Journal 2013 by APF RTU

ISSN 1691-4333 (Print) ISSN 2255-8764 (Online)

SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL OF RIGA TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY RĪGAS TEHNISKĀS UNIVERSITĀTES ZINĀTNISKIE RAKSTI

ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING ARHITEKTŪRA UN PILSĒTPLĀNOŠANA 2013 / 7 Editor-in-Chief Jānis Krastiņš

RĪGA, RTU IZDEVNIECĪBA, 2013

Editor-in-Chief – Galvenais redaktors Jānis Krastiņš, Dr. habil. arch., Professor, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Editorial Board – Redkolēģija Uģis Bratuškins, Dr. arch., Assoc. Professor, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Jānis Briņķis, Dr. arch., Professor, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Claes Caldenby, PhD, Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, Gotheborg, Sweden Frank Eckardt, PhD, Professor, Bauhaus Universität Weimar, Weimar, Germany Helka-Liisa Hentilä, PhD, Professor, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland Mart Kalm, PhD, Professor, Estonian Academy of Arts, Tallinn, Estonia Avelino Oliveira, PhD, Professor, Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal Ojārs Spārītis, Dr. art, Professor, Art Academy of Latvia, Riga, Latvia Gintaras Stauskis, PhD, Assoc. Professor, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania Sandra Treija, Dr. arch., Assoc. Professor, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Jānis Zilgalvis, Dr. arch., Assistant Professor, Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Secretary & Layout Designer – Sekretārs un salikuma autors Arne Riekstiņš, Dr. arch., Riga Technical University, Riga, Latvia Address of the Editorial Board – Redkolēģijas adrese Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Riga Technical University Āzenes iela 16, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia Tel: +371 67089212 Fax: +371 67089130 E-mail: arne.riekstins@rtu.lv The submitted articles are peer-reviewed according to the rules of «RTU Scientific Journal». Rakstus recenzē saskaņā ar izdevuma «RTU Zinātniskie raksti» recenzēšanas noteikumiem. Reviewers: Dr. arch., Prof. Jānis Briņķis; Dr. arch. Juris Dambis; PhD, Assoc. Prof. Daniel B. Hess; Dr. habil. arch., Prof. Jānis Krastiņš; PhD, Prof. Avelino Oliveira; Dr. arch., Assoc. Prof. Gintaras Stauskis; Dr. arch., Prof. Sandra Treija; Dr. arch., Prof. Martina Zbašnik-Senegačnik; Dr. arch., Prof. Aija Ziemeļniece; Dr. arch., Full member of Latvian Academy of Sciences, Jānis Zilgalvis.

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Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Contents Preface . ............................................................................................................................................................ Renāte Čaupale

Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia ..................................................................................................................

5 6

Jānis Krastiņš

Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja ...................................................................................................... 18 Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, Jurga Vitkuvienė

How Rural Becomes Rurban – Rural Manor Residencies in the Urban Context: Lithuanian Case .......... 32 Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė

Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress ...................................................................... 38 Konstantina Demiri

New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context ........................................................................................ 44 Petras Džervus

Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities .................... 51 Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė

Sustainable City – a City Without Crime ...................................................................................................... 59 Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius

Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case ...................................................................... 65 Matas Cirtautas

Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States ....................................................................................... 72 Zhenmin Xu, Yawei Zhang

Exploring Flexibility in Urban Planning Formulation of China .................................................................. 80 Edgars Bondars

Implementing Bioclimatic Design in Sustainable Architectural Practice .................................................... 84

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Saturs Priekšvārds . .....................................................................................................................................................

Renāte Čaupale

Folkloristiskais Art Deco un Latvija ............................................................................................................ 87 Jānis Krastiņš

Pauls Kampe un Liepājas arhitektūra ............................................................................................................. 92 Edgars Bondars

Bioklimatiskās projektēšanas īstenošana ilgtspējīgas arhitektūras praksē . ................................................ 97

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Preface

Priekšvārds

The scientific journal of Riga Technical University (RTU) Architecture and Urban Planning, starting with 2013, will be issued twice a year. It reflects constantly growing scale of international scientific cooperation of Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning (APF) of RTU. The articles in this issue are by lecturers and PhD students from the RTU, and by researchers from Lithuania, Greece and China. Problems of the quality of built-up environment, ecology, planning, and conservation of cultural heritage, as well as these of the history of architecture and urbanism are examined. The language is English, but full texts of works by Latvian researchers are also in Latvian. Successful practical work is impossible without reasonable theoretical basis. Therefore the information presented in this edition may be useful in professional creative work to architects, who perform practical designing tasks, and urban planners, as well as to institutions responsible for preservation and protection of cultural heritage.

