MONUMENTS

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MONUMENT TO ALEXANDER TAMANYAN


1974


State index: 1.6.120

Architect: Seda Petrosyan

Sculptor: Artashes Hovsepyan


The monument honors Alexander Tamanyan (1878-1936), the founder of Soviet Armenian architecture, academician, People’s Architect of the Armenian SSR, and the author of the master plan for Soviet Yerevan (1924). It is located at the intersection of Tamanyan and Moskovyan Streets, on the edge of Moskovyan Street, at the beginning of Tamanyan Park, next to the Cascade complex.

The monument was unveiled on June 26, 1974.


The monument features a 3-meter-high basalt sculpture of Tamanyan set on a platform of polished gray granite, measuring 0.45 × 10 × 12 meters. The sculpture depicts Tamanyan in a bent position over a table made from processed basalt blocks. He is draped in a long shawl that reaches down to his heels. The stones on which Tamanyan leans symbolize the architecture of the old (left side) and new (right side) periods. Tamanyan himself is portrayed as a bridge between these two eras, embodying the fusion of traditional and modern, classical forms in his vision for the capital, Yerevan.


The sculpture of Alexander Tamanyan is crafted from two solid stone fragments, characterized by its majesty, cohesive volume, and minimalist elegance. The face of the sculpture is rendered with portrait accuracy.

On the side of the granite platform facing Moskovyan Street, the inscription reads in Armenian:


ARCHITECT ALEXANDER TAMANYAN.


In the right corner of the platform, also facing Moskovyan Street, Tamanyan’s master plan of Yerevan is depicted, measuring 2.5 × 2.5 meters. Adjacent to this is an excerpt from a poem by Yeghishe Charents (1936), dedicated to the memory of the great architect:


HE SAW, PROBABLY, A SUNNY CITY.... YEGHISHE CHARENTS.


The entire composition is set upon a basalt base measuring 0.60 × 25 × 24 meters, with a fountain situated on the right side of the base.

The monument is designed to be viewed from all sides. Its original imagery and compositional solutions make it one of the notable monumental works in Yerevan.

 

“Scientific Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage” SNCO

Yerevan Municipality


Tamanyan Str.