Restoration of Decorative Elements Identically is No Longer Possible: Architect

In order to give the capital a festive appearance, holes and cracks have been made on the buildings of Republic Square, which has triggered a wave of criticism on the internet from both professional circles and the public. To understand the architectural implications of these interventions, Tert.am spoke with architect Tigran Galstyan regarding the potential consequences for the buildings included in the list of specially protected monuments.

Tigran Galstyan emphasized that the interventions made on the decorative elements of the Square's buildings will make it impossible to restore them identically in the future, due to the fact that they are built from tuff. “The only option for restoration would be to dismantle the stone and create a new sculpture out of tuff, but all specialists working with stone know that even tuff extracted from different locations of the same quarry has different shades, so it will not be possible to restore it identically. One of the options for restoration could be to prepare a paste with tuff powder and thus close the holes, but that is also not a solution. That option is temporary, and in a few years, the holes will open again. Tuff has a number of unique characteristics; it is a porous stone and it is possible that rainwater can enter it, freeze in winter, and cause cracks. One must be extremely cautious with tuff, it is a very fragile stone,” said the architect.

When asked if there are specialists who would be able to restore the decorative elements identically, considering that the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports announced that the municipality will restore all opened holes and cracks, the architect stated, “There are no such licensed specialists in Armenia, we do not have such professional disciplines, I believe that it is impossible to restore the buildings and decorative elements to their former state; the cultural monument has already been damaged.”

According to the architect, there were other methods available to give the city a festive appearance without causing damage to the buildings, which are used around the world. “Many capital cities in European countries achieve a festive look without making holes in the buildings. One of those options is to hang an invisible net from the roof, where all connections are made on that net, and no building is damaged. Generally, the issue is not only about the lighting; there are also air conditioning systems, the holes made for them, advertising panels, and other installations that damage the architectural integrity of the buildings. All of this can certainly be done in a way that leaves no traces after dismantling,” the architect emphasized.

It should be noted that the Yerevan municipality issued a statement saying that one of the circulated photographs, showing a conduit embedded in a decorative relief, is not related to the New Year lighting project.