ReArk.org

‘Sevan’ Hotel was one of the largest structures of its type built in Yerevan before the war. Designed and constructed by architect Nikoghayos Buniatyan between 1935-1938, the hotel is a clear stylistic departure for the architect, whose neoclassical ‘Yerevan’ Hotel built in 1926 was the first Armenian hotel built during the Soviet era. The emphasis on vertical and horizontal lines with no decorative features also indicates the increasing influence of ideas derived from modernist architecture on Buniatyan’s practice. Form and texture is created more through the sparse, functional use of the materials which enrich the overall effect of the building without detracting from its very contemporary feel. As such, the hotel’s building is one of the last ‘hybrid’ buildings in inter-war Armenian architecture and its highly angular, pure forms would be replaced by more decorative and classicist solutions of Stalinist architecture.
The building completed the entire ensemble of the Shahumian square which was almost entirely designed by Buniatyan and his team. The three smaller buildings on the opposite side of the square belonged to the earlier period of the architect’s career and showed the rapid evolution of his style.

The hotel became dysfunctional after the collapse of the USSR and was sold to a foreign investor. Despite wide-ranging protests and petitions, the hotel was demolished in 2002 (?) to make way for a non-existent redevelopment project. The site of the hotel is still empty and surrounded by a fence, completely ruining the harmony of the square’s architectural ensemble.