Yerevan State University Library & Archive

The Architectural Association, AA School of Architecture, London

Project idea

A collection of 20th century novels form the conceptual basis of the thesis and a series of abstract allegorical artworks attempt to translate visceral ambiguities of the imagination into abstract two and three-dimensional space. Each artwork responds directly to individual and collective themes and scenarios within the novels; exploring space, atmosphere, composition, ephemerality, form and colour.

The supremacy of the book has been challenged by the digital revolution. Now knowledge is virtually everywhere: it has broken free of the constraint of buildings. Electronic knowledge is nowadays available to everybody, practically everywhere, however, just as the printing press changed access to knowledge, information technology has revolutionized the library. The library is no longer a functional container but a cultural icon, a symbol of intellectual regeneration and metaphor for contemporary zeitgeist society.

Project description

Initial research of language and literature lead to site selection in Yerevan, Armenia, a country with a tumultuous past that has origins at the very beginning of recorded history. A period of Intensive contextual analysis revealed a country saturated in vibrant colour and aroma with a rich, complex history of language and literature and a diverse cultural grain which is reflected in the physical environment and its native people.

The program is derived from ideas explored within the design studio and as a response to the unique political and cultural context of Armenia and the city of Yerevan. The building is fundamentally a repository of knowledge that distributes and provides access to information, fulfilling its archival purpose of preserving knowledge and its public purpose of accessing knowledge.

Architectural composition draws on the exploitation of spatial and architectonic qualities inherent within the artworks. Certain scenarios within the novels are manifest within the architecture and it is possible to imagine distinct situations in terms of their unique spatial relationships. The building embraces digital media, providing many alternative and obscure means of obtaining information/knowledge other than the written word. The building is conceived as a complex micro-city network that establishes a series of interconnected relationships between; programmatic, departmental and ancillary functions of the building, intricacies of the libraries collection, predicted events within the building and their fusion with the cultural and physical characteristics of the site.

Technical information

site masterplan, building plans (B3-B1/GF-5F), sections (AA1-AA2/BB1-BB3) isometric's (1F-2F/2F-4F), exploded axonometric's, visualisations.