It is already many years, that Parametricism, which is an algorithmic architecture, has become very popular worldwide. This style, which is a product of the digital age, has its pros and cons, and due to its advantages, attracts more and more people and Armenia is not an exception. Very soon this style will appear in our capital city, too. It’s about the project of a multifunctional center at the top of the intersection of Komitas Avenue and the Boulevard, which is intended for the final section of the Northern Axis of Yerevan. At what stage is the project now and how it is going to be implemented? We asked this question to the director of architectural studio Ithake 999 LLC, the chief architect of the project, PhD in Architecture and laureate of many international awards Telemak Ananyan, who told us, that the center will be built in the place of former Arabkir department store. - Mr. Ananyan, what is the reason for choosing such design of the building? - The 20th century was a century of typification, unification and standardization, which was a consequence of industrialization, and the 21st century is a century of parametric architecture, due to the development of modern digital and robotic industrial systems. Parametric modeling allows you to work with double-curved surfaces, which are innovative, beautiful, impressive and memorable, attract attention, have high bearing capacity, seismic resistance and allow you to get a variety of forms with very bold flights. Large-scale coverage allows you to capture huge surfaces under one canopy, facilitates solutions for planning, technology, navigation and other tasks. By combining all types of service buildings of the multi functional center under one roof, it is possible to ensure the environment in accordance with modern international standards for leisure, catering, exhibitions, shopping, youth and children development and entertainment. The dome of the building is planned to be made according to the well-known construction technology of modern parametric architecture, and we plan to cover the roof with double-curved surfaces using a membrane mould, in the subsystem of which there is a frame of a metal spatial membrane network, with external cladding. The system is designed to be made of lightweight rolled aluminum complex composite spatial profiles. The total area of the building is 4975 sq.m. - Mr. Ananyan, what served as the basis for such an architectural and spatial image of the building? - Analyzing the urban environment, our group of authors found it expedient to oppose the existing quadrangular-prismatic, rectangular-vertical and horizontal dominant volumes as much as possible, using the smoothest, most spherical, double-dimensional curved surfaces. In order to create the above-mentioned volume, modern parametric modeling principles were applied, which allowed to create modern and expressive large "brushstroke" in both internal and external environments, in the form of traditional Armenian Vishap (Dragon), which rules at the end of the Northern Ray of Yerevan. - What planning decisions are used in the project? - The building has an open floor plan. In the presence of more lighting, the goal is to provide the ground, basement and semi-basement floors with natural light. The complex has one main entrance from Komitas Avenue, two extra accesses from the upper part of the park, a separate entrance for employees and a parking lot… The project is now at the stage of “working documentation”. - Is it known which company will be in charge of the construction? - It is not one, but several construction companies. The Armenian company will work on concrete structures, and foreign partners with relevant experience will be invited for parametric coating. Organizations will be selected through an open private tender. We plan to start the construction works in spring 2021 and complete in the fall of 2022. The preliminary budget is 10 million US dollars, which is the budget for the whole program, including the reconstruction of the park, fountains, underground parking lot and construction of the 2nd building. Very soon we will present a modern park equipped with an open amphitheater, fountains, etc. Learn more

Climbing up the stairs of Yerevan Cascade is an interesting and pleasant challenge, the reward of which is the opportunity to admire the beautiful view of the city from the great height. Yet, after the fourth platform of Cascade the white travertine miracle is abruptly interrupted, and a giant black-fenced cavity opens in front of us, which was dug in 2007 with an intention to finally complete Cascade stairway project. The construction of the Cascade was finished and finally equipped by the charity of philanthropist Gerard Cafesjian, who planned to build a museum at the end of the stairway with New-York-based architect David Hotson’s design. The basic works were started. But in the course of the works it turned out that the design several times exceeded the planned budget. The project was cancelled due to the disagreement between the client and the architect. That part of Cascade, which is 78 meters away from the Revived Armenia Monument and covers an area of about 9.8 hectares remains unfinished. Architect Aslan Mkhitaryan is one of the co-authors of the Cascade complex. He has developed two design ideas for finishing the Cascade construction. The projects were sent to the Prime-Minister of Armenia and the mayor of Yerevan city. In the first project Aslan Mkhitaryan plans to build a universal concert hall named after Charles Aznavour in the central part of Cascade. On the left side of the Cascade, it is planned to build a hotel complex, and on the right side there will be an open-air hall for 3000 people. In the second project instead of the hotel the architect suggests to build a museum (1200 m2), as it was planned by G. Cafesjian, and on the right side there will be an open-air concert hall (for 1500 people) named after Charles Aznavour. According to the design it is planned to have also 1600m2 agora, fountains, café, recreational and leisure places. The museum and the concert hall will be covered with solar panels, which will provide the power supply of the area. The open air escalators will also function, taking people to the monument. The design and construction works of Cascade complex lasted a long time, and they still are going on. First time it was Alexander Tamanyan, who gave the idea of reconstruction in 1924, and the project entered the implementation phase in 1976, designed by the architects Jim Torosyan, Sargis Gurzadyan and Aslan Mkhitaryan. By the way, the design of Cascade has been changed several times during the construction process. The archive of Yerevanproject Institute maintains Cascade's last project, which the authors finished in 1987-88. According to that project the last - upper area of the Cascade would have been an open-air exhibition, dedicated to Armenian medieval architecture and surrounded with fountains. From the open-air exhibition place the stairs would rise to the platform of the Revived Armenia Monument. Yet the construction works were postponed due to the earthquake in 1988 and collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. The open-air exhibition hall was not built.

