MVRDV has unveiled its vision for a major masterplan in the Gagarin Valley in Armenia. The 34,000-hectare area is home to 11,000 people spread across several villages, with about one-third of the landscape consisting of patches of land owned by the local community. MVRDV’s masterplan seeks to make the area “more sustainable and ecological diverse” through the planting of 10,000 plant species, and 12,000 new housing units.

Under the plans, the existing mosaic of 10,000 existing plots will be preserved and reinforced, while the water systems will be enhanced through the addition of canals, public paths, and greenery along the network. Existing roads will continue to form a starting point for connecting the villages, with new walking and cycling infrastructure added.

“The area is named after Yuri Gagarin, who was the first human to orbit the earth; he saw the planet’s vulnerability, a house in need of extra care, as many other astronauts have since stressed,” said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “I share that concern: stimulating biodiversity, improving water management and the ecosystem is of great importance for the future of the Gagarin Valley and the world. The valley can be seen as a series of test fields for the 10,000 species that will soon flourish there, an enrichment that will give the area the appearance of a garden of Eden.”

Existing buildings in the villages, some dating from Soviet times, will be upgraded in order to reduce building waste. Traditional Armenian farmhouses will form the inspiration for newly built homes, overlaid with green vegetated roofs and designed to attract a younger demographic.

The patchwork of 10,000 gardens comprising the valley will remain, with some hosting new cultural and agricultural facilities including a market hall, commercial center, a center for the arts, and a 4500-capacity sunken stadium. At the heart of the valley, an educational agricultural center signifies the area of highest density in the masterplan, surrounded by houses stacked to form vertical villages.

“We designed a sphere that acts as mini-planet, where the classrooms surround a spherical void and where all the species of the valley and beyond are shown and monitored,” Maas added. “The sphere will be surrounded by a central park that contains all the species – a scientific arboretum, reflected in the mirroring sphere. Gagarin would have loved it, I think.”

The masterplan will now be developed in consultation with local parties. The project was commissioned by the DAR Foundation for Regional Development and Competitiveness, an Armenian non-profit organization.

The scheme follows a string of recent MVRDV projects unveiled to the public. In December of last year, the firm used recycled champagne bottles to create a new façade for Bulgari in Shanghai. In November, the firm revealed their refurbished factory for the Vanke Research Center in Shenzhen, as well as an O-shaped mixed-use apartment complex in Mannheim, Germany.