Kars Ani Ruins – Visitor Center and Landscape Design

Ancient town of Ani, a trade center for Antiquity, had been the terminal point of Silk Road crossings that passes from Anatolia to Caucasians. Ani had had many severe earthquakes, almost totally demolished at every and each time, had grown as the Capital city of the Kingdom of Armenia, and unquestionably a unique archaeological site. Ani is not merely spectacular in its historic and archaeological assets, also remarkably significant with its natural landscape. We have taken this aspect of the site as the key metaphor of the project: ‘A mysterious laboratory of landscape archaeology’ – an open-air museum.

Besides dynamism of existing topography, creeks and valleys create micro-climatic pockets for the project. Ruins stand by themselves without any company of a single tree. Hence, we have not proposed vertical planting for closer open spaces, rather we have suggested herbaceous plants and natural grass types.