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KOND DISTRICT REHABILITATION PROJECT

COMPETITION

Concept competition on the rehabilitation of Yerevan’s historical “Kond” district

RA Urban Development Committee (customer of the competition)


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Competition

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About the Competition

Almost every community of Armenia has its share of several historical periods or a development era. Almost all parts of Armenia have a rich heritage beginning from the stone and bronze ages (petroglyphs, cosmic mandals and symbols typical of Indo-European ethnos), Ararat Kingdom (Urartu), pagan, Hellenistic, early Christian, developed Middle Ages or from the period of the Armenian Renaissance and ending with a significant and remarkable heritage of the 20th century.

Meanwhile, the cultural inseparability itself is providing an opportunity for furbishing and constantly refining the environment of objective and sensory perception of territories for ages. This is clearly seen from the same European example where the cultural continuity is being preserved and refined for ages and then, naturally, step by step it enters the modern life. Armenia is also a cradle of many crafts, industrial and agricultural activities. The rich ethno-cultural and historical heritage of Armenia is an inexhaustible source for Armenian territories’ urban development cultivation.

In modern world it is necessary to take a conscious approach in order to develop cities and regions. We must learn to get changed in line with modern requirements. Thus, if the city does not realize its uniqueness then it weakens its investment attractiveness by treating so and may even lose its inhabitants remained.

The major problem of urban historical landscapes’ identity preservation is a physical criterion which itself represents the originality of the urban environment with self-expression of individuality of an individual or groups forming that environment, the loss of which has a negative influence on cities and their inhabitants.

The historical context of the city is the latter’s part of cultural values which reflects the identity and values by means of building the inhabitant’s collective memory and demonstrating the ancestral lifestyle. The city that has an identity is a city where the connection between the past, the present and the future is not interrupted. Therefore, it is a viable scenario of different time-periods and historical layers. In a world being globalized day by day the cities using similar building materials and architectural styles have more than ever become alike.Therefore the original and unique urban environment and the surrounding landscape can attract investment programs much more effectively, provide visitors and create favorable social conditions for the inhabitants, hence, economically it is more efficient to preserve and use it.

At present Kond’s identity is generally endangered. In recent years some part of historically valuable or environmentally friendly structures and urban landscape has gradually been changed beyond recognition. Continuing the same policy will lead to harmful consequences for other parts of the district as well. Once after being unrecognizably altered or destroyed the historical environment disappears and all the history and facts being contained in it are lost forever without a trace.

Invited to participate The competition is open for all individual architects and architectural studios, consulting enterprises, scientific and non-governmental organizations and various consortia from all over the world that have a successful experience in implementing historic urban (including vernacular) construction restoration projects without any restrictions.

Competition schedule

  • Official announcement of the competition- on March 10, 2021.
  • Registration fee none
  • The submission of bids / registration deadline for the participants of the competition. 20.04.2021.
  • Deadline for the acceptance of competition packages (Concept representation) Deadline: 10.06.2021.
  • The review and summary of the results of the competition’s 1st stage 11.06.2021-21.06.2021.
  • Publication of results, decision on the participants passing to the final stage: 22.06.2021.
  • Launching of the 2nd stage of the competition 02.07.2021.
  • Deadline for the acceptance of competition packages11.10.2021.
  • The review and summary of the results of the competition’s 2nd stage12.10.2021-22.10.2021.
  • Publication of the list of winner participants of the competition25.10.2021
  • Total prize fund 45 000.0 thousand. AMD
  • Organizer: Urban Development Committee of the Republic of Armenia.
  • Full name of the competition. Open International Competition – Concept-Urban Development Environment Competition for Yerevan’s "Kond" District Regeneration.
  • The official website of the competition: www.kond.minurban.am
  • Contacts of the Organizing Committee: kond_info@minurban.am

Rules

Type of competition. Open international two-stage conceptual-urban development-architectural competition.

Invited to participate The competition is open for all individual architects and architectural studios, consulting enterprises, scientific and non-governmental organizations and various consortia from all over the world that have a successful experience in implementing historic urban (including vernacular) construction restoration projects without any restrictions.

