The design of the new EU TUMO Convergence Center building offers a bold yet simple response to the site perched above the Hrazdan River gorge. A 120-metre-long monolithic bar rests on top of a sunken base, cantilevering over steep slopes on each end, while large windows on both ends direct views towards the river gorge to the north and Mount Ararat – often believed to be the resting place of Noah’s Ark – to the south. The base podium elevates the building to a more visible height, creating a slope that extends the nearby Tumanyan Park.

“With TUMO’s hall on the hill, we created a new innovation platform that brings together education and industry – the main forces driving progress,” says Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV. “The new facility represents the heart of Yerevan’s emerging tech campus, but is positioned on the axis of history, an ‘Ark’ hovering over the gorge. Its cantilevered form mirrors the idea of standing on a precipice of change, reaching out toward the future. I think that’s a nice symbolism.”