Project Name William Saroyan House-Museum
Location Fresno, California
Area 560 sq.m.
Project Year 2018
Status Built
Photographs © Intellectual Renaissance
Design Team
Meroujan Minassian, Narbeh Bedrossian, Anush Karapetyan, Marta Aramyan, Ani Sahakyan, Sona Manukyan, Elen Aghamalyan, Hayk Aleksanyan, Kristina Vardanyan, Norayr Vardanyan, Susanna Poghosyan
Graphic Design: William Karapetyan
Curator: Karen Mirzoyan
On August 31, 2018, House Museum of legendary Armenian-American writer William Saroyan took place. Intellectual Renaissance Fund organized a competition, during which Storaket Architectural Studio was selected to bring the ambitious project to life.
When working on the project, we were inspired by the idea of “digital reproduction.” It was essential for us to create a whole image of Saroyan, not just his literary side, and to create a space, where the visitors will not only see the belongings of the writer but will feel his presence and will have a conversation with him.
The museum is in the house, where the writer lived the last 17 years of his life. The house was built in the 1960s. As the house has a status of a monument, the exterior was left untouched. The interior, however, was entirely re-done. On the right side of the entrance, the reception desk and a souvenir shop are located. The main hall is darkened, and the exposition there is formed by four installation-walls, where various aspects of the life of the author are displayed. Near the entrance to the hall, an interactive wall is located, which reacts to the movements of the visitors. The wall lights up, showing the visitors photographs covering the entire life of the author. To end the exhibition in an unforgettable note, the visitors are invited to the room of the author, where they can see a hologram of the writer having a monologue.
Project Name William Saroyan House-Museum
Location Fresno, California
Area 560 sq.m.
Project Year 2018
Status Built
Photographs © Intellectual Renaissance
Design Team
Meroujan Minassian, Narbeh Bedrossian, Anush Karapetyan, Marta Aramyan, Ani Sahakyan, Sona Manukyan, Elen Aghamalyan, Hayk Aleksanyan, Kristina Vardanyan, Norayr Vardanyan, Susanna Poghosyan
Graphic Design: William Karapetyan
Curator: Karen Mirzoyan