"An ode to Armenian architecture between tradition and contemporaneity" by Carlo Coppola
He was particularly acclaimed for his religious architecture, reinterpreting centuries-old Armenian ecclesiastical forms through a rigorously contemporary lens. His Church of Saint John the Baptist in Abovyan is widely considered the defining example of modern Armenian church architecture — a building that demonstrates how a living architectural tradition can evolve without losing its roots.
Beyond individual landmark projects, Ghulyan's work extended across the Armenian diaspora, encompassing churches, monastic complexes and civic buildings in countries as far apart as Russia and Jordan. This international reach reflected both the global spread of Armenian communities and the demand for an architect capable of carrying a distinctly national architectural language beyond its borders.
Parallel to his practice, Ghulyan taught at NUACA from 1988 to 2010, attaining the rank of Associate Professor in 2002 and earning his doctorate in architecture in 2006. He also contributed scholarly research on the medieval architectural heritage of the Artsakh and Syunik regions, and served during the early 1990s at Armenia's Commission for the Preservation of Monuments, where he worked on the restoration of medieval sites.
Together with his son Mushegh, he co-founded Ghulyan Architects, a practice that continues his approach of grounding contemporary design in a deep understanding of Armenian architectural history.
The exhibition — organized on the initiative of his former students, in collaboration with university faculty — brings together drawings, models, photographs and archival documents tracing the full arc of his career as designer, researcher and educator. That it was driven by students, rather than institutional bodies alone, speaks to the quality of his influence: the kind that outlasts any single building.
The show remains on view at NUACA in Yerevan.
by Carlo Coppola
