After the earthquake in 1988 in the disaster zone some disorderly housing was formed. Over these 30 years, thousands of families left without shelter have received housing thanks to public and private investments. And yet the number of wagons for temporary shelter did not become less. Tatiana Arzumanyan, the Head of the Department of Housing and Utility Infrastructure of the Urban Planning Committee of Armenia, clarified the issue, "In 2008 the final deadline was set for the registration of families left without shelter because of the earthquake. During this period, 7,000 families were enrolled, of which 5,381 are currently recognized as beneficiaries of the housing program with state support. The issues of 4839 families are already solved, and until 2020 the housing problem of the remaining 542 families will be solved, too''. Nevertheless, even after providing housing for so many families, there are still people living in temporary wagons. The number of such wagons is approximately 2000 in Gyumri. '' Some families living in temporary wagons received housing in due time, but for social reasons, sold them and moved again to their old wagons. Another case is large families, when only part of the family moves to the new house, the others continue to live in the so-called ''domiks'' (houses). A lot of such temporary houses were bought or rented by internal migrants, residents who arrived in Gyumri from neighboring cities and villages. In some cases these temporary houses are stone buildings, and families living in such “domiks” are able to use the social guarantees provided by the state. There are also families, who received a living space under the state support program, but did not manage to register their rights within the prescribed period, mostly due to the non-fulfillment of the main condition, the dismantling of temporary housing. Some domiks are used for shoemakers, hairdressers or catering facilities, but not for living'', told Tatiana Arzumanyan about the Odyssey of temporary houses. In order to identify and solve the problems of homeless families, this year, the government made a decision to start documenting the temporary houses. As a result in 2019 proposals will be submitted to Urban planning committee to improve the conditions of families living in these houses. The area of the houses will be cleaned of unnecessary buildings, which will enable them to be included in various investment projects (including construction). '' Solving disaster-zone problem is not only the housing program as planned. As experience shows, the solution of the housing problem does not make citizens socially independent. The family can sold the house or apartment because of the money shortage and again face the old housing problem. Here we need to use a complex approach, implementation of investment initiatives within the framework of human settlement development programs, opening new jobs, urging the economic growth in the regions, creation of opportunities for development'', said Tatiana Arzumanyan.

Architecture and construction usually show the historical and cultural past and present of the country, moreover, they are the best indicators of socioeconomic situation of any country. Tourism today considered as one of priority directions of Armenian economy future development, and renovation of air transport infrastructures became highly important. Consequently, the airport Shirak in Gyumri and the airport Syunik in Kapan have turned into construction sites. Construction of Shirak airport apron in Gyumri is carried out by the International Airports of Armenia CJSC. The area of the apron is 22,000 square meters. For its reconstruction the company is going to invest about 1,5 billion drams ($ 3.15 million), and as a result 17,000 square meters will be completely repaired by 2020. Shirak airport was built in 1961, and since 1986 it has not been reconstructed. In fact, at this moment Shirak airport is the second largest operating airport in Armenia. In parallel with the reconstruction of the airport Shirak, since last year construction work is underway to restart the Syunik airport operation in Kapan. Considering the difficulty of the road to Kapan, and the fact that today the road trip from Yerevan to Kapan lasts more than 4 hours, we can presume, that it is extremely inconvenient for tourists, as well as in the field of some cargo transportation. Meanwhile, after the reconstruction of the airport, passing the same distance will last only 30 minutes, which will open new horizons for the development of the region. Reconstruction of the airport is carried out by the Development and Investment Fund of Syunik region and Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine. According to the media, the amount of investment to be about $ 2 million. The construction was scheduled to be completed in June-July this year, but construction work is still ongoing. Some media reported that the opening of the airport is postponed for 18 months. It is noteworthy that today communication with the regions is mainly carried out with the help of buses, so the air transport operation will become a powerful stimulus for the development of tourism and economy of far regions.

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.

Soon the new building of the Tumo Center for Creative Technologies will open its doors in Gyumri. The center will be located in a 150-year-old theater building, which is one of the oldest theaters of Eastern Armenia. During its two-year activity in Gyumri, Tumo already has more than 2,000 students. The implementation of this project will increase the number of students almost twice. The author of the reconstruction is the famous Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury. The building will be three-story with a total area of 2500 sq. meters. As well as the main Tumo Center the new one will include the same four main areas of study: animation, video game development, digital media and web development. The center also will have a laboratory for 3D printing. The project provides two entrances. The main entrance from the eastern facade, located at the lower level of the park, is designed for students. All those areas that are not related to students, such as administration, public areas, the main lobby, is available from the upper street along the western facade. The main goal of the project is to turn the old theater into interactive training platforms with the main collective working area designed as a continuous audience, which during the weekends and vacations will be transformed into alternative theater with 200 seats. The main educational areas located on the ground floor. In addition to training areas, the center will also have a recording Studio, a public cinema where screenings will be organized both for Tumo students and the public, an outdoor terrace for events, as well as transforming platform that will also serve as a stage for the theater. The planned terrace, in turn, creates a link between the building and the park, integrating the exterior into the building volume. The project saves only the eastern and western facades of the building, recovering the existing white plaster. The new approved facades and additions to be performed in bright red color, which will create a contrast with old architectural monument. In addition to the reconstruction of the theater, the project also includes the improvement of the neighboring park.

The plan to turn Gyumri into a technological center can now be considered a reality in part, as Armenia's second largest city on Saturday launched its industrial park in a ceremony attended by high-ranking guests. The Gyumri TP is part of a larger project aimed to making Gyumri an industrial center equipped with high technologies, says Bagrat Yengibaryan, the director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation. "This is an exceptional opportunity for Armenia in terms of training high-quality human resources and making investments based on them. International organizations' presence in Gyumri will, in turn, help create a highly-paid workforce which will have its impact on raising not only the education level but also the living standards," he told reporters covering the event. The ceremony was attended by President Serzh Sargsyan, Minister of Economy Karen Cshmarityan, Mayor of Gyumri Samvel Balasanyan and many other guests. Construction of the project started in 2012. The total floor area is 6500 square meters. Here are situated "Armtab" laboratory and educational laboratory room, laboratory of engineering and mechanics, rooms of companies "D-Link" and "E-Works", a multimedia studio and the auditorium.