During the whole period of the existence of the architectural profession, urban planning education has always been a constituent part of the programme of architects’ formation. Prior to the establishment of the Chair, the Chair of Architecture of Yerevan Polytechnic Institute implemented specialization in three directions, one of which was Urban Planning. The Chair of Urban Planning was established in 1991. In 1991-1992 the Head of the Chair was PhD in Architecture, Professor Ashot Kanayan, in 1992-2008 was Doctor of Architecture, Professor Artsvin Grigoryan, in 2009-2015 the Head of the Chair was PhD in Architecture, Professor Sirekan Ohanyan, from 2015 to present the Head of the Chair is PhD in Architecture, Professor Zaruhi Mamyan.
In the development of the Chair, famous architect Eduard Papyan, as well as Laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Armenia Avetik Mirijanyan, engineer Romuald Geghamyan, architect Sargis Nazaryan, and Honorary Architect of the Republic of Armenia Martin Tovmasyan played an important role.
The establishment of the Chair was a new stimulus for urban planning education, new theoretical and practical courses were introduced, the role, the goals, and the methods of urban planning projects were specified within the scope of the subject of Architectural Design. Today, after 30 years of the formation of the Chair, a solid system of urban planning education for architects and constructors has been established. It consists of two major parts: theoretical preparation and practical design.
Term project and diploma project teaching is based on the following major principles: study of the problem and area, analysis, comprehensive assessment of the area, formation and development of a concept for the implementation of the design plan (task), i.e. design. Whichever year the student is in, while implementing the term project, he/she starts his/her project with cartographic and field observations of the area, on the basis of which he/she identifies design issues and develops the design. As a rule, the topics of the term and diploma projects address today’s urban planning issues.
The graduates of the Chair of Urban Planning have received numerous awards in national and international reviews and contests (supervisors: A. Arustamyan, A. Kanayan, G. Musheghyan, M. Tovmasyan, S. Amiraghyan, N. Chilingaryan, S. Ohanyan, M. Hovhannisyan, Marg. Hovhannisyan, E. Hovhannisyan, Z. Mamyan, S. Jivalyan, S. Petrosyan). The Chair cooperates with design organizations (“YerevanProject”, “ArmProject”).
Today, the staff of the Chair participates in the development of various scientific and technical programs and scientific topics, including construction norms, often being the supervisors of working groups. Along with pedagogical work, many of them are engaged in creative design activities. Some of them are authors of many projects and structures. Leading lecturers are involved in international and national academies of architecture, creative, scientific and non-governmental organizations and councils.
The Chair is one of the leaders in the field of international joint cooperation in terms of organizing student project weeks. The process started in 1993. Within the framework of the signed contract between the Architecture School Paris Villemin and NUACA, joint supervision and defense of diploma projects were envisaged.
In 1997, three students from the Architecture School Paris Villemin developed their diploma projects on urban reconstruction of different districts in Yerevan. Lecturers of the Chair, A. Kanayan and N. Chilingaryan, participated in the elaboration of the projects. The defense of the projects was held in 1998 in Paris. Ashot Kanayan was included in the committee together with French specialists. In addition, many lecturers of the Chair, among them N․ Chilingaryan, Z․ Mamyan, A. Kanayan, N. Avetisyan, M․ Minasyan and others, have been trained in international schools.
Since 2003, NUACA has been a member of REA (Network of Architecture Schools in France, Eastern and Central Europe), which organizes a student review-contest and lecturers’ scientific conference within the framework of its annual meetings. N. Chilingarayan made reports at the scientific conferences of REA meetings in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The project, supervised by PhD in Architecture, Associate Professor N. Chilingaryan (authors: N. Petrosyan and M. Minasyan), took the third place in the student review-contest of the REA meeting held in Toulouse, France in 2004. Z. Mamyan has been participating in the activities of international juries and supervising student exchange programs since 2013.
The academic staff of the Chair actively participates in the implementation of international programs not only within the framework of cooperation between NUACA Faculty of Architecture and several foreign universities, but also outside NUACA, such as in France (Paris, Lyon, National Superior School of Architecture of Saint-Étienne and National School of Architecture of Clermont-Ferrand), Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, in the USA (Cornell University), in Russian Federation (Tyumen), Lebanon (Beirut), etc..
The lecturers of the Chair have been repeatedly awarded State Prizes in international and national contests and reviews, and the diploma projects of their graduates have been awarded the highest prizes.
