Famous Armenian architect Haik Uluhojyan passed away in the Italian city of Parma in October 2016. The local presses reported the news, stating that “Parma is mourning the loss of architect Haik Uluhojyan, who also designed the airport named after Verdi in our city”.

This is what Ara Zarian told AZG Weekly from Italy. He also shared some episodes of the Armenian architect’s life.

“Haik Uluhojyan was born in 1946 in Parma, Italy. To save themselves from the Armenian Genocide, Haik’s family escaped the city of Kharput of Anatolia and settled in Italy where Haik’s father studied at the Mourad-Rafaelian Seminary in Venice.

After receiving his secondary education, Haik got accepted to the Department of Architecture at the University of Geneva and graduated from the Department of Architecture of the Institute of the University of Venice. The supervisors for his dissertation were renowned Italian architects Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Gambiraso.

Upon graduation, he worked in the art studio of architect Guido Canale. In 1977, he opened a studio that he had designed for himself.  Alongside that, he collaborated with the Milan Center for Studies on and Documentation of Armenian Culture and the Chair in Architecture at Milan Polytechnic Institute and dedicated himself to studying the history of Armenian architecture.

He has authored several articles devoted to contemporary architecture and has been the editor of Italian architectural magazines and news programs devoted to architecture. He has also been awarded with the highest Italian and international diplomas for most of his projects.

He has designed banks, hotels, sport complexes, public buildings and apartment complexes. In 2010, he was awarded with Italy’s first-class award for designing the Donnafugata Golf Resort.

In his hometown of Parma, he designed and built the Sports Palace, the main entrance to Maggiore Hospital, the building of Unicredit Bank and the Giuseppe Verdi Airport in Parma.

He and Swiss architect Mario Botta designed the building of the National Labor Bank in Buenos Aires,” writes the author.