The general plan of Yerevan 1937 as the implementation of the architectural and urban paradigm on the two foundations - the idea of "Sotsgorod" and the idea of "Capitality"

Abstract

The general plan of Yerevan, developed in 1937 by «LenGiprogor», was created based on the general plan of 1924 (architects A. Tamanyan, N. Buniatyan). Tamanyan's idea was significantly revised, since in the mid-30s the architectural and urban planning paradigm changed. If the general plan of 1924 was based on the idea of a «garden city», then in 1937 the idea of a «social city» became dominant. The idea of how the capital of Armenia should look like has also changed significantly. If the ideas of Tamanyan and Buniatyan were based on the images of European capital cities reconstructions in the second half of the 19th century, then for the architects of «Giprogor» Moscow as the capital of the socialist world became a reference point. The orientation of the main urban planning axes towards Ararat, as a symbol of national unity, changed to the opposite direction - towards the monuments to Lenin and Stalin, which became the new high-rise dominants of Yerevan in the 1930s and 1950s. The paradigm changes also initiated the emergence of micro and macro architectural and urban planning conflicts in the urban environment, most of which have not been overcome to this day.