Rīgas Tehniskās universitātes (RTU) zinātniskais žurnāls Arhitektūra un pilsētplānošana, kuru, sākot ar 2013. gadu plānots izdot divas reizes gadā, atspoguļo RTU Arhitektūras un pilsētplānošanas fakultātes (APF) starptautiskās zinātniskās sadarbības aizvien pieaugošo mērogu. Šajā izdevumā līdz APF mācībspēku un doktorantu darbiem publicēti raksti, kuru autori ir Lietuvas, Grieķijas un Ķīnas speciālisti. Rakstos analizētas vides kvalitātes un ekoloģijas, pilsētu un teritoriālās plānošanas, kā arī kultūras mantojuma saglabāšanas un aizsardzības problēmas un iztirzāti arhitektūras un pilsētbūvniecības vēstures jautājumi. Izdevuma pamatvaloda ir angļu, bet Latvijas pētnieku darbu teksti pilnā apjomā pievienoti arī latviešu valodā. Sekmīga praktiskā darbība plānošanā un radošums projektēšanā nav īstenojams bez zinātniski pamatotas teorētiskās bāzes. Tāpēc rakstu krājumā publicētais var noderēt profesionālajā darbā gan arhitektiem – praktiskajiem projektētājiem, gan pilsētplānošanas speciālistiem, gan par kultūras mantojuma saglabāšanu un aizsardzību atbildīgajām institūcijām.

Editor-in-Chief

Galvenais redaktors

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.001 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution addressed to the textile artist Jūlijs Madernieks (1870–1955) about “..“new” and “modernised” national suit..” [1] or efforts to modernise the national costume and stylise ornaments are a good example characterising this irreconcilable discussion about the use of the theme of folklore. In his turn, Madernieks eagerly criticised the youngest master of applied arts Ansis Cīrulis (1883–1942) reprimanding him for the synthesis of various styles (characteristic of Art Deco), emphasizing that “there is no justification from any point of view for straightforward coupling of ethnographic forms with various forms of historic styles” [2]. The features of Art Deco, which emerged in the 20th century, and its aesthetics were discernable well before the exhibition L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris 1925 (hereinafter – the Paris Exhibition of

Abstract. Analysing terminology existing in the art theory today and considering eclectic expressions in Art Deco aesthetics in the 20-30s in connection with nationally ethnographic style elements or their stylisation, it is offered to use the term Folkloristic Art Deco. To show essential contention and esthetical difference between national romanticism and folkloristic Art Deco, the examples of Latvian architecture and art of the beginning of the 20th century are given. The term Folkloristic Art Deco allows defining more accurately such phenomena, which till now have been interpreted as national romanticism or folk romanticism, promoting discussions among scientists rather than giving conception about the place of object in the history of Latvian art and architecture. Folkloristic Art Deco as the component of modernism art and architecture of 20-30s in special moments naturally insinuates just into aesthetics of pre-postmodernism. For this reason, the aim of this paper is to show not only the importance of term Folkloristic Art Deco in the theory of history of Latvian art, but also the future vision of creative thought of artists and architects in Latvia in the 20-30s. Keywords: architectural history, art history, Art Deco, folkloristic art, national art, 1920s and 1930s.