Competition schedule

  • Official announcement of the competition- on March 10, 2021.
  • Registration fee none
  • The submission of bids / registration deadline for the participants of the competition. 20.04.2021.
  • Deadline for the acceptance of competition packages (Concept representation) Deadline: 10.06.2021.
  • The review and summary of the results of the competition’s 1st stage 11.06.2021-21.06.2021.
  • Publication of results, decision on the participants passing to the final stage: 22.06.2021.
  • Launching of the 2nd stage of the competition 02.07.2021.
  • Deadline for the acceptance of competition packages11.10.2021.
  • The review and summary of the results of the competition’s 2nd stage12.10.2021-22.10.2021.
  • Publication of the list of winner participants of the competition25.10.2021
  • Total prize fund 45 000.0 thousand. AMD
  • Organizer: Urban Development Committee of the Republic of Armenia.
  • Full name of the competition. Open International Competition – Concept-Urban Development Environment Competition for Yerevan’s "Kond" District Regeneration.
  • The official website of the competition: www.kond.minurban.am
  • Contacts of the Organizing Committee: kond_info@minurban.am

Competition packages

Competition documents include the following documents, each of which is an integral part of them:

  • Competition conditions,
  • Technical task
  • List of initial data.
  1. By requesting the package of initial data and submitting a bid, the bidders accept the rules of the competition.
  2. The transmission of initial data to a third person is forbidden.
  3. The bids submitted by the registered persons who did not receive the right to participate in the competition are not subject to consideration.
  4. The authors of the project reserve the copyrights of the projects, the projects are not subject to change without the formal, written consent of the latter.
  5. The members of the jury have the right not to consider any project that does not comply with the mandatory requirements and rules of the competition presented in the package.
  6. All projects, including those not accepted by the jury, will be displayed for free at Alexander Tamanyan National Museum-Institute of Architecture in Yerevan for two weeks. The report signed by the members of jury will also be a part of the exhibition.
  7. The projects are to be stored in the database of the Urban Development Committee under the name of the author. In case of necessity, the author can obtain a legal document-certificate from the database of the Urban Development Committee confirming the authorship and time of his project.
  8. Jury members, as well as organizers, may not set a grand prize- by distributing the prize fund among the winners.
  9. In case of conflict of interests, the organizers have the right to disqualify that participant and / or the jury member.

Clarification provision.

Any participant has the right to send a request on the clarification of the provisions of the Competition Documents. Such a request is sent in the form of a written letter to the e-mail address indicated on the Competition website.

The Organizer is obliged to provide a response to the request on the clarification of the provisions of the Competition in the form of an electronic document within 5 (five) working days from the date of receipt of the request.

The requests of the participants must be received not later than 5 (five) working days earlier before the Application Deadline.

 

URBANISTIC PROBLEMS OF KOND’S CONSTRUCTION

  • since the Tamanyan times there has been a problem of Kond’s urbanization-demolition-new way construction.
  • in the mid-1980s, the problem of Kond evaluation and conservation came forward, the project however, where the real solutions for conservation and development were included, was not carried out.
  • no new ideas have been pushed forward during the last three decades. Up to now, in line with the action model of the Third Republic it has again become purposeful to demolish the existing historical layers and build high-rise buildings instead
  • Simultaneously, an alternative perspective corresponding to modern international experience exists, according to which Kond’s environment that has reached us is valuable and worth for preservation
  • the main task of the problem is - what to preserve, how to preserve and how to modernize the existing environment?
  • one of the important problems is the property and owner’s rights’ preservation problem as some part of the population is striving to continue living in Kond, the other-to leave it
  • Accepting Kond conservation program as a priority interest –it is necessary to study and find the urban environmental fragments and separate buildings subjected to protection
  • Application of modern scientific-methodological principles of preservation and restoration towards the environment and separate buildings-including those represented in the works of modern Russian urbanists Andrey Ivanov and Narine Tyutcheva.

