Hidden Heritage Under Threat - Anipemza (20th century) by The name of the designer of the project is unknown. Some specialists deem the author may be arch. N. Bunatyan.ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Tuff Quarry Workers
Anipemza is a little company town built in 1926 to host the workers of the Tuff quarry that provided the stones for building the most important buildings in Yerevan. It is well preserved and constitutes a testimony of the architecture and social organization of the time.
Location - Anipemza (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Location
Anipemza is located a few kilometres away from the new northern cultural tourism routes in Armenia, along the Armenian side of the Akhurian river that defines the border between Armenia and Turkey. It is 45 km South of Gyumri and 210 km Northwest of Yerevan.
History - Anipemza (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Built in 1926, Saw Growth in 1938, and Now Poverty
The village of Anipemza was enlarged in 1938 when it was promoted to an "urban type town" and reached 3000 inhabitants. The area was off limits during the Soviet regime due to the vicinity of the Turkish border. Today the town is impoverished since the mine's closure in 1994.
Why is it significant? - Anipemza (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Why is it Significant?
The village is homogeneous, carefully constructed from local stones. The fairly large one- or two-story buildings are located on either side of a wide central street regularly paved with basalt blocks. Between the buildings, care was taken to provide green spaces.
Classic European design - Anipemza (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Classic European Design
The buildings have a classic European appearance and are characterized by stone details inherited from the Italian-French Renaissance. A famous example of which is provided, in France, by the Clos Lucé castle on the edge of the Loire river (end of the 15th century).
Accurate details (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Contrast
The contrast that is created between the body of the ocher tuff stone facades with a hammered surface and the alternating vertical chains of long and short blocks, slightly protruding, carefully cut and whitewashed, adds an interesting character.
Accurate details (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Colour and Projection
By their colour and their slight projection, the stone chaining are intended to bring out the edges of the facades, the angles of the buildings, and the window frames.
A coherent whole (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
A Coherent District
The structures form a coherent district, innovative in this provincial context, which made this distant village a sort of model working city. The town is exemplary of an avant-garde social model, not only in the USSR, but also in the West.
House of Culture (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
House of Culture
The centre of the public life was the House of Culture where public meetings and theatre performances were organized. The building's original features are still existent but are in need of urgent repair.
Preserved Interiors (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Preserved Interiors
Due to extreme poverty, the interior of the houses are still conserved as they were in the beginning.
Difficult life conditions (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Difficult Life Conditions
The life of the villagers is made difficult by the absence of sewage systems, the scarce access to water (the majority of the houses do not have a bathroom/toilet) and the poor condition of electrical and heating systems.
Why is this village under threat? (20th century)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
Why is the Village Under Threat?
The village is at risk of being abandoned due to extreme poverty and the lack of work and resources. This would cause rapid deterioration of the village houses. Some of the roofs are already in poor condition and in need of urgent repair.
Panorama of Anipemza (20th c.)ICOMOS - International Council on Monuments and Sites
View the Threat of Losing Anipemza from Above
Gaiane Casnati - Europa Nostra, ICOMOS Canada and Carleton University