The 1920s and 1930s are important periods in the history of many nations. Art Deco, which was perceived more like as an aesthetic phenomenon in Latvia, was a characteristic feature in the cultural life of that period. This led to the situation when analysing examples in architecture and art of the period that contained elements of folk art, the terms National Romanticism, Folk Romanticism or Latvian style were used most frequently to denote the features of Art Deco aesthetics. However, these terms fail to distinguish between the understanding of the content of the work of art as perceived before and after the First World War. Analysing the terminology used in the art theory along with eclectic expressions of the 1920s and 1930s, which included folk art elements and/or their stylised versions as part of the Art Deco aesthetics, it is suggested using the terms that would reveal and describe the form and content more objectively according to the spirit of the era. After the First World War, with the development of national consciousness of the European peoples and patriotism of the new countries, along with many existing and vanishing trends and styles – Realism, Post-Impressionism, Functionalism, etc. – turning to folklore was a natural expression of manifestation of the new countries. Because of political processes, Europe found itself in a new cultural situation with a new way of thinking, and the use of folk art elements, compared with the pre-war period, already had a different perspective. A new generation of artists and architects, who had matured during the First World War, became actively involved in creative processes, and it was only logical that their opinions differed from the ones expressed by those who had formed as artists at the end of the century on the aesthetics of the declining Romanticism – Neo-Romanticism. Harsh remarks that Rihards Zariņš (1869–1939), a graphic artist and professor at the Academy of Arts, had repeatedly, over a span of thirty years,

Fig. 1. Ansis Cīrulis, interior of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall in President’s Palace, 1926–1929 [33]

Fig. 2. Jan Szczepkowski, interiors of a chapel with Szczepkowski’s woodcarvings and Wanda Kosecka’s kilims in L’Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris 1925 [5, 154]

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

1925) that contributed to the triumph of this style. This exhibition showed the new form of folkloristic references and the important role of the content in Modernism. In some cases, artists drew inspiration from the folklore of other peoples and not their own. For instance, in the USA the descendants of European immigrants used elements of Indian folklore, ignoring authenticity and “in this context, the accuracy of historical or geographic quotation was not important since the priority was to achieve a novel, exotic effect” [3]. Economically powerful countries, which had deeprooted cultural traditions, also drew inspiration for Modernism from antiquity. France purposefully tried to promote itself as a remarkable nation in the new Europe created after the First World War. Although the demolition of the Bastille marked the birth of the Republic, the French were looking for their national roots in the traditions of royal fashion trends [4] – elements inspired by the reign of Louis XVI, Louis Philippe were seen in works by Paul Iribe, André Mare and other Art Deco artists, creating a peculiar French variation of this style [5]. After the First World War, the sensitivity of national selfconfidence of the nations of the newly established countries had reached a certain critical degree, and folklore became one of the determinant sources of inspiration. However, it cannot be unequivocally attributed to Romanticism, as it was at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and described as National Romanticism.

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Fig. 3. Pavel Janák, Crematorium at Pardubice, Czech Republic, 1922–1923 [41]

I. Relevance of the Discussion

The choice in favour of the term “folkloristic” in Art Deco is related to the unique local Art Deco aesthetics expressed in national ornamentation or more precisely – folk art – national artistic tradition. Inspirations from folk art and vernacular architecture, when the author had profound knowledge of the origin, produced excellent results as it was well shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1925. By using the elements of folklore, artists or architects sometimes had to sacrifice their own individual style that was quite characteristic of the international manifestations of the interwar period. At the same time, it has to be taken into account that the use of folkloristic references cannot be regarded as a method employed solely in Art Deco. The names of the phenomena of the interwar period, which to a lesser or greater extent show inspirations or quotations from folklore, are linked to the ‘related’ cultural phenomena: thus, in Latvia, contemporaries used the term nationally constructive since Russian Constructivism was a popular trend; the term Folk Romanticism (Figure 1), which might have been introduced by Janis Rozentāls already in 1905, was also used [6]; in Poland we come across styl zakopiański (Zakopane Style) inspired by the culture of Poland’s highland region Zakopane (Figure 2); in Czechoslovakia there was Rondocubism (Figures 3 and 4) since the Czech Architectural Cubism had just ceased to exist as an important phenomenon characteristic of the Czech architecture alone. There is an ongoing discussion about the Czech architectural period of 1920–1923 that is seen as the last phase of the Czech Architectural Cubism or the third style of Cubism [7]. At the same time, the period is also referred to as rondokubismus (Rondocubism), sloh Legiobanky (Legiobanky style), národní sloh, národní styl (national style) [8] and National

Fig. 4. Pavel Janák, interiors of a Crematorium at Pardubice, Czech Republic, 1922–1923 [41]