 

ASSIGNMENTS

  • Explore and analyze the topic, providing a development vector, discovering the hidden potential, offering those kinds of methods and purposes which are relevant in city the modern city’s historical environment
  • Make the area more recognizable and attractive for the residents, guests and investors as if the city is not conditionally able to impress its consumers then it loses its attractiveness for business. If the region, the district, the city and the territorial unit do not have an independent strategy then they carry a defeat in a global market that is becoming more aggressive
  • Research, analyze and propose effective tools for the area development, namely: the language (including the local dialect, as well as the vernacular language and pronunciation peculiarities), the local mythology, myth-making, historical memory, unique means of information, forms of communication, traditions of personal communication, spiritual-religious resources, (local church communities, traditions of celebrating religious festivals) purely local peculiarities of business, family, friendly, upbringing, educational, sports traditions, the local cuisine, the colorite of the environment, traditional crafts, forms and means of civic activity, leisure and entertainment, jokes, stories, local holidays, national folklore etc..
  • Inventory the fragments and structural elements of cultural value of the buildings / structures in the district (old doors, windows, balconies, locks, knockers, railings, etc.), provided that they are later used in architectural and design solutions). Collaborate closely with the "Institute of Archeology and Ethnography" SNCO of NAS RA to write the ethnographic and folklore material of the district.
  • Developing modern and rational architectural and urban planning solutions that will make the community attractive for their residents, tourists and investors based on the principles of sustainable development
  • Taking the sustainable (or structural) factors into consideration such as location, climate and history
  • Taking the variable factors into consideration (that are being changed in a long-run perspective) such as community sizes and overcrowding, the external view, well-being of the inhabitants, the cultural traditions of the local community
  • Taking the symbolic factors into consideration, such as: urban symbols, political environment, cultural codes of the residents’ behavior, significant events, celebrities, the demand for certain products and services, the nature of communication within the community and other components
  • Taking into consideration the urban environment identity preservation and the provision of demands representing the heritage undistortion with the consent of an authorized body of the given sphere while accrediting new functions towards the historical buildings of the district or representing reuse proposals by maintaining their functions.
  • Completely preserve and restore both the buildings registered in the state list of monuments and the ones with the status of newly discovered monuments (the list is attached), coordinating all their related projects with the authorized body at all stages of the work.
  • To maintain the current street network as much as possible, zoning Kond with separate sub-districts, setting an allowable buildings’ height level for each sub-district.
  • Brand a part of Kondi under the name of Arshile Gorky.
  • When assigning new functions to the historical buildings of the district or submitting proposals for refurbishing or adaptive reuse while preserving their functions, take into account the preservation of the identity of the urban environment and the heritage safety requirements provision with the consent of the authorized body of the sector.

PARTICIPATION

The competition is open for all individual architects and architectural studios, consulting enterprises, scientific and non-governmental organizations and various consortia from all over the world that have a successful experience in implementing historic urban (including vernacular) construction restoration projects without any restrictions.

The participation is free of charge.

Format

Open

International

bilingual

Competition language: Armenian / Russian / English

TECHNICAL ASSIGNMENT

Contents

 

  1. The main goal of the competition
  2. Technical assignment of concept development
  3. Principles of concept preparation
  4. General requirements for the preparation of the competition
  5. Requirements for the format of concept materials
  6. Concept structure
  7. Rethinking public spaces
  8. Reorganization of the urban development fabric of the district by expanding its functions
  9. Concept implementation management plan / population resettlement
  10. Feasibility
  11. The expected result

 

  1. The goal of the competition

Contributing the integration of the principles of sustainable urban development of the community being historically formated and having an ethnographic-archeological value, the prevention of the emigration of local residents, the local real estate value increase with minimal investments and interventions, the activation of local economy and tourism, the architecture, infrastructure and service quality increase and the creation of workplaces.

The goal of the Environmental Regeneration / Restoration Model Competition stage is to predict those methods of impact that are optimal for the preservation and development of this historic environment, the goal of which is not to destroy but to strengthen the methods of impact, in which the architectural decisions and actions are far from being the first and the primary ones.

 

Boundaries of the competition area

The territory of "Kond" district of the city of Yerevan, with an area of about 16.0 hectares (borders are given in the initial data part).

 

Subject of the competition

Development of urban development concept with the purpose of regeneration/ reorganization of the urban environment of Yerevan’s "Kond" district

 

  1.  Technical assignment of the concept development

The area of inclusion of the competition concept is the formed historical urban fabric of Kond district, intended with the purpose of more substantiated regeneration-revitalization concepts’ proposal, preservation of the identity of the area, provision of the continuity of the old and new, simultaneously creating a more comfortable and accessible / unobstructed environment for the population.

 

  1. Principles of concept preparation

Differentiation and diversity, sensory resonance with the historically formated environment of the area and natural landscapes.

