Articles/Հոդվածներ

Former Abovyan citizen became the winner for the Glendale Monument commemoration of the Genocide

Armenian version is here

We are very glad to inform our readers that the author of the Monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide, which will be constructed in Glendale, USA, is the Abovyan former citizen Sevak Petrosian. 

He is rather talented, vivid and bright personality who left great memories in the hearts of the people who knows him. He has graduated from the Yerevan State Polytechnic Institute, the department of architecture and has worked with the prominent architects of Yerevan. At the years of living in Abovyan city he has founded Kaputan national dancing club and let the Armenian society get to know the national dances of the Urmia region. Now he is living in Glendale and has founded the Nextep Design Architectural Studio. 

From Armeniaone more designer had its participation in the activities and works of this project, the course-mate of Sevak, designer and architect Araik Avetian

 

The abovyan.com congratulates  Mr. Sevak and Mr. Araik for this unique success.

In the following we are representing the theme concerning to this latest event published in Glendale news press.

 

Design for a structure commemorating the Armenian Genocide is chosen for a Glendalecivil Auditorium site.

 

 

CITY HALL — A local man’s design for a Glendale monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide was chosen Tuesday by jurists from a group of 28 international submissions as the winner.

 

The power of Sevak Petrosian’s design for a monument commemorating the Armenian Genocide stems from its simplicity, jurists said.

 

The monument, unveiled at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, will be erected at the Glendale Civic AuditoriumThe design includes an uneven, long strip of cracked concrete, from which rises 24 obelisk columns meant to represent April 24, the day on which the Armenian Genocide is remembered.

 

“Each one of us had a different feeling about the Armenian Genocide, and this design allowed us to feel what we each felt independently,” said Diran Depanian, a jurist on the city’s Armenian Genocide Monument Council. “It is raw, simple and powerful.”

 

More than 1.5 million Armenians perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923, though the Turkish government denies that it ever happened. The genocide has not been recognized by the U.S. government.

 

Rising from the cracked landscape, the obelisks also symbolize hope sprouting, said Tamar Poladian, an attorney representing the monument council.

 

Petrosian, the lead designer for Glendale-based Nextep Design Studio, will also receive $10,000 for winning the competition, which prompted submissions from Japan, Israel, Canada, Sweden, England, Lebanon and the United States.

 

Petrosian was thankful when he heard that he won the competition, he said.

 

“This is not just any other project,” he said. “For me, it is one of the best things that has happened in my life.”

 

In addition to other monuments, Petrosian has also designed museums and entertainment attractions.

 

Jurists did not know they chose a local designer as the winner of the competition. The designs were identified only by numbers. The monument is meant to recognize man’s inhumanity to man, Petrosian said.

 

“The judges recognized that the language and symbolism of the monument speaks to all humans hoping to eliminate all genocides,” he said.

 

The idea for a monument arose in 2002, when a controversial idea to lower the American flag was brought up to the City Council, said Zizette Ayad, an administrative analyst with the city. The council appointed a group of community members to form the monument council.

 

If the City Council approves of the design, phase two of the project will include further details of the monument, such as construction materials, cost and what inscriptions will be written on the obelisks.

 

No construction date has been set.

 

“Our hurt is deep,” Mayor Rafi Manoukian said after the design was unveiled. “Denial of the genocide continues to antagonize Armenian people as to their part in history.”

 

ROBERT CHACON 

Related posts

Leave a Comment