Decorativism [9, 12]. Historian Zdenĕk Lukeš describes the works of this period as a special variety of Czech Art Deco [10]. Writing about the success of Czech applied arts at the Paris Exhibition of 1925, Milena Lamarova also noted that expressions of National Decorativism or Czech Art Deco in applied arts had reached the final phase [11]. In Polish science, characterising art and architecture that were displaying aesthetics of Art Deco, the historian Irena Huml suggested a term “styl odzyskanej niepodległości”

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Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

used [13, 31]. According to several researchers, the pressure of the epoch and environment made the searches into folklore turn to the style of Art Deco [14, 15, 16]. II. Romantic or Folkloristic

Reading research articles about the architecture and art in Latvia of the 1920s and 1930s, especially decorative art which displays a direct or indirect relation to folk art, including vocabulary of vernacular architecture, there is a certain consistency to attribute such features to National Romanticism. However, as regards architecture, already in the late 20th century Professor Jānis Krastiņš made very reasonable objections as he considered this trend to be a formal variety of Art Nouveau [17]. Nevertheless, in the publication (2008) dedicated to Ansis Cīrulis, the interior of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall at Riga Castle is described as “/../ a truly remarkable example of National Romanticism /../” [18]. It may not be reasonable to use a certain term only to refer to a phenomenon occurring in fine arts and to refrain from using it referring to another sphere, i.e., architecture. In Finland [19], which was a source of inspiration for the principles of National Romanticism in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe, it is widely assumed that National Romanticism ceased to exist with the decline of Art Nouveau [20, 21, 22]. Describing the works by Jūlijs Madernieks, the Estonian Professor of Art History Merle Talvik found that “elements of folklore had been transformed to make a powerful heroic image” and that there were “free improvisations” [23], yet he saw no traces of Romanticism at all. The main objections to the attribution of a term ‘National Romanticism’ or ‘Folk Romanticism’ to the Latvian art and architecture of the interwar period of the 20th century are as follows: As regards lexicology, the terms Romanticism and Neo-romanticism already suggest that the emotional level in the work of art rises above the rational level: “first of all, Romanticism is perception of the world, a state of emotions”, “when the content precedes the form” [24] that contradicts the cornerstones of the rational era with a prevailing motto: “the form follows the function” and “the ornament is a crime”. A comparison of two architects shows a distinctively different approach to shape formation and aesthetics of decorative elements, thus the apartment house (1908) at Alberta iela 11 (Figure 5) designed by the architect Eižens Laube (1880–1967) for Mr. Niedre is a real pearl of National Romanticism, where an emotional accent on the façade resembles an illustration for an ancient Latvian fairytale, in its turn, the pavilion of the National Bank (Figure 6) at the exhibition of Zemgale Region in Jelgava (1937) designed by Pauls Kundziņš (1888–1983), a researcher and active promulgator of ancient Latvian building traditions, where rational forms of the building have been supplemented with a laconic decorative accent in a manner of folkloristic Art Deco – columns (Figure 7) inspired by vernacular pillars with a knob-shaped elaborated central part (bumbuļstabi in Latvian) when “/../ ancient forms of ornamentation may become an important additional means for /../ endowing the architecture with a peculiar expression,” [25] and light zigzag bands on the side wing façade.

Fig. 5. Eižens Laube, apartment house at Alberta ielā 11, Rīga, 1908 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 6. Pauls Kundziņš, pavilion of the National Bank at the exhibition of Zemgale Region in Jelgava, 1937 [26] Fig. 7. Pauls Kundziņš, columns inspired by vernacular pillars with a knobshaped elaborated central part, pavilion of the National Bank at the exhibition of Zemgale Region in Jelgava, 1937 [25]

(“style of restored independence”), since development of Art Deco paralleled the search for a national style provoked by the patriotism of the newly established post-war European countries. Describing the works by the Polish artist Zofia Stryjeńska (1891–1976), the term ‘folkloristic Art Deco’ is consistently

