Interest in the construction of large wind farms is growing from year to year in Armenia. This business also attracts the emirates company “Access Infra Central Asia Limited”, which installed an 80-meter tower to measure wind flows in Gegharkunik region. It will be put into operation in the next few days, and in April it is planned to install another tower, but on other location. On March 30 last year an agreement was signed between the Emirates company and the Republic of Armenia on leasing land plots in different regions of the country with total area of 1,250 hectares for the construction of wind farms with total capacity of 150 MW. Another company which is interested in building of wind farms in Armenia is the Spanish Acciona Energia Global S.L. In March last year the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources of the Republic of Armenia signed with this company a memorandum of understanding on construction of wind farms with total capacity of 100-150 MW. The company already began work on assessing the potential of winds and installed two monitoring stations with height of 80 meters each and one “Sodar” system. The first, not only in Armenia but also in all Caucasus, wind farm with total capacity of 2.6 MW was putted into operation on Pushkin Mounting Pass in December 2005. On this site, it is planned to build wind power stations with a total capacity up to 50 MW. In 2003, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States compiled a map of wind energy potential of the Republic of Armenia, according to which the economically justified wind energy potential is estimated at 450 MW with electricity production totaling 1.26 billion kWh/annum. The program also identified the main promising regions where it is advisable to install wind turbines. According to some other estimates, theoretically the capacity of wind power farms in Armenia can be up to 5000 MW. In order to build wind farms, another company, Zod Wind, completed monitoring on the territory of the Sotk Pass. The company intends to build the wind farm “Zod” with a capacity of 20 MW. In turn, the Armenian-Italian company Ar Energy completed monitoring on the territory of the Karakhach Pass in the Shirak region and received a license to build the wind farm Karachach-1 with capacity of up to 20 MW. In the future Ar Energy plans to increase total capacity up to 140 MW. As well as within the framework of the European Union's TACIS program “Supporting Armenia's Energy Policy” monitoring was launched at the Semenovka Pass of lake Sevan region on the basis of which a preliminary feasibility study was prepared for the construction of a wind farm with a total capacity of 35MW.

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.

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.