Georgia is a country of ancient civilization. Its territory was populated 1.7-1.8 million years ago. The archaeological excavations in the south eastern Georgia resulted in a discovery of the human remains of the oldest inhabitant of Eurasia and referred to as the “First European”.
Gold Winner – Archframe Design Awards 2021
Design Firm – Artytechs
Project Title – Georgian Alphabet Tourist Center
Project Category – Hospitality Design
Status – Unbuilt
Architect/Designer – Darejan (Daduna) Shatashvili
Design Team – George Volski
Practice – Professional Architect
Country – Georgia
Georgia has very old and rich culture, has its own, unique alphabet and language, spoken only in Georgia.
At the height of its power, Kingdom of Georgia, ruled by the warrior Queen Tamar, stretched from the shores of the Black Sea in the west to shores of the Caspian Sea in the east and was one of the cultural and economic hubs of the region. Other notable Kings are David IV the Builder and Giorgi V the Great.
Georgian is the biggest Kartvelian language, and it is the only Caucasian language with an ancient literary tradition. It’s beautiful and unique alphabet is also quite old – it is thought to have been adapted from Aramaic as far back as the third century AD. While not a language island in the same sense as Basque, there are only four Kartvelian languages, all spoken by minorities within Georgia, and they are all unrelated to any other languages in the world.
Georgian scripts are among the 14 existing alphabets in the world. Georgian scripts include three variations: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri, and Mkhedruli. Each of the type used to have different purposes and applications throughout the years. All three variations differ in appearance. Currently, the official alphabet of the country is Mkhedruli.
According to one Georgian scholar, King Parnavaz created Georgian script. The exact dates of King’s reign are not known, but according to the latest sources, he ruled in the 3rd century BC, and many scholars do consider this period as the birth of Georgian alphabet.
Artytechs decided to create a Georgian Alphabet Tourist Center, where each letter of the alphabet is a hotel type room for tourists. The architects distributed the alphabet in the simulated area of the map of Georgia, where the paths reflect the contour of the map of Georgia and the various sides between them.
The outer walls of each letter of the alphabet reflect the history of Georgia. Fragments from the historical and cultural heritage monuments of Georgia, which also helps to raise awareness about the history of Georgia among tourists from foreign countries.
Winners
Winner Yearbook and Certificate