By the decision of the Government of RA, the "Engineering City" program was initiated to give a new impetus to the development of engineering and high technology in our country, as well as to unite Armenian engineering minds and make them more productive and meaningful. Armenia thus will re-establish its name “Caucasus Silicone Valley”, exporting to the global markets its engineering and high technology products and services. The future Engineering City will occupy a 3.0-hectare area on Bagrevand Street, Yerevan. Approximately 40 engineering companies will be settled here, bringing together the main potential of the Armenian engineering mind in one place. In their own City the engineers will be able to work more efficiently. Some joint laboratories, small-scale sampling workrooms will be established here. Hakob Arshakyan, the First Deputy Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies of Armenia, gives a great importance to creation of such a working environment, saying, “For testing a product, its temperature and producing a ready product from its prototype, there is a need for appropriate laboratory and production equipment that very few companies can afford (if necessary, most of them rent the equipment or work with customer organization’s equipment). Availability of such centralized laboratories in Eengineering City will significantly facilitate the work of the companies. These laboratories will be open for everyone!” In general, a high-tech environment will be created, where apart from the joint laboratories, a separate building will be constructed for every company, a joint working area will be set up with equipment for acceleration and incubation activities, as well as administrative space for management and technical staff, meeting rooms, a conference hall and training rooms. The architectural project for Engineering City is not ready yet. In 2016 an architectural concept tender was organized, where no winning project was selected. The land, on which the city for Armenian engineers will be built is property of Yerevan, and it will be handed to the relevant body only after the decision of the Council of Elders of Yerevan, which has not yet happened. In front of 3.0 ha area allocated for Engineering City there are: an engineering center, where already more than a dozen engineering companies work (address: 21/1 Bagrevand street), engineering library, space and science museums, and youth educational techno park (in the process of construction). This space (about 5000m²) will join the Engineering City, and a centralized high-tech environment will be created, making Armenian engineering mind more presentable. Hakob Arshakyan mentions, that after launching the Engineering City the foreign customers will see our engineering potential in the form of 40 companies gathered in one place. They will clearly see an appropriate environment for solving their problems. Besides, the City will bring together different companies, the latters will exchange their skills and knowledge, will start network collaboration, organize expos, trainings and seminars. Here the engineering companies will develop and implement innovative ideas with the help of modern infrastructures and will offer hard technical solutions to local and international markets. “The foreign organizations, that work with Armenian companies, recognize Armenia as an information technology local center and want to work with Armenian companies again, and this is mostly with foreign countries, and therefore, often in secret strategically important projects.” The First Deputy Minister also draws attention to the fact that 6% of Armenia's gross domestic product is provided by high technology companies, and this 6 % is generated by only 1.4% of the industry staff, which means, that these workers form a result creator group. Due to this result, the financial turnover of the sector has increased five times during the last 7 years. But it is necessary to increase the rates, mentions Hakob Arshakyan. The creation of Engineering City will boost the competitiveness and productivity of Armenia's economy. About $17 mln investment is envisaged by the Government through the World Bank and private sector for Engineering City project implementation.

UAE-based Azizi Developments announced a plan to launch a new US$ 6.8 billion mega community project in the heart of Dubai, reported the Arabian Business. The new project, whose name is yet to be announced, will have a distinctly British feel, with themes and elements influenced by contemporary British culture and way of living, Azizi said in a statement. It added that the development will comprise residential, commercial and retail space, with 105 mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings boasting 30,000 apartments. The new Azizi project will be located in central Dubai with a construction area of nearly 3.1 million square meters and will include education facilities, retail outlets, hospitality, a shopping area and outdoor recreation spaces. Construction of the project is scheduled to begin in November and be completed before Expo 2020. “The rules and regulations in Dubai have provided an ideal environment for business growth, establishing the city as a preferred destination for trade and property investments,” Azizi added.