Levon Melikyan began his architectural career in the early 1970s
at the YerevanProekt Institute, where he worked for over twenty
years on civic, infrastructure, and urban projects at a scale
rarely encountered in private practice. The work documented here
spans that period, the years of the “ART” Architecture and
Planning Cooperative, his engagement with Diran & Masri in
Jordan, and his commission for the Armenian diplomatic compound in
Ashkhabad — a body of work produced across five decades and three
countries.
Many of the drawings shown are original plansheet photographs
from the Soviet period, assembled side by side as was customary
for presentation at the time. They are reproduced here as
documents of record.
Attribution in Soviet institutional practice did not always
reflect individual contribution. Where Levon participated as part
of the official design team without receiving authorship credit,
this is noted. Credits are given as documented in original
institute records, with Levon’s consistent preference to list his
collaborators — and in particular his mentor Stepan Kyurkchyan —
first.
Career span
Years in practice,
late 1960s to present
Projects
Across Armenia, Jordan,
Turkmenistan, and the USA
Recognition
– Biennale Mondiale de l’Architecture, Sofia, 1985
– 1st place, Armenian Village Housing Competition, 1986
– 1st place, Ramala Housing Competition, 1996
Institutions
– YerevanProekt Institute
– ”ART” Architecture and Planning Cooperative
– Diran & Masri, Amman
– FineGold Alexander, Boston
– Ministry of Foreign Affairs, RA
| YerevanProekt Institute Yerevan, Armenian SSR | 1969 – 1989 |
Original plansheet photograph · YerevanProekt Institute
1972 – 1973
Neighbourhood-scale retail building in the Nor Nork district, Yerevan.
Architect
Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
Original plansheet photographs · YerevanProekt Institute
1975 – 1976
Urban reconstruction of Abovyan Street including pedestrian underpasses at the Abovyan–Tumanyan and Abovyan–Sayat-Nova junctions, Yerevan.
Architects
Levon Melikyan, Lia Kyurkchyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
Original plansheet photograph · YerevanProekt Institute
1978
Mixed civic services building for Yerevan. Public amenity programme at city scale.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
Original plansheet photograph · YerevanProekt Institute
1979 – 1981
The Opera Square–Northern Avenue Underground Link (passing beneath Tumanyan Street). The project was designed to solve the Opera and Ballet Theatre’s rehearsal hall shortage.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
Original plansheet photographs ·
YerevanProekt Institute
Original plansheet photographs ·
YerevanProekt Institute
1979 – 1981
Underground pedestrian development at the junction of Lenin and Bagramyan avenues — now Mashtots and Sayat-Nova avenues. Part of the wider Opera Square urban infrastructure programme.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan,
Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt
Institute
Yeritasardakan metro station, Yerevan · Photograph c. early 1980s
1979 – 1981
Architect:Stepan Kyurkchyan
Levon Melikyan was a member of the design team for Yeritasardakan metro station, Yerevan, during his tenure at YerevanProekt Institute — early 1980s. Authorship credits for this project have been widely misreported in secondary sources.
Original plansheet photographs · YerevanProekt Institute
1982 – 1984
Public garden and landscape design for the Kanaker district, Yerevan.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan,
Lia Kyurkchyan, Alexander Badalyan
Institution
YerevanProekt
Institute
Three-sheet presentation
drawing, photographed assembled · YerevanProekt Institute
Late 1970s – Early 1980s
Full compound of the Scientific Research Institute “Algorithm” — НИИ «Алгоритм» — for the Ministry of Radio Industry of the USSR, Achapnyak district, Yerevan. Programme: laboratories, offices, computer centre, dormitory, dining facilities. Abelyan Street 6/12.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan, Khachatur Muradyan
Institution
YerevanProekt
Institute
Location
Abelyan Street
6/12, Achapnyak, Yerevan
Original plansheet photographs · YerevanProekt Institute
1985 – 1986
Competition entry for a standardised residential typology for Armenian villages. First place.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
Competition · First Place · 1986
Original plansheet photograph · YerevanProekt Institute
1986
Administrative building for the State Agro-Industrial Committee of the Armenian SSR, Yerevan.
Architects
Stepan Kyurkchyan, Levon Melikyan
Institution
YerevanProekt Institute
| “ART” Architecture and Planning Cooperative Armenian SSR / Republic of Armenia | 1988 – 1992 |
General plan combined with PAP · 1:2000 · Base plan and planning constraints · Original document scan
1988 – 1992
City-scale general plan for Gugark — Գուգարք — the district centre, at 1:2000. Produced during the cooperative period spanning the end of the Soviet era and Armenian independence.
Architect
Levon Melikyan
Cooperative
“ART” Architecture and Planning Cooperative
1988 – 1992
Secondary school in Stepanavan, designed and built in the immediate aftermath of the 1988 Spitak earthquake. Structural integrity and seismic resistance were the primary design obligations. Finish specification and the entrance portal were value-engineered out as Soviet supply chains collapsed. The building stands as designed structurally.
Architect
Levon Melikyan
Cooperative
“ART” Architecture and Planning Cooperative
| Diran & Masri Consultants Amman, Jordan | 1994 – 1996 |
1995
Cultural and arts centre for the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, Amman — gallery spaces, multipurpose hall, and public amenities. Part of a broader programme of civic and cultural commissions during Levon’s engagement with Diran & Masri, which also included the Arab Cultural Center in Amman, the Arab Cultural Center in Beit Hanina (Jerusalem), and reconstruction works for the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
Architect
Levon Melikyan
Practice
Diran & Masri Consultants, Amman
Competition · First Place · Ramala Housing · 1996
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of Armenia | 1997 – 1998 |
1997 – 1998
Full diplomatic compound in Ashkhabad (now Ashgabat), Turkmenistan. Programme: Embassy building, Business Centre, Cultural Centre, church, restaurant, and residential suite — a complete diplomatic precinct.
Architect
Levon Melikyan
Commission
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Armenia