HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

1926-1940, 1950s

The building is located in the Republic Square complex, bounded by Nalbandyan, Melik-Adamyan streets and Tigran Mets Avenue.
Architect Alexander Tamanyan designed the building. His son, architect Gevorg Tamanyan, participated in the design and continued construction after Tamanyan's death in 1936.
Construction occurred in three phases. The first phase began in 1926 with the construction of the two-story People's Commissariat of Agriculture building on Nalbandyan Street, which was later incorporated into the First Government House. From 1936 to 1938, workers added a third floor to the Commissariat building.
Construction of the main part of the Government House began in 1935. Aramayis Yerznkyan, initially as the People's Commissar of Agriculture and later as Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Armenian SSR, directly participated in the construction of both the Commissariat building and the Government House.
Artist Taragros painted and engraved the capitals and ornaments of the Commissariat building. Vagharshak Melik-Hakobyan also created ornamental sculptures. Sculptor Suren Stepanyan created the bas-reliefs in the triangular lobby at the corner of Nalbandyan and Melik-Adamyan streets (not all were completed). Architect-artist Basin participated in the preparation of working drawings.
Gevorg Tamanyan designed the section facing Melik-Adamyan Street in 1957. Construction took place in 1959 under the supervision of engineer Levon Yerznkyan. Architects Onik Dokhikyan, A. Harutyunyan, engineers L. Melik-Haikaryan, G. Janpoladyan, and stonemasons Pato Kharazyan, Mendgiyan brothers, S. Shahverdyan, and G. Abgaryan participated in the construction of the main building and the Tigran Mets Avenue wing. Until 1950, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia and the City Committee of the CPA occupied the Nalbandyan Street wing.
The First Government House has an asymmetrical architectural-planning solution. Corner sections feature monumental entrances and a 30-meter high tower facing the square, which includes a clock and an arched passage to the inner courtyard. The tower emphasizes the transition along Nalbandyan Street to a lower wing (16 m). The architectural composition uses classical proportions, national architectural forms, and facade hierarchy, with a corresponding three-step decrease in decoration from the center. The Government House's architecture introduced techniques that became the foundation for the formation of Armenian Soviet architecture and the Tamanyan school. Facades extensively use sculptural decorations and national ornaments (sculptors: Vagharshak Melik-Hakobyan, Suren Stepanyan, artist: Taragros). The building's perimeter is 500 m, the central part's length is 100 m, and its height is 25 m.
In 1939, workers constructed a 12-meter wide sidewalk in front of the First Government House, which included landscaped areas.
For the first time in the history of Soviet Armenian architecture, the entire interior space was faced with stone - light cream-colored felsite. A mosaic of Vladimir Lenin, leader of the October Revolution, was placed on the wall.
The First Government House became the foundation for Republic Square's development and predetermined the architectural features of subsequently added structures, remaining unsurpassed in its volumetric and artistic standards.
In 1941, it received the USSR State Prize.