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Saturday, March 10, 2007

Let's Paint Armenia's Apartment Buildings!


(Click to enlarge)

Here we see typical Armenian apartment buildings, sometimes known as tower blocks. These were built with panels of concrete - in the name of efficiency and cost-cutting - in a Soviet attempt to house all of its workers. Many of them look beautiful on the inside, with Euro-style remodels and the latest in furniture and electronic gadgets, unique reflections of the families who live in them. But from the outside, they look old, dirty, uninspired, depressing, and generally bad.

Russia had the same problem, until they began experimenting with color. The result? THIS!


(Click to enlarge)

This is what Armenians need: COLOR! Expression, happiness, art, sillyness, change, brightness! Imagine how the skyline will look if instead of shades of gray we have color. Children all across can create the artworks and adults render them onto the buildings. Flags, landscapes, abstracts, even portraits will adorn decades-old buildings. Our cities will become vibrant and everyone would follow our lead. It would be a rebirth: It would be revolutionary!

Who am I kidding? That would never happen.

Sources: Flickr and LiveJournal (many more pictures here)

5 comments:

PINEAPPLE 'N HAM said...

I say go for it... we've got the buildings.... we're artistically inclined... we just need da paint and tall ladders ;-) I first read about that trend in Albania. Must be some post communist reflex

Bobby D. said...

What a great idea-- reminds me of the Hundertwasser haus Apt. bldg in Vienna--very cheerful.

Anonymous said...

I think they should be painted with no more than two colors. The rainbow buildings are too much for me.

Nika said...

what makes you think that the explosion of color would make already pathetic looking apartment buildings better? if anything, it would look even more ridiculous. at least the current blocks are made of our signature stone. Rainbow colors would be so out of place in Yerevan. But wait, we're all about contradiction of taste and style - the downtown being a bright (at least no rainbows though) example.

Rhyne said...

Check out the link with the pictures of painted buildings and you'll see. :)