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

The term ‘National Romanticism’ refers to a distinct local national expression, yet the art and architecture of Modernism of the interwar period of the 20th century “in principle, is international and universal by nature” [27], and in case of Latvia, it is a direct reference to Art Nouveau, and National Romanticism was its formal variety. The example illustrating the international character of art can be seen in the photograph showing the interior of the bar at Ķemeri Hotel in the 1930s (Figure 8), where the composition of wall paintings resembles a modernised version of the theme ‘a’la déjeuner sur l’herbe’ from the Art Deco period in France [28]. Comparing it with the version by French artists (Figure 9), the Latvian version presents the improvisation with characters dressed in Latvian folk costumes on an idyllic background more redolent of a landscape in Italy than Latvia. Art Deco is a decorative style, where the ornament is an element in the interplay of rhythm, colours and lines rather than an expression of emotions. By content, the aesthetics of Art Deco is the aesthetics of joy and the sun, and in no case it is associated with winter, cold and emotional drama present in the works of national romanticists, e.g., in paintings A Black Snake Is Grinding Flour (1903) and A Legend (1899) by Janis Rozentāls (1866–1916). Using the same terms to denote phenomena of different eras, the principles of modern cultural studies are ignored, quoting the American philosopher Ken Wilber: “a work of art is an entirety that is an element of other entireties. /../ it exists within other contexts” [29], i.e., the folklore-inspired works that were created before and after the First World War reflected different contexts, different social and political aspects and different cultural situations. Opposing defenders of the ‘National Romanticism’ of the interwar period, it should be noted that the aesthetics of Art Deco of the 1920s and 1930s created a peculiar eclecticism of folklore (when traditions of one or even several nations were used at the same time) and/or of other historical references, therefore Art Deco can even be interpreted as the last Historicism (also – the new Historicism) or a modern interpretation of Historicism: “It did not continue the 19th-century historicism in a new shape but, on the contrary, it effectively assimilated avant-garde into the fairly recent tradition of the art of historicism and eclecticism, and with great success as can be confirmed by immense popularity of Art Déco in the 21st century” [30]. On the other hand, the National Romanticism of the Art Nouveau period in Latvia was inspired mostly by Latvian folklore and was created reflecting the Art Nouveau aesthetics and/or vocabulary of forms. The usage of terms ‘National Romanticism’ and ‘Folkloristic Romanticism’ to characterise the art both before and after the First World War can mislead the one interested in arts and architecture, and may rather initiate discussions among scientists than denote the place of the respective object of interest in the history of Latvian art and architecture. At the same time, the usage of references from folklore in the 1920s and 1930s cannot unambiguously be attributed to Art Deco.

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Fig. 8. The interior of the bar at Ķemeri Hotel in the 1930s, Jūrmala [40]

Fig. 9. Louis Süe and André Mare, dining room c.1925, design firm La Compagnie des Arts Français [28]

important incentive promoting modern solutions based on ethnography. The most vivid expressions of folkloristic Art Deco belong to Ansis Cīrulis, who implemented the Art Deco theme of joy and the sun in the interior of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall at Riga Castle. The same artistic approach was used by the talented Polish painter Zofia Stryjeńska, whose works are categorised as folkloristic Art Deco in Polish art history [31]. The affinity between the interpretations of folklore by Cīrulis and Stryjeńska is already evident in the Art Deco aesthetics: their works are saturated with optimism expressed by means of colour and rhythm; geometrisation of forms; deliberate deviation from the authentic ethnographic pattern. Both authors heralded a prepostmodernist tendency: in the mural The Lielupe River at Dzintari Concert Hall (Figure 10) Ansis Cīrulis completely transformed the Latvian national costume, modifying its colour scheme and making the girl wear a dress with a nearly postmodernist cut; Zofia Stryjeńska employed the same approach in the panel Pory roku, Styczeń-luty (The Seasons: January–February), where a young Polish lad wears a Mexican hat (Figure 11), which was displayed in the Polish pavilion at the Paris Exhibition of 1925 [32].