The proposals of the competition concept must take the cultural landscape peculiarities of the district into consideration, formulate a visual integrity with the natural landscapes and the formed urban development-architectural environment.

Conceptual solutions must take into account the formation of such kind of external image of the created architectural environment, in case of which a variety of street facade panorama will be formed, providing the continuity of the environment and more harmonious solutions towards each other by means of joint solutions.

Taking into account the expensiveness of the concept implementation,  due to the existence of the social component, consider citizen of Kond as a priority interest ,also submit a substantiation of the project feasibility in the competition concept.

  1. General requirements for the preparation of the competition
  2. The competition proposals must correspond to the requirements of the Technical assignment.
  3. The competition proposals must correspond to the normative-legal legislation of the Republic of Armenia, including the requirements of normative-technical documents.

 

  1. Requirements for the format of concept materials
  • A description of the basic idea in accordance with the requirements for the concept.
  • Description of principal urban development-architectural solutions.
  • Main technical-economic indicators.
  1. Concept Structure

In the result of the reconstruction of the district, it is necessary to create favorable    conditions for the development of the inhabitants and different groups of visitors, infrastructure, regulate public areas, build an effective street network, meantime preserving the molded urban fabric, organizing various events, involving wider groups, paying special attention to the needs of different groups of young people.

 

  1. Rethinking public spaces

     Public spaces are the component of the planning structure where one of the three    basic vital needs of people (living, working, rest) - the leisure is organized. Social contacts, entertainment and communication are organized here as well. The efficient organization of the area allows to provide favorable microclimatic conditions, accessibility, aesthetic perception in the areas intended for the given functions. The environmental reconstruction project envisages the creation of thematically interconnected open public spaces with the organization of the latter's traditional, newly reported functions. They should be car-free, using alternative means of transport and accessible for population groups having disabilities. At the same time, they should provide access to vehicles for safe evacuation of the population in emergency situations.

Public spaces should serve the daily needs of the locals (entertainment for different      age groups), as well as the modern needs of the users of the newly assigned functions.

 

  1.  Reorganization of the urban fabric of the district by expanding its functions

In order to activate the life in the district, to ensure the equal function of the areas at    different times of the day, in order to prolong the visits, it is proposed to include the following territorial-spatial functions, providing in each case equal access conditions for all groups of people (disabled) in the conceptual sketch-draft:

  • Organization of access to all entrances to/of the district and attractiveness (gradual development of the composition from the entrance node to the compositional focal point).
  • Development of a system aimed at making communication within the district easier through special information system (infographics).
  • Specialized cafes (for artists, architects, etc.) open-air and indoor.
  • Visitors’ Information Center.
  • Workshops (traditional, modern) with the organization of exhibitions / sales of work results.
  • Coworking spaces (creative technologies, offices, etc.).
  • Media center.
  • Souvenir sale and showrooms.
  • Conference hall with video films’ presentation about the history of the city, sale of specialized literature.
  • Outdoor / indoor spaces for events held by young artists’ presentations of their works (performances, films, photography, education, languages, national dance instruction, competitions, painting competitions, etc.) with limited number of viewers.
  • Street art-competition areas.
  • Outdoor shops.
  • Guesthouses, food establishments, public bathrooms (taking into account the needs of population groups with disabilities).
  • Temporary accommodation for visitors.

Any other functions that contribute to the fuller realization of the set goal and do not contradict the main idea of ​​the concept.

Attachment of infographics in the area in order to facilitate the movement of the disabled groups of the population, as well as visitors with linguistic ignorance, within the district, in order to facilitate orientation without additional assistance.

 

  1. Concept implementation management plan / population resettlement

Submitting of the proposals related to the resettlement issues of different segments of the population in the process of implementing the concept.

  • On-site resettlement (provision of temporary accommodation during the urban revitalization period);
  • Allocating new apartments to residents elsewhere;
  • Provision of compensation for apartments.

 

  1. Feasibility

The architectural and construction proposal of the conceptual sketch-project for the development, revitalization and development of the tourist infrastructure of the Kond district of Yerevan should include:

  • Calculation-substantiation of economic feasibility, should be economically justified, feasible,
  • Solve the housing provision problems of the residents from a social point of view (by any of the above-mentioned options);
  • Present an investment interest-generating program.

