Garo (AKA Christian Garbis) over at Notes from Hairenik has two interesting posts relating to the new construction occuring in central Yerevan. As almost everyone in Armenia knows, this new construction is mainly being undertaken by officials or businessmen close to the Government and invariably accompanied by allegations of corruption, the violation of human rights, and total disregard for the law.

For example, a human rights lawyer attempting to protect the rights of citizens forcibly evicted from their homes was arrested and detained by the KGB, and there are apparently meant to be NO buildings higher than the Opera House in the vicinity of Libery Square. Anyway, most of the people that I know with any taste dislike the way Yerevan’s much-anticipated Northern Avenue is shaping up. This also includes local architects.

Garo, however, raises some other concerns away from the aesthetic.

People I know who work in the real estate business told me that these buildings are for the most part being poorly built. I suspected as much just from observing from street level, but I was unable to pinpoint how the structures were actually being erected, until I went for a walk today along Pushkin Street, which intersects the emerging Northern Boulevard.

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No attention is being paid to making these structures earthquake resistant from what I have seen by examining the newly laid foundations, made completely of poured cement. New building practices have long been applied in regions prone to earthquakes, at least in the US. Some high risers for instance in such areas are built on top of gigantic lead-rubber isolation bearings resting on the foundation, as an attempt to prevent the structures from crumbing since they can effectively roll back and forth. No such thing here. In case of an earthquake, people can count on tons of reinforced cement to protect them.

But this is the same problem that got Armenians into trouble in the 1988 earthquake. Then, as now, high-rise buildings were made of poor quality cement and other generally inferior materials. Tens of thousands died because the Soviets used absurd, highly unsafe building technology in a main fault zone. Unfortunately, architects and construction contractors are disregarding that fact. Instead of trucking in large cement panels to be assembled together like wooden toy blocks as was done on the good old days, they make the panels onsite, using wide metal or wood forms. Panels can be formed in any necessary shape, round or flat, so long as there’s enough cement to be had.

Unfortunately, in recent days during a conversation with one Diasporan organization, it has become apparent that almost everyone is aware of the poor quality of construction occuring in Yerevan. More concerningly, they also worry about what will happen to these new buildings in an earthquake. Lara at Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia blog posted about these fears last month after reading an article published by RFE/RL’s Armenia Liberty.

Armenia is at risk of suffering another catastrophic earthquake that would wreak havoc on its capital Yerevan and kill hundreds of thousands of its residents, a leading Armenian seismic engineer claimed on Tuesday.

Mikael Melkumian, who heads the Armenian Association of Seismically Safe Construction, said the apocalyptic scenario is based on research conducted by himself and other local seismologists. Those include Sergey Balasanian, the late former chief of the National Seismic Protection Service.

“We arrived at the conclusion that the territory of Yerevan is a very high-risk area,” Melkumian told a news conference. “If we have an earthquake in Yerevan with a magnitude similar to that of the [1988] Spitak earthquake … then almost nothing will be left of Yerevan because according to our calculations, about 80 percent of buildings will be destroyed and we will have about 300,000 victims,” he said.

Personally, I’d also raise serious concerns with concentrating almost all construction in the center of the capital. This has not only been at the expense of the charm of Yerevan, but also at the cost of the environment. It’s now not uncommon to be caught in a fierce dust storm in the center and an accompanying destruction of green areas means that Yerevan is now at serious risk of desertification.

Since 1990, the city has lost 40 per cent of its green areas due to new construction, according to research carried out by three organisations, the Yerevan Public Ecological Centre, the Centre for Regional Development and Transparency International.

Thirty-eight environmental groups have banded together to protest about the loss of green space.

“If illegal construction of various buildings does not stop, Yerevan will soon become a desert,” warned Armen Dovlatian, leader of the Armenia’s Socio-Ecological Party, one of the protesting organisations.

Srbui Harutiunian, another prominent environmentalist, said land was being degraded, landslips were increasing and Yerevan citizens were suffering from new allergic illnesses as a result of the changes.

As construction in Tbilisi appears to be occuring on areas of land that should be developed in the interest of keeping in spirit with the historical heritage of the entire city, why couldn’t the Armenian Government encourage investors to build up those parts of the capital that are in serious need of development? Well, of course, we know the reason for that, but it’s an important question — along with the associated issue of attracting businessmen to invest in the regions of Armenia.

Anyway, Garo also has some pics of the construction posted here.
The Institute of War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) also has a photo story on the eviction of residents from Yerevan’s central Buzand Street here.