III. The Theme of Folklore in Latvian Architecture

A significant generator of new ideas in Latvia was the interior with a possibility, within a relatively short time, to implement a modern idea with minimum means; at that time it was an

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Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

Fig. 12. Ansis Cīrulis, wall decoration of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall in the President’s Palace, 1926–1929 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 10. Ansis Cīrulis, “The Lielupe River” at Dzintari Concert Hall, 1936 [18]

Fig. 13. Ansis Cīrulis, fragment of the ceiling painting of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall in the President’s Palace, 1926–1929 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

murals where the sun (a typical Art Deco symbol) symbolises people’s optimism (Figure 13), door lintels (Figure 14), as well as custom-made furnishings – carpets and curtains, ceiling lamps and pieces of furniture with inlay decorations. By contrast, in 1938, under Kārlis Ulmanis’ presidency, the new State Celebration Hall, which was designed by Eižens Laube, acquired a completely different appearance of “the unique nature of Latvian culture” already affected by the pomposity of the rule. Laube, who at this period of interpretations of classical elements, designed the interior inspired by Latvian ethnographic patterns, where massive wooden beams constituted the main accent in the room (Figure 15), related to characteristic proto-modernist stylisation of folklore in Middle Europe (Figures 16 and 17). In the interior of the Celebration Hall, which was created combining the fourth floor and the attic of Riga Castle, the architect conjured up the mythical atmosphere of ancient Latvia, where colours, lines, rhythms and ethnographic patterns related to the aesthetics of folkloristic Art Deco. However, the paintings of the

Fig.11. Zofia Stryjeńska, the panel “Pory roku, Styczeń-luty” (The Seasons: January–February). Polish pavilion at the Paris Exhibition of 1925 [32]

New rooms for reception of visitors were furnished in the President’s Palace of the new Latvian State. Upon the President Jānis Čakste’s request, in 1923 a competition was held for the interior of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall, where the president wanted “the unique nature of Latvian culture” to be displayed [33]. Ansis Cīrulis won the competition with the entry Rebirth. Between 1926 and 1929 he made sketches for the interior of the Ambassador Hall: the saturated green tone of the walls (the original tone has been preserved today only below the mirror) with interesting symbols of the sun (Figure 12), rhythmically arranged

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

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Fig. 14. Ansis Cīrulis, door lintels of the Ambassador Accreditation Hall in the President’s Palace, 1926–1929 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 16. Eižens Laube, haunch beam of the State Celebration Hall in the President’s Palace, 1939–1940 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 15. Eižens Laube, ceiling of the State Celebration Hall in the President’s Palace, 1939–1940 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 17. Dušan Samuel Jurkovič, haunch beam of the restaurant Libušín, Pustevny, Radhošt, the Czech Republic, 1897–1899 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

late 1930s, which in a heroic and romanticised way reflected the cult of the rule or totalitarian tendencies of the 1930s prevailing in Europe, painted in an academic manner (authors: Oto Skulme, Augusts Annuss, Voldemārs Vimba, Ludolfs Liberts and Jānis Tilbergs), as well as Baroque-style frames of the paintings and the stage (Figure 18) “broke” the folkloristic atmosphere. The effect of political pomposity was further reinforced by magnificent multi-tiered crystal chandeliers. Other works completed in the interwar period showed a similar approach reflecting the tendencies of the 1930s, when the desire for luxury and innovations, using historical references, often resulted in controversial interior solutions. In the hall on the first floor of Abava People’s House (1934) in Talsi region, a similar approach was used by Žanis Sūniņš: ornamentations made in a manner of folkloristic Art Deco were supplemented with academically painted romanticised heroic themes; however, in publications the approach was attributed as a national romantic style [33, 111]. Art Deco aesthetics is seen in ceiling roses and

Fig. 18. One of the paintings of the State Celebration Hall in the President’s Palace, 1939–1940 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

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Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

Fig. 19. Arnold von Maydell, ceiling rosette of the central hall of the bank building at Doma laukums 4, Riga, 1926. (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 20. Arnold von Maydell, capital of the central hall of the bank building at Doma laukums 4, Riga, 1926 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 21. Aleksandrs Birzenieks, interior of the Hall of Latvia in the Palace of Nations, Geneva, 1938 [42]