 

  1. The expected result

It is expected to get such kind of architectural solutions that will give Kond an opportunity to preserve the formatted unique urban environment identity, serving as a social, urban and cultural communication centre for different layers of society, namely-for residents, locals and visitors. Therefore, the best conceptual, urban and historical-architectural solutions must equally refer to both external and internal solutions of restoration, renewal, reconstruction, modernization and consolidation. It also is expected to get professional alternative solution options that will propound stylistically diverse but simultaneously in tune and harmonious to each other solutions for spatial-dimensional, stylistic, large-scale, ecological and other problems from the participants. 

Evaluate mobility’s functional organization priority by regulating the flows and needs of large and small groups of visitors in order for it to be possible to form a safe, comfortable and secure mobility system directing the flows of visitors with a maximum simple and interconnected scheme.

The concentration of a large number of historical layers on a relatively small part of the city should make the district such kind of a place where any space and area can and must serve to the process of making people the communicate to that diversity as well as organizing entertainment. Concerning the mobility organization a particular attention should be paid to a more complete ideological culmination of the environment perception providing organized and targeted direction of peoples’ probable flows from all possible entrances. 

In the process of modernization the historically formed image preservation is highly important which must be accomplished by clearly defining the unique feature of this part having historically preserved its own identity of urban environment in a modern city.

 

 

Requirements presented to the package

Requirements presented to the 1st phase (of concept development)

Concept text material may include:

  • Concept-explanatories,
  • schemes
  • diagrams,
  • tables
  • photos,
  • panoramas-sketches;
  • sectional sketches
  • calculation-substantiations,
  • management plans.

Text materials must be submitted:

  • Electronically,
  • On A4 format paper,
  • In GHEA Grapalat font (for Armenian) and Times New Roman (for Russian and English), with 12 pt font size
  • In A4 format, should not exceed 40 pages.

The graphic part of the presented package must be represented:

  • On 700 × 1000 mm 2 wallpapers with 300 dpi resolution,
  • In Adobe Acrobat (PDF) և AutoCAD, ArchiCAD (DWG, DXF, IFC, BCF, etc.) vector- format.

Each poster must have a seven-digit identification code in the upper right corner. Identification code must be in Times New Roman Bold or another standard font, with 20 pt. font size.

Digital materials should be named as follows, including identification code (ID). ID_DESIGN.PDF:

For example: graphic materials 1234567_DESIGN.PDF

Text materials: 1234567_DESCRIPTION.PDF

Each applicant must prepare an A4-sized information sheet naming it the seven-digit identification code (ID) of the proposal ID_INFO.PDF. The information sheet should include the same seven-digit numbers, the full name (s) of the author(s) of the proposal, the contact information, including postal code, telephone number, and e-mail address. The authors must indicate their share of work in percentage terms in the information sheet.

Include averaged value-indicators ​​in the package justifying the economic analysis of the project’s feasibility.

All documents must be submitted in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format and together must not exceed 50 MB.

Final files must be submitted through one of these sites: WeTransfer, Dropbox, OneCloud. The availability of the offer packages must be at least 5 days after sending.

 

Requirements presented to the 2nd Phase (The urban development environment’s reorganization proposal)

  • Concept-explanatories,
  • schemes
  • diagrams,
  • tables
  • photos,
  • panoramas-sketches;
  • sectional sketches
  • calculation-substantiations,
  • management plans.

Text materials must be submitted:

  • Electronically,
  • On A4 format paper,
  • In GHEA Grapalat font (for Armenian) and Times New Roman (for Russian and English), with 12 pt font size
  • In A4 format, should not exceed 50 pages.

The graphic part of the presented package must be represented:

  • On minimum 6, maximum 8 posters with a size of 700 × 1000 mm, with a resolution of 300 dpi,
  • In Adobe Acrobat (PDF) և AutoCAD, ArchiCAD (DWG, DXF, IFC, BCF, etc.) vector- format.

Each poster should have a seven-digit identification code in the upper right corner. Identification code must be in Times New Roman Bold or another standard font, with 20 pt font size.

