PUBLIC DISCUSSION ON PROJECTS OF MONUMENT TO ERECTED IN
REPUBLIC SQUARE FAILS
27-11-2006 16:51:00 | Armenia | Culture
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, NOYAN TAPAN. The public discussion of
projects of a new monument to be erected in Republic Square of
Yerevan failed on November 25. A few representatives of NGOs,
architects and journalists who had gathered for discussion did
not understand why they were invited when the Chairman of the
Architects' Union of Armenia, who was the initiator of the
discussion, and other responsible officials were absent.
It became known later that an urgent consultation was
convened on the very issue the same day at the Mayor's Office.
It is unknown what was being discussed there, nevertheless, in
the specialists' words, none of about 23 works displayed at the
Union's lobby deserved a special attention. Moreover, they
consider that the competition announced by Yerevan Mayor's
Office was organized by a wrong order and any decision made in a
haste may break the link of the Square's complex and may not
correspond to urban development norms.
Those present first of all did not agree to the subject of
the competition announced by Yerevan Mayor's Office, "The
Collective Image of the Armenian People." In the words of
architect Anahit Tarkhanian, Chairwoman of Our City NGO, she
does not imagine how monuments to Argishti or crucified Christ,
four stone crosses or some unintelligible arches, a glazed
building of public importance, etc. can be placed on the
pedestal of monument to Lenin. "Collective image is an
indefinite idea: what does the collective image of Armenian
people mean? The subject matter and not looking for "collective
images" was to be rendered more concretely by the competition's
demands," she said.
The majority of specialists affirmed that there is no need
to announce a competition hastily or to place some monument
there. In their words, time is needed for this and when the
time comes the idea will come to existence itself.