The pavilion for the Wine History Museum of Armenia was designed to exhibit three unique pottery artifacts during Yerevan Wine Days 2022, an annual event held on Saryan Street, Yerevan. Through exploring the connections between ancient pottery culture, archaeology, and winemaking, the concept of "SOIL" emerged as the guiding theme for the pavilion.
“SOIL” serves as a protective vessel that helps us understand and learn about ancient periods in human history. The pavilion/art installation is a thought-provoking structure designed to convey the profound relationship between soil and the preservation of human culture throughout the ages. At its core, this exhibit highlights how soil has the power to transmit stories, memories, and secrets of our ancestors.
The pavilion has a rectangular shape with dimensions of 3 meters in depth and 7 meters in length. The floor/base is covered using basalt gravel, and a path made of large basalt stone slabs lies on it, resembling the deepest layers of the earth upon which subsequent layers have accumulated over centuries. Three columns rise from the gravel, appearing as though they were rectangularly cut from the earth with its layers and seamlessly transformed into the pavilion. They are made of the soil from the historic Dalma vineyards and represent the stratigraphy of the soil. The base layer of the columns is also made of basalt stone. The glass part of the columns serves as transparent stands for artifacts, which were covered by soil before being discovered during excavations. This visual detachment from the soil is emphasized by continuing the soil layers onto the glass, reaching an imaginary surface of the earth.