Digital materials should be named as follows, including identification code (ID). ID_DESIGN.PDF:

For example: graphic materials 1234567_DESIGN.PDF

Text materials: 1234567_DESCRIPTION.PDF

Each applicant must prepare an A4-sized information sheet naming it the seven-digit identification code (ID) of the proposal ID_INFO.PDF. The Information sheet must include the same seven-digit numbers, full name (s) of the author (s) of the proposal, the contact information, including postal code, telephone number, and e-mail address. The authors must indicate their share of work in percentage terms in the information sheet.

Include averaged value-indicators ​​in the package justifying the economic analysis of the project’s feasibility.

All documents must be submitted in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, alltogether not exceeding 100 MB.

Final files must be submitted through one of these sites: WeTransfer, Dropbox, OneCloud. The availability of the offer packages must be at least 5 days after sending.

 

General provisions

 

The proposal must be sent to the official website of kond_info@minurban.am by entering an identification code (ID) consisting of seven digits in the title field. The information sheet must be attached to the letter, and the link to download the proposal should be placed in the text of the letter.

In case of technical problems, the organizers will contact the participant via the same e-mail address. After sending the proposal, you will receive a successful receipt confirmation.

The name (s) of the author (s), juridical and/or unofficial signatures must not be put on the submitted package. This data must be included in the information sheet only. Otherwise, the package will not participate in the competition.

Each author (author group) can submit one competition package only.

All submitted competition packages are the property of the organizer and are not subject to return.

All submitted competition packages are posted on the organizer's electronic website and are subject to publication.

For questions or clarifications, please contact the the contact person with the mentioned link.

 

Requirements presented to the project staff

 

Requirements for the 2nd stage

The requirements of the competition for the development of the historical-urban environment of Kond district and the architectural-urban concept design of tourism infrastructures are:

1) To base the project on the idea of maximum ​​preservation and representation of the urban development identity and the objects of historical-architectural heritage of the environment in the best possible way.

2) The project-proposal must be submitted with the obligatory composition of drawings presented below, which can be supplemented with additional drawings or outlines, depending on the specifics of the project.

  • Baseline plan.
  1. Construction analysis according to the structures.
  • Value,
  • significance,
  • function,
  • technical condition;
  • Taxation.
  1. Coherence analysis of monument-buildings’ and historical environment’s protection and urban development elements being newly added
  2. Analysis of the street network, with the definition of connections with the city and the outline of car-parking lots.
  3. Analysis of the impact of adjacent constructions (of silhouettes, viewfields, etc.).
  4. Definition of protection zones of the monuments and the separation of excavation zones.
  5. Separation of reinforcement sections.
  6. Analysis of the outline of public spaces.
  • General Master plan,
  • Outline of dislocation,
  • Outline of public areas
  • Street stretches with the best concept revelation.
  • Incision within the district;
  • Perspectives (three-dimensional images, episodes),
  • Interiors, exteriors
  • Concept-explanation (up to 5 pages) in Armenian.

The scale of the submitted drawings can be chosen by the participant, providing the legibility of the graphic material.

Competition fund

Participation in the competition is carried out on a free of charge basis.

The prize fund of the two-stage competition is 45 000.0 thousand. AMD:

Prize places of the 1st stage:

  • 1-7 prizes.

An urban development-architectural sketch design competition (of the "2nd stage") is announced based on the selected 7 concepts.

Prize places of the 2nd stage:

  • 1st prize
  • 2nd prize
  • 3rd prize

Special jury awards (3 incentive prizes).

The jury is not obliged to allocate the entire prize fund, regardless of the number of nominations. The monetary reward includes the taxes that will later be levied from the amount.

The project having won the first prize is not subject to mandatory implementation.

Jury

Preliminary jury staff

The jury staff of the competition includes thirty-three specialists from Armenia and abroad.
The chairman of the jury is Hrachya Poghosyan - / architect /.

Work schedule

Baseline material package

You will receive a letter with the headline "KOND. Competition Package" on your e-mail, in which the link to the mentioned package will be placed. The competition package is trilingual. The following baseline materials are totally provided to the participants having gained permission to participate in the competition.

