The Cafesjian Center for the Arts is being built from the ground up in the center of Yerevan

A museum project on track

by Vincent Lima

Published: Saturday December 22, 2007 in Cafesjian Center for the Arts

Architect David Hotson’s rendition of Tamanyan Park, transformed into a sculpture garden. Under the Cascade steps, on the right-hand side, a 150-seat cinema and exhibition rooms are being set up. The top three landings lead to large exhibition halls. . Cafesjian Museum Foundation.

Yerevan - At the very center of the Armenian capital sits Republic Square, which once had at its center the statue of Lenin. (This week, it has an enormous and brightly lit Christmas tree.) On this square are the main government building, the Foreign Ministry, the National Gallery, and the Marriott Armenia Hotel.

As of last month, Republic Square is connected to the other central landmark, the Opera, via a brand new pedestrian boulevard, with brand new midrises on either side: Northern Avenue.

And then, beyond the Opera and Freedom Square, comes another vista: the Cascade.

It starts with Tamanyan Park, which spans two city blocks. And it goes up, way up, along an enormous stone staircase, to culminate at the Monument, which was built to celebrate the glories of Soviet rule.

The whole Cascade complex is being transformed into the Gerard L. Cafesjian Center for the Arts.

An enormous pit

At the top of the Cascade, in front of the Monument, there is today an enormous pit. This pit, hewn out of the earth, will house a world-class museum. The construction team, led by Edward Balassanian, Ph.D., is already pouring concrete.

The concept, developed by David Hotson, along with his team of architects in New York and Yerevan, is to have much of the museum building buried in the earth, where it can benefit from natural insulation. The museum will house the Cafesjian art collection as well as exhibits of works by Armenian artists and exhibits brought in from other parts of the world.

"We want to be part of expressing a rich historical texture that exists, the artistic texture that exists here in Armenia," said Michael DeMarsche, Ph.D., who since September has served as executive director of the Cafesjian Museum Foundation. "We want to provide a venue for that, but we also want to provide a venue for discovery, for discovering artists who are living right now, who we believe need to have exposure to the Armenian community."

Beyond Armenian artists, Mr. DeMarsche is already speaking with "people in the museum world" to start arranging for visiting exhibits. His mission is to make the museum an international destination.

A sculpture garden

The museum building represents the second phase of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts. The first phase involves Tamanyan Park and the Cascade, which itself will house numerous state-of-the-art exhibition halls.

The Cascade, which was built in the 1970s, fell into disrepair in the 1990s. For the last few years, however, thanks to the Cafesjian Museum Foundation, it has been a vibrant part of the city's cultural and social life. The park, with its beautiful flower beds and Botero's Cat, is a favored gathering place for families and for promenading couples. In the summer, it is often transformed into an open-air concert hall.

And escalators under the staircase take commuters up to Victory Park and the neighborhoods beyond.

The restoration was just the beginning. Now a transformation is in progress. The park is becoming a sculpture garden.

It is as green as before, if not more so. There are more stone-and-wood benches for people to sit on. And instead of a pool with simple fountains, Tamanyan Park will soon have a full-scale water-and-light show.

And all along the park, there are now white stone pedestals. They will carry the sculptures that will welcome visitors as they approach the Cascade and the museum building.

At the movies

The first phase of the museum will be open by June 1, Mr. Balassanian said. "My declared decision has been that there will be no wet work in either the Cascade or the park after that date." Next summer, then, cultural events will resume in the park, while the Cascade itself will begin housing exhibitions and cultural programming.

The white stone stairs of the Cascade hide a whole complex of rooms and halls underneath. Under the first flight is an enormous hall that will serve as a book and souvenir store and information center.

Moving up to the second floor, there is Khanjian Hall, which houses a triptych by Grigor Khanjian. It will serve as a reception hall and an entrance for guests to the cinema. A 150-seat cinema is being built under the east side steps between the information center and Khanjian Hall.

Further up, at the third, fourth, and fifth landings, the stairs hide additional exhibition halls, which are being equipped with state-of-the-art facilities. And there are smaller exhibition rooms along the east side, under the steps.

"Good exhibition space requires a good lighting system and a quiet neutral environment," Mr. Balassanian said. He noted that the hall on the fifth landing has been designated by Mr. DeMarsche as a video screening space, which is being equipped with high-resolution, high-definition video equipment.

The matter of access

The escalator shaft, too, is receiving more than a facelift. Four new openings are being made to open the Cascade to the neighborhoods to its west. Thus, people will be able to enter the Cascade not only at the top and bottom, but also along the sides.

When the Cascade was built, it was not designed to be handicapped-accessible. The escalators do not stop exactly on the same level as the halls. New elevators are being installed to allow people to get to the halls without climbing steeps sets of stairs.

"Meanwhile, there's no technology to take wheelchairs up escalators," Mr. Balassanian notes. So they are setting up lifts parallel to the escalators.

Mounting excitement

Is Mr. Balassanian excited? "Of course I'm excited!"

Already, the people of Yerevan enjoy the park and many sculptures: Lynn Chadwick's Sitting Forms and Stairs, Paul Cox's colorful Ahoy, Botero's Roman Warrior, Barry Flanagan's Hare on Bell and Acrobats. Recent summers have featured open-air performances by local and international acts.