column capitals, which bear references both to folklore and nature (Figures 19 and 20) in the hall of Riga branch of the presentday Latvian Mortgage Bank (1926) by architect Arnold von Maydell (1884–1945). The features of National Romanticism are discernable [34, 37,24] in the interior of the central hall of the post-office building (1938) in Jelgava designed by the architect Dāvids Zariņš (1892–1980), whereas the decors display Baroqueinspired forms in combination with folklore ornaments; and in the interior of Hotel Cēsis (1939) by the architect Ādolfs Vilmanis (1904–1991), where stylised classical traditions prevail in the coffered ceiling designed in the style of Modern Classicism with stylised folklore elements supplementing the classical motif of the coffering. The interior of the Hall of Latvia (1938) designed by the architect Aleksandrs Birzenieks (1893–1980) in the Palace of Nations is a good example, where classical and folklore elements coexist in complete harmony. The light two-colour zigzag motif of the ceiling and birch wall panels contrast with the black oak parquet and the door adorned with sunny (by colour and shape) amber incrustations (Figure 21). Formally Birzenieks had stuck to those postulates that constituted an unwritten canon

for the representation rooms in the 1930s, i.e., wooden panels and coffered ceilings, yet the master’s individual interpretation with a nuanced folkloristic theme transformed this canon into a unique interior. We come across a similar yet simplified principle as regards geometry in the Polish architecture; namely, in the interior of the Office of Minister of Education (1928–1930, Ministerstwo Oświaty i Wychowania) in Warsaw designed by the polish artist Wojciech Jastrzębowski (1884–1963), where rhythmically arranged geometric ornaments (triangles, squares and rectangles) prevail in the décor of wooden panels, furniture and doors as stylised folk art ornaments [16, 103]. Contemporaries highly appreciated the author’s mastery and “sentiment /../ for folk art manifesting everywhere in his decorative lines /../” [35]. Folklore was a favourite theme of the architect Fridrihs Skujiņš (1890–1957) in the design of pavilions for various exhibitions. The photo, taken in 1930, shows a small pavilion of Latvia’s industrial production in Antwerp (Figure 22). The pavilion might have been designed by the architect Fridrihs Skujiņš since the pavilion of the Society for the Blind presented at the 1923 Exhibition in Riga had a similar composition (Figure 23).

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

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Fig. 22. Fridrihs Skujiņš, pavilion of Latvia’s industrial production in Antwerp, 1930 [43]

Fig. 23. Fridrihs Skujiņš, pavilion of the Society for the Blind at the 1923 Exhibition in Riga [44]

Fig. 24. Pauls Kundziņš, fragment of drawing, apartment house at Stabu iela 21, Riga, 1929 [45]

The architecture of apartment buildings during the interwar period required rational solutions, which accounted for the modesty of decorative elements. The apartment houses in Riga designed in a manner of Functionalism or Modern Movement by Pauls Kundziņš, a researcher of ancient building traditions, display ethnographic motifs in the aesthetics of folkloristic Art Deco. The elevation for the apartment house at Stabu iela 21 (1929) boasts various motifs of folklore, unfortunately, not all of them were implemented (Figures 24 and 25). The façade at Tomsona iela 4 (1935) reflects the theme of pillars from vernacular building traditions favoured by the architect (Figure 26). Being influenced by folkloristic Art Deco, sometimes Pauls Kundziņš also enriched the architecture of mansions with decorative elements – pillars, overhangs and other details (Figure 27). Anyhow, one of the most interesting examples characterising exactly popularity of Art Deco aesthetics with interpretation of folklore sources is the architect and artist Aleksandrs Cīrulis’ private mansion interior in Langstiņi (Figures 28, 29, 31 and 32). There characteristic trends of Middle Europe in interpretation of folklore themes are reflected, which already before the First World War were typical both in Poland within Zakopane style and overall in the examples of interpretations of proto-modernist folklore of the Carpathian nations (Figures 30 and 33), which made the artistic inspiration base for proto-modernism and gave a powerful ideological impulse to Art Deco architecture [36]. “The origin of folkloristics to a large extent relates to the development

Fig. 25. Pauls Kundziņš, fragment of façade, apartment house at Stabu iela 21, Riga, 1929 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

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Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