1. Competition announcement

2. Task

3. Historical remark

4. Topographic survey map,

5. Orthophotographic survey

6. Site boundaries,

7. The allocation plan and the list of both listed in the State monuments list as well as newfound monuments and their protection zones of Kond district;

8. Archive materials,

9. Archaeological materials,

10. Situational plan,

11. Cadastral measuring materials of the district / available /,

12. Site photos and videos,

13. Information on population.

For download materials please register

Goal

The aim of the competition is to select the best conceptual, urban development-architectural-planning solutions that reflect the identity peculiarities of the preserved ancient part of the city. The competition implementation will allow the talented architects, urban planners, historians, sociologists from all over the world to become co-authors of the revaluation of the vernacular district, to diversify the image of the city area, to promote the integration of the community’s principles of sustainable urban development being historically formed and having an ethnographic-archaeological value, to prevent the emigration of local residents, to increase the value of local real estate with minimal investments and interventions, to activate the local economy and tourism, to increase the service quality of architecture and infrastructures and to create workplaces, considering the interests of the population of Kond as a priority.

The goal of the Environmental Regeneration / Restoration Model Competition stage is to predict those methods of impact that are optimal for the preservation and development of this historic environment, the goal of which is not to destroy but to strengthen the methods of impact including the architectural decisions and actions that are far from being the first and the primary ones.

HISTORICAL REMARK

Urban originality is the symbolic and semantic capital of the city. The degree of expression of urban originality is conditioned with the level of self-awareness of the local population.

Kond/ A city within a city
The district of Kond gazes at the city from the north-western elevation. Some people think that Kond is the capital of Yerevan, others-that it is a city within a city. From the plane where the “city” walks Kond cannot be seen. Some beautiful and well-maintained private houses adjacent to the central and main streets caress the eye and dispel all the suspicions and assumptions that inside-somewhere deeper, there is a district with a semi-dilapidated houses leaning on each other with the previous century doors and too narrow but full of history streets.

Kond’s doors are a separate topic. It is said that once their colors were brighter from one another. There is nothing left from the colors now but every house-door and gate tells a living story. People live in this district for generations which is already a rare phenomenon in Yerevan. The first impression of the capital’s probably the one and only oldest district –having survived, depends on which of the many steps you will take to get there.

If you go up on Saryan street next to the Central post-office for instance, you’ll find yourself in a relatively fresh and new Kond. The locals call this part Kondaglukh (the central part of Kond) and a bit farther beyond the Central post-office the two narrow stairs- a few hundred meters apart from each other, take you to a completely other Kond.

The area of Kond district has been dwindled in recent years and compiles 16 hectars. Its borders are crossed by Paronyan, Leo and Saryan streets close to Hovhannes Tumanyan’s house-museum and go up the stairs leading to the House of Composers and Frik street then Paronyan Street including Saint Hovhannes church.

KOND’S DAILY LIFE

Many Kond stories are woven into stone or concrete benches adjacent to houses the abundance of which allows us to suppose that they enjoy great love among the people of Kond. It turns out that all such kind of benches are occupied during summer months: men of Kond play backgammon or cards on them and women discuss the latest news and events of the district over a cup of coffee. Local women can also often be seen near springs-located on almost every step. Although almost every house already has the opportunity to have an individual water-supply, the modernity of faucet springs in the district however has not decreased thereof.

As soon as the weather becomes warmer women do laundry here or rinse the coffee cups.

The houses situated adjacent to the territory of Dvin Hotel, as well as the residential house being built of black tuff from Leo street’s side represent a historical and architectural value in the area of Kond.

Kond occupies the western highlights of the city centre. It was named Kond because of its high location. The word “Kond” in Armenian means longitudinal or round hill. During the Persian domination the name of that district was changed and called “tapabash”, which is itself the translation of the word Kond. Kond has been one of the oldest districts of the city of Yerevan and simultaneously its historical core. It has been the most vibrant part of Yerevan which has become a kind of a museum district for the city passing through centuries. According to Russian researcher Ivan Chopin the borders of Kond have been more extensive in old Yerevan plan. Dzoragyugh, the Hrazdan canyon gardens and Dalma have also been included into Kond’s borders-from the other side the borders of Kond reached Berd. Kond’s exterier, the structure of the streets, the urban texture have reached us almost unchanged from the 18th century. They have been formed without architectural design-within a period of time.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Kond was only one of the three main districts of Yerevan to be located on a hill. Moreover, the district spread on the hill had both irrigation and drinking water. The Kond residents Ter-Grigoryans, the priest Grigor, his brothers and uncles sold their inherited house, and by these means in 1793 they used pipes to bring water from Getar -the area near the city with clean water, to the vestibule of St. John's Church. All the people of Kond used the clean water of the water supply system reaching the churchyard

The Kond district, perched on a hill at the top of the gorge, had a favorable position and a favorable climate at the highest point of the old town. The hill is irregularly surrounded by narrow and rugged streets. There were one or two storey houses on the top of the hill, the rich people lived at the foot of the hill. Later, Soviet streets were built on the footpart of Kond, where houses for intellectuals and artists were built instead of the "mansions" of the nobles.


