people, retained its cultural appeal. In 2017, the business program for the development of the historical center Kumayri, developed by a local project team, was launched. To implement this program an investment fund was established for capital repair and modernization of the street network, as well as large-scale works on the restoration of some major historic buildings. However, the whole trouble is that none of the people involved in this work are fully aware of the legally established rules of ownership and, especially, of the restoration and use of cultural and historical monuments. Although the initiative group has developed a project for the functional use of the territory of the experimental block, it does not refer to the requirements of the current legislation for historical buildings and therefore there is no guarantee that new owners of monuments will fully preserve the architectural appearance of the buildings. I confess, it's not at all pleasant to me to speak loudly about this. Maybe we can somehow get out of this deadlock? In the meantime, we still have to hope and support the honorable citizen of Gyumri, the Italian Antonio Montalto, whose efforts and modest investments have been used for several years to acquire, restore and exemplarily use of some historical and architectural monuments in the same historical part of Gyumri.

There are stormy discussions among architects in the last year. The reason is the possible investment project of a new cable car in Yerevan. According to the media, the project proposal was presented in April last year by IDeA Foundation Director Edgar Manukyan at a meeting with Deputy Mayor Vahe Nikoyan. Since June, the Yerevanproject CJSC started work on this project and already in October a meeting-discussion was held between the director of Doppelmayr Seilbahnen Valery Yashin and the deputy mayor of Yerevan Vahe Nikoyan. The aim of the project is to create an alternative link between downtown and the administrative districts of the city - Kanaker-Zeytun, Nork-Marash, Nor-Nork, Arabkir or Ajapnyak. Note that the project proposal does not include the restoration of the old ropeway from Heratsi Street to Nork-Marash district. While the issues like project start date, possible investors or the ropeway capacity still under discussion, we’ll try to understand what will mean the implementation of this project for Yerevan. Recall that the cable car of Yerevan, built in 1967, stopped working in 2004 due to tragic accident. Maybe at that time the termination of the ropeway work did not significantly affect the capital’s transport communication system, but today, due to the growth of traffic flows, when traffic jams appears everywhere, this project must be a necessity. The implementation of the project will somehow unload the traffic load in the city, in particular in the downtown. In addition, it can become a starting point for development of tourism-connected businesses in peripheral administrative districts of Yerevan and will create greener environment for the leaving in Yerevan.

The three-wing building of COAF SMART Center was built in the picturesque nature between Debet and Dsegh villages of Lori Province, with funding from the Children of Armenia Foundation (COAF). This impressive structure with its transparent architecture penetrated into a nature is unique for Armenia. The architect is the Lebanese Armenian Paul Kalustian. The COAF SMART Center with floor area 2230 square meters is mainly glazed which is especially important for rural children to be all time connected with nature and always feel freedom. The Center’s goal is to offer alternative education to residents of Lori Province without any age limits. The innovative wing of the training center will consist of robotics room, an art center, a medical education room which will have all the necessary equipment for the first medical aid. The digital library will provide an opportunity to use mainly e-books, although there will also be printed options. The center will also have a computer room teaching coding, programming, graphic design and animation technics. There will also be English language programs for both children and adults. Various educational programs in the field of agriculture and entrepreneurship are planned mainly for adults. There will be a dance and art studios with all necessary equipment and furniture and locker rooms for children on the underground floor. The building meets all requirements of people with disabilities. According to the project, the construction works will continue on adjacent territory, because the final goal is to build the COAFSMART village, which will cover an area more than 80,000 square meters. The village will be a dynamically developing and growing project with many additional facilities for sports, housing and camping. An accommodation for invited experts was also built, but the main staff will be recruited from local region organizing various supporting training courses for them. The construction of the center COAF SMART, which started in 2015, has been fully completed. Now the building is in the phase of furnishing. The official opening of the educational center is planned in May, 2018.

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