HISTORICAL BUILDINGS

1981

State index: 1.5.7

Architects: Arthur Tarkhanyan, Spartak Khachikyan, Levon Cherkezyan, Georges Shehlyan

Constructor: Sergey Baghdasaryan

State Prize of the Armenian SSR: 1985

Formerly: WESTERN AIRPORT

It is located 15 km west of Yerevan, near the village of Parakar in the Armavir region of the Republic of Armenia.

It was founded in 1961 under the name “Western Airport.” It was later renamed “Zvartnots.” The new building was designed in 1974 and commissioned in 1981. In 1985, the authors of the project were awarded the State Prize of the Armenian SSR.

Zvartnots Airport was built with runways meeting international standards. At that time, only Moscow and Kyiv in the Soviet Union had such runways. One year after becoming operational, the Armenian Civil Aviation Administration set a record by handling 2.5 million passengers.

With its volumetric-spatial composition, impressive proportions, and precise geometric and aesthetic accents, the airport is harmoniously integrated into the landscape, becoming an inseparable part of it.

The composition consists of two truncated cones inserted into one another. A 60-meter-high tower rises from the smaller cone, housing the air traffic control center and a restaurant at its top level. On the external volume (second level) is the departure passenger hall. Service rooms are located in the central section. The arrivals hall is on the first level. Reinforced concrete and glass were used as construction materials.

Zvartnots Airport is one of the achievements of Soviet Armenian modernist architecture and has received recognition from architectural professionals. Its design has been repeatedly listed among the most interesting architectural works of the 20th century.