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ianyan magazine
June 16 2012
Slideshow: Remembering Armenia's Pak Shuka Market
ARMENIA - BY LIANA AGHAJANIAN ON JUNE 16, 2012 12:47 PM
Yerevan's historic Pak Shuka came under demolition late last month
much to the opposition of activists who questioned the legality of the
construction amid rumors the 100-year-old structure was going to be
turned into a supermarket.
A key stopping point for tourists who come to delight their appetites
in the markets fresh and dry produce, the Pak Shuka or `Closed Market'
caused a social media firestorm as photos of the demolition spread on
Facebook, prompting Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan to address the issue
via the networking site and through an official statement posted on
the city's website, which revealed that construction, tearing part of
the Shuka's historical roof, was carried out without a license.
The market is now under surveillance and any further construction has
been stopped, but activists are insistent on being part any decision
making process involving the market's future.
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, a Yerevan-based NGO
along with seven other organizations, including the `We are the Owners
of This City' Initiative, `Old and New City Foundation,' Urban Lab
Yerevan, `Victims of State Needs' NGO and others have penned an open
letter to Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Mayor Margaryan
demanding that any changes in the monument's interior be submitted for
discussion to the Urban Development Council and that public awareness
campaigns be hold on urban development in the city.
Ianyan readers also chimed in after we asked their thoughts on the situation.
Katy Pearce, a communications scholar from the University of
Washington who studies technology in the former Soviet Union and has
spent considerable time in Armenia remembers walking through the
market when she was pregnant, with her partner receiving
congratulatory vodka shots from sellers along the way. Another
commenter said they felt it was `just criminal how they could mess up
such a cool building' on the Ianyan Facebook page.
The owner of the Pak Shuka, businessman Samvel Alexanyan, also owns
the Yerevan City supermarket chain. He has not made any public
comments since the demolition began and was abruptly stopped.
According to ArmeniaNow, he has previously refuted rumors he was
planning to turn the market, which celebrated its centennial last year
into part of his supermarket chain, saying that he was only planning
to renovate and equip it with a parking garage.
Constructed in 1952, the Pak Shuka was designed by architect Grigor
Aghababyan. It is the latest in a string of historical buildings that
have been under threat of demolishment in the capital. Most recently,
the 19th century Afrikyan house on Teryan street in Yerevan has been
sold to a construction company who now plans to build a residential
complex there instead. Activists, who organized a `It Won't be
Demolished March' this week, are calling the demolitions a threat to
cultural and historical heritage.
Check out our slideshow above highlighting the atmosphere inside Pak
Shuka last summer, and share memories of the market below.
http://www.ianyanmag.com/2012/06/16/slideshow-remembering-armenias-pak-shuka-market/
June 16 2012
Slideshow: Remembering Armenia's Pak Shuka Market
ARMENIA - BY LIANA AGHAJANIAN ON JUNE 16, 2012 12:47 PM
Yerevan's historic Pak Shuka came under demolition late last month
much to the opposition of activists who questioned the legality of the
construction amid rumors the 100-year-old structure was going to be
turned into a supermarket.
A key stopping point for tourists who come to delight their appetites
in the markets fresh and dry produce, the Pak Shuka or `Closed Market'
caused a social media firestorm as photos of the demolition spread on
Facebook, prompting Yerevan mayor Taron Margaryan to address the issue
via the networking site and through an official statement posted on
the city's website, which revealed that construction, tearing part of
the Shuka's historical roof, was carried out without a license.
The market is now under surveillance and any further construction has
been stopped, but activists are insistent on being part any decision
making process involving the market's future.
Transparency International Anti-Corruption Center, a Yerevan-based NGO
along with seven other organizations, including the `We are the Owners
of This City' Initiative, `Old and New City Foundation,' Urban Lab
Yerevan, `Victims of State Needs' NGO and others have penned an open
letter to Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan and Mayor Margaryan
demanding that any changes in the monument's interior be submitted for
discussion to the Urban Development Council and that public awareness
campaigns be hold on urban development in the city.
Ianyan readers also chimed in after we asked their thoughts on the situation.
Katy Pearce, a communications scholar from the University of
Washington who studies technology in the former Soviet Union and has
spent considerable time in Armenia remembers walking through the
market when she was pregnant, with her partner receiving
congratulatory vodka shots from sellers along the way. Another
commenter said they felt it was `just criminal how they could mess up
such a cool building' on the Ianyan Facebook page.
The owner of the Pak Shuka, businessman Samvel Alexanyan, also owns
the Yerevan City supermarket chain. He has not made any public
comments since the demolition began and was abruptly stopped.
According to ArmeniaNow, he has previously refuted rumors he was
planning to turn the market, which celebrated its centennial last year
into part of his supermarket chain, saying that he was only planning
to renovate and equip it with a parking garage.
Constructed in 1952, the Pak Shuka was designed by architect Grigor
Aghababyan. It is the latest in a string of historical buildings that
have been under threat of demolishment in the capital. Most recently,
the 19th century Afrikyan house on Teryan street in Yerevan has been
sold to a construction company who now plans to build a residential
complex there instead. Activists, who organized a `It Won't be
Demolished March' this week, are calling the demolitions a threat to
cultural and historical heritage.
Check out our slideshow above highlighting the atmosphere inside Pak
Shuka last summer, and share memories of the market below.
http://www.ianyanmag.com/2012/06/16/slideshow-remembering-armenias-pak-shuka-market/