Fig. 26. Pauls Kundziņš, fragment of façade, apartment house at Tomsona iela 4, Riga, 1935 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 27. Pauls Kundziņš, fragment of façade, mansion at Siguldas prospekts 30, Riga, 1930 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 29. Aleksandrs Cīrulis, wooden stairs of private mansion in Langstiņi, Riga district [46]

of ideology of nationalism”, however, also “focusing on the imaginary world /../ enables the psyche /../ to connect to its archaic, emotional and creative core” [37]. Conclusions

It is true that the trends of pre-war National Romanticism were reflected in the period after the First World War; nevertheless, those were sooner ambitions of the folk style of the ideology of patriotism and not the problem of the style. The popularity of decorative elements in the architecture of the 1920s–1930s was closely linked with the Art Deco aesthetics, where one of its many varieties included folk art ornaments and stylised forms. Therefore, it would be logical to describe it as “folkloristic Art Deco”, although the Art Deco, as was mentioned by many researchers [36], with difficulties submits to efforts of exact definitions.

Fig. 28. Aleksandrs Cīrulis, fragment of summer room interior of private mansion in Langstiņi, Riga district (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

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Fig. 31. Aleksandrs Cīrulis, wooden lighting appliance of summer rooms, private mansion in Langstiņi, Riga district [46]

Fig. 30. Dušan Samuel Jurkovič, wooden stairs of hotel Maměnka, Pustevny, Radhošt, the Czech Republic, 1897–1899 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

Fig. 32. Aleksandrs Cīrulis, wooden lighting appliance (Family archive of Velta Holcmane)

Different terms are needed since the theme of folk art in architecture is relevant also today. With Art Deco aesthetics remaining in the past is replaced with a new one, nevertheless architects and clients are still eager to manifest traditions of their national folk art. Anyhow, the use of the term vernacular architecture in Latvian today and the term critical regionalism [38] offered by Kenneth Frampton or Alexander Tzonis are the topics for further discussion.

Fig. 33. Dušan Samuel Jurkovič, wooden lighting appliance of the restaurant Libušín, Pustevny, Radhošt, the Czech Republic, 1897–1899 (Photo by Renāte Čaupale, 2009.–2012.)

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Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

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Zariņš, R. Jaunais tautas uzvalks, Rīgas Avīze, 1904, 10. janvāris (Nr. 7), 1. lpp.; Vēstule „Rīgas Avīzei”, Baltijas Vēstnesis, 1905, 27. septembris (Nr. 213), 1. lpp.; Ko gatavo uz šā gada Dziesmu svētkiem, Latvis, 1926, 17. janvāris (Nr. 1288), 5. lpp.; Vairāk stila sajūtas, Latvis, 1933, 17. marts (Nr. 3408), 6. lpp. Madernieks, J. Latvju lietišķās mākslas izstāde Rīgā. Jaunākās Ziņas, 1924, 26. aprīlis (Nr. 94), 4. lpp. Baddeley, O. Ancient Mexican Sources of Art Deco. Art Deco 1910–1939 (Benton, C., Benton, T., Wood, G., eds.). London: V&A Publications, 2003, p. 58. Hibou J. National traditions. Art Deco 1910–1939 (Benton, C., Benton, T., Wood, G., eds.). London: V&A Publications, 2003, p. 93. Sieradzka, A. Art Déco w Europie i w Polsce. Warszawa: Volumen, 1996, s. 50. Rozentāls, J. Par Somijas mākslu. Vērotājs, 1905, Nr. 2, 6. lpp. Švácha, R. Lomené, hranaté a obloukové tvary: česká kubistická architektura 1911–1923. Praha: Gallery, 2000, s. 22. Hnídková, V. Rondokubismus versus národní styl. Umění /Art 57, 2009, č. 1, s. 74.–84. Krajči, P. Architektura. České Art Deco 1918–1938. Praha: Obecní dům,

33. Podgaiska, S. Stilizācija lietišķajā mākslā. Ansis Cīrulis : Saules pagalmos (sast. R. Rinka). Rīga: Neputns, 2008. 178. lpp. 34. Vēsturisko interjeru saglabāšana un restaurācija: Eiropas kultūras mantojuma dienas 2006 = Preservation and renovation of historic interiors: European heritage days 2006 (D. Spertāle, red.). Rīga: VKPAI, 2006. 35. Padechowicz, M. Prace konkursowe na urzadzenie gmachu Ministerstwa Wyznