Competition: Gyumri market, Armenia
BY MERLIN FULCHER
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An open international contest has been launched for a new $9 million USD culinary school within the historic market of Gyumri, Armenia (Deadline: 19 July)
The two-stage competition – organized by the TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies and Lyon-based Institut Lyfe – seeks proposals to create a new ‘unique culinary ecosystem’ in the center of the historic city, which was devastated by an earthquake in 1988.
The 8,000m² project aims to revitalize the city’s now demolished historic food market and create a new culinary school in its centre with surrounding restaurants and shops that are ‘symbiotic with the market and the school.’ The latest competition comes four years after IND Architects of Moscow won an earlier international contest to revamp Gyumri’s nearby 7.2ha Friendship Park.
A coffee stall at a market in Gyumri, Armenia
A coffee stall at a market in Gyumri, Armenia
According to the brief: ‘The TUMO Centre for Creative Technologies is partnering with Institut Lyfe in Lyon to establish a unique culinary ecosystem in the Armenian city of Gyumri with the support of the European Union.
‘The 8,000m², $9 million USD project involves revitalizing the historic food market of the city, establishing a unique culinary school in the heart of it, and surrounding it with restaurants and shops that are symbiotic with the market and the school.
‘At the canter of the project is education, in the form of a new type of culinary school, one that does not need an army of permanent in-house chefs to deliver high-level culinary education. Gyumri’s Culinary School will empower students to learn and create on their own and collaborate with visiting professionals from all around the world.’
Formerly known as Alexandropol and later Leninakan, Gyumri is the second-largest city in Armenia, with around 120,000 inhabitants. The settlement was devastated by a large 6.8-magnitude earthquake in 1988 which left many buildings in ruins and thousands of people homeless.
The current contest aims to promote an emerging culinary scene within Gyumri which results in a ‘permanent exchange with local products, vendors and restaurateurs, putting students in direct contact with food, farmers and foodies.’
The contest focuses on the city’s abandoned former market which was devastated by the earthquake – resulting in traders moving to nearby street sides – and has yet to fully recover. The site is located southern part of Gyumri, close to Freedom Square and on the main boulevard which links together all of the city’s main public spaces and attractions.
Abovyan Street in Gyumri Old Town
Abovyan Street in Gyumri Old Town
Submissions will be judged on their response to the brief, strength of vision for the project; creativity, originality, courage, resourcefulness; practicality and ‘technically savvy approach’; and suitability of the team to design and deliver the project.
Round one submissions should include up to three A3 pages with sketches and text outlining an initial response to the brief plus an additional page outlining team biographies. The competition language is English.
Three finalists will be invited to attend workshops in Yerevan and Gyumri between mid-August and mid-September and each paid a $15,000 honorarium to cover their time and expenses.
The overall winner – to be announced on 20 September – will be awarded a contract by TUMO to further develop their proposal through concept and schematic design stages with an option to also negotiate for the later construction administration and documentation roles.
How to apply
Deadline: 19 July
Competition funding source: Not provided
Project funding source: Not provided
Owner of site(s): Not provided
Contact details: gyumri-market@tumo.org
Visit the competition website for more information