Dzoragegh occupies the left bank of the Hrazdan River, the canyons that lie above the Victory Bridge. By the way, Dzoragegh also had its subdivisions: Verin or Karap district, Lower or Dzor district and Carbo district.


Dalma was famous for its fine grapes, the gardens of which were spread on the right bank of Hrazdan.

Berd (fortress), with which Kond was closely associated, had a special place in the image of Old Yerevan, it was built at the end of the sixteenth century. The fortress was the seat of Yerevan’s king Sardar. Berd itself was a small town, it had its population.

In time, Yerevan expanded including Kond, which spread to the lower parts.

Based on the testimonies of chroniclers, as well as the archeological and stony evidence that has survived up today, it can be concluded that Kond is of great archaeological interest.

In fact, there are archeological materials of at least 3 historical periods of Yerevan’s development in the territory of present-day Kond. Being the main impregnable hill of the center of Yerevan, Kond has been the only refuge for the population of the central part of the city for centuries.

In the 5th-6th centuries, during the division of Armenia between Byzantium and Persia, Kond was the last stronghold of Byzantine Armenia in the plain of the Hrazdan River, now a part of Yerevan.

There are reasonable doubts that this impregnable hill was used for defensive purposes much earlier than in the Byzantine period. A number of circumstances that have emerged as a result of professional consultations allow us to assume the possibility of the existence of historical layers of a much earlier period.

Among the antiquities preserved in Kond, The Church of St. John the Baptist, a very old monument, was destroyed during the great earthquake of 1679, but was restored in 1710.

The list of existing monuments is available on the baseline data page.



Materials

Նպատակը

Նպաստել պատմականորեն ձևավորված և ազգագրական-հնագիտական արժեք ունեցող համայնքի քաղաքաշինական կայուն զարգացման սկզբունքների ինտեգրմանը, տեղաբնակ ռեզիդենտների արտագաղթի կանխմանը, տեղական անշարժ գույքի արժեքի բարձրացմանը մինիմալ ներդրումներով և միջամտություններով, լոկալ տնտեսության և զբոսաշրջության ակտիվացմանը, ճարտարապետության, ենթակառուցվածքների և սպասարկման որակի բարձրացմանը և աշխատատեղերի ստեղծմանը՝ որպես գերակայություն դիտարկելով Կոնդի բնակչության շահերը։

Միջավայրի ռեգեներացիայի/վերականգնման մոդելի մրցույթի փուլի նպատակն է կանխորոշել ազդեցության այն մեթոդները, որոնք օպտիմալ են պատմական այս միջավայրի պահպանության և զարգացման համար, որոնց նպատակը ոչ թե ոչնչացնելն է, այլ ազդեցության մեթոդների ամրապնդումը, որոնց թվում ճարտարապետական ​​որոշումներն ու գործողությունները հեռու են առաջին և հիմնականները լինելուց:

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News

John Doe

Քննարկվել են Կոնդ թաղամասի քաղաքաշինական հարցերը

Փոխվարչապետ Տիգրան Ավինյանի գլխավորությամբ այսօր կայացել է Երևանի Կոնդ թաղամասի պատմաքաղաքաշինական միջավայրի և զբոսաշրջային ենթակառուցվածքների զարգացման ուղղությամբ տարվող աշխատանքները համակարգող միջգերատեսչական աշխատանքային խմբի հերթական նիստը:

Jane Helf

Announcement

Due to technical reasons, the deadline for the first stage of the Kond district competition has been postponed until June 30 this year.
With respect Kond District Competition Coordinator

Contact us


Address

RA, city of Yerevan, Government House 3, RA Urban Development Committee


Phone

+374 11 621 711,

+374 11 621 746


E-mail

kond_info@minurban.am

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