On May 1, 2010 Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) welcomed students, professors and the general public to the “Traces” Architectural studio presentations on “Designing a New Genocide Museum”. (http://armacad.info/archives/289)
This event was jointly organized by the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and the Luys Foundation, with the participation of the faculty and students of the Yerevan State University for Architecture and Construction.
Program included student presentations as well as short presentations and commentary from guest contributors. The program featured:
Tigran Sargsyan, Prime Minister, Republic of Armenia (Video recording address)
Anahit Bakhshyan Member of the Parliament, Republic of Armenia
Anahit expressed her great appreciation for the work of students at GSD on the TRACES project and support for future collaborations with GSD.
Jacqueline Karaaslanian, Executive Director, Luys Foundation
Jacqueline discussed goals and aspirations of the recently established Luys foundation, particularly creating a strong Armenian network to harvest ideas and contributions of Armenians around the world for the benefit of Republic of Armenia.
Allen Sayegh, President of Invivia, Lecturer in Architecture, Harvard Graduate School of Design and Graduate Students of the GSD
Edith Ackermann, Visiting Scientist, MIT Design Laboratory, Professor of Psychology, Univ. Aix-Marseille, France
Edith shared insight into the aspects of psychology when exposing museum visitors to experiences of projections, erosions, incisions, wall openings and other techniques available in the design of museum environments without traditional museum artifacts.
James R. Russell, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies, Harvard University (Video lecture)
James provided a context for the student work, with an excellent overview of Armenian history and history and state of current affairs on the status of Genocide recognition.
Meroujan Minassian and Sarhat Petrossian , Faculty, Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction
Meroujan and Sarhat presented an overview of the “Architectural Visualization of Armenian Culture” project under development at Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction.
Martin Bechthold, Professor of Architectural Technology, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Martin provided concluding remarks expanding on possibilities of conceptual design in delivering the message on Genocide remembrance and the powerful experience of new generation museum environments.
Among audience attendees of the symposium were:
Tigran Sloyan, MIT undergraduate student
Samson Avetian, Harvard Business School graduate student
Pertshouhi Torosyan, Brandeis University alum
Rouben Meschian, Boston University alum
Ashkhen Sargsyan, Berkeley University alum
Hripsime Ter-Ghazaryan, Northeastern University alum
Gor Zakaryan, Brandeis University alum
Vahan Nahapetyan, Northeastern University alum
Karina Demurchyan, University of Massachusetts, Boston alum
Narine Movsisyan, American University of Armenia alum
Viktoria Kirakosyan, Simmons College alum
English