Feb-June 2017: Armenian-Turkish Young Professionals as Advocates of Common Urban Heritage

Preserving urban heritage of Kars and Gyumri, neighboring cities in Turkey and Armenia, was proposed as common topic for this project implemented in partnership with urbanlab. The project intended to promote cooperation between Armenian and Turkish young urban development professionals to join efforts in addressing the problem of protecting the architectural heritage of mainly 19th century in Kars and Gyumri. These two cities shaped their urban structure and style during Russian Empire period had many similarities, built from the same tuff stone, same neo-classical stylistics, etc. The number of such buildings has been decreasing over time.

Many buildings in Gyumri and Kars look pretty similar. The project provided an opportunity for young Armenian and Turkish urban development professionals to identify and discuss common problems, share and get familiar with the urban history, historical role and significance of the buildings and advocate for their protection. The ideas and thoughts of youth were summarized in a common travelers’ notepad: below.