Through the Roof: Construction of `French roofs’ near Cascade sparks
online protests/debate
Environment | 28.09.12 | 15:29
By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor
A row about an illegal mansard (`French roof’) construction on top of
a historic building near the Cascade complex in Yerevan started in
online chat rooms earlier this week and got an unexpected development
after city authorities insisted the structure is legal.
Enlarge Photo
The construction of an attic on top of the 3 Tamanyan Street building
neighboring the monument to Alexander Tamanyan, the architect of
modern Yerevan, that arguably spoils the architectural ensemble of
houses built in a uniform style, has caused an outrage among many
residents of the city.
Among angry residents is well-known publicist and screenwriter Armen
Vatyan who addressed an open letter (signed by several hundred people)
to the chief architect of Yerevan saying that `if the great Tamanyan
was to ever meet you, he would hardly have shaken your hand after
seeing this added structure.’
`I am sure you are not aware of this, otherwise as a professional you
wouldn’t have allowed such arbitrariness. Maybe you are being
pressured from above and forced to make decisions against your will.
If so, then you should know that residents of Yerevan will stand next
to you,’ wrote Vatyan.
Nevertheless, the angered public was spilt on who to blame.
One group of citizens, protesting the lawlessness, accused the Mayor’s
Office of architectural anarchy in the city permitting the erection of
`nests’ in the form of attics that give the city an unsightly
appearance – something that they think has become an unfortunate trend
in the city in the past 15 years.
The other part fumed not so much over the fact of a mansard being
built near Cascade, a favorite hangout place for many Yerevanians, but
against `green’ activists, who, in their view, should immediately have
set up a tent camp near the place and protested the construction until
it was dismantled. (A reference to the 80-day `green’ fight for the
preservation of the park off Yerevan’s central Mashtots Boulevard that
led to the country’s president ordering that the `ugly’ stalls erected
in the park be dismantled and the area be generally improved).
Criticism poured on the `Mashtots activists’ with increased force for
their `selective approach’ and inaction in relation to the building at
Cascade. Some Facebook users cited this circumstance as an additional
argument to prove that the activists were in fact acting on someone
else’s orders and were after making money rather than truly pursuing
`green goals’.
And so the sloped roofs at Cascade became a secondary issue, while the
main battles were centering on the integrity of the Mashtots
activists. Things went so far that a journalist of Yerevan.ru, whose
criticism of the Mashtots activists provoked a storm of protests and
mutual insults, had to quit his job.
The arguments would probably continue unabated unless the Yerevan
municipality suddenly issued a statement that proved a cold shower for
both warring camps. In a message posted on Facebook it said that the
construction project was not illegal at all and the initiative wasn’t
the developer’s, but rather was part of a city plan.
As the Mayor’s Office said, a few months ago the Kentron community of
Yerevan turned to the municipality with a proposal to build up such
structures on buildings in downtown Yerevan. The building adjacent to
Cascade was chosen for the pilot as, the Mayor’s Office explained,
`for several years illegal construction was carried out there.’ After
the construction of the first mansard, such structures will appear
along the entire length of the building, with `the symmetry and tiling
style preserved’.
While residents of Yerevan try to figure out what the project is by
looking at its municipality-approved photo animation, those who
actually live in the buildings in question wonder what this project is
all about as they, the residents of the area, are not aware of the
Municipality’s plan.
`We are sure that the `Municipality Plan’ emerged as a cover-up for
the developer in the wake of public protests,’ says Anahit Tatevosyan,
a 3 Tamanyan Street resident. `The idea of `correcting’ the Tamanyan
plan by these details seems simply immoral to me.’
Residents do not know who is building the roof-top structures.
Tatevosyan says that no one from the municipality has visited them,
informed them about it, got their consent for the construction or
collected signatures. By law, such a structure cannot be constructed
without the approval of all residents. But it turned out that no one
needs such permission.
`The building is in a very poor condition. There is a metro below it
and periodically it shakes the building so much that we think it is a
weak earthquake – it feels about the same. Workers who were doing
repairs in the building were telling us that the construction is very
shaky and seismically unsafe. And nothing could be built on top of it.
And while it has a decent look from outside, from the backyard one can
see pieces of plaster falling off the building walls,’ she says.
`Now people do not actively protest because they think someone is
behind the project and it is pointless from the very beginning to go
against this someone. Nevertheless, we have written to the president
raising concerns about the legality of this construction,’ adds
Tatevosyan.
http://www.armenianow.com/society/environment/40158/armenia_yerevan_architecture_tamanyan_cascade_pilot_program