| Rafayel Israyelian | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 17, 1908 Tiflis, Russian Empire |
| Died | September 8, 1973 Yerevan, Armenian SSR, USSR |
| Nationality | Soviet Union |
| Awards | People's Architect of the USSR (1970) |
| Work | |
| Buildings | The Military Museum in Yerevan , The Sardarapat Battle monument, The Rebirth monument of the battle of Bash Aparan |
| Design | St. Vartan Armenian church, New York (1970s) |
Rafayel Israyelyan (Armenian: Ռաֆայել Իսրայելյան, also Rafayel Sarkis Israyelyan, 1908, Tiflis, Georgia - 8 September 1973, Yerevan, Armenia) was an Armenian architect and designer based in Yerevan, Armenia. He is author of an immense architectural heritage of civil buildings, monuments and design works.
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Rafayel Israyelyan was born in 1908 in Tiflis. Between 1926-1928, he studied at the architectural faculty of the Academy of Arts in Tiflis, and then at the architectural faculty of the Institute of Communal Construction of Leningrad named after Ilya Repin which he had graduated excellently in 1934, with the title of artist-architect. In 1936 he successfully completed his courses of the Masters degree at the same institute. In the same year he moved to Yerevan and started working in Yerevan city's architectural design institutions.
Between 1941 and 1963, Israyelian ran a long teaching career in Yerevan Polytechnic Institute.[1] He was a member of the Architectural Commission of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin between 1956 and 1970.
After the death of Rafayel Israyelyan, his son; architecture Areg Israyelyan took the responsibility to continue his father's career and complete his unfinished projects.
More than 150 residential, public and other types of complexes and buildings in Armenia and the USSR are fulfilled according to Israyelyan's design.
Israyelyan designed massive constructions of natural stone combining neo-classicism with Armenian architectural traditions. One of his early works was the building of an intricate complex of wine cellars in 1937 for the Ararat Trust, Yerevan, its concise volumes blending organically with the rocky landscape.
During and after World War II, continuing the Armenian custom of commemorating the dead at springs, he built monuments in numerous towns and villages. He also revived the ancient Armenian tradition of the Khachkars. Israyelyan was author of many residential buildings, monuments and complexes in Armenia and other countries.
His most famous works are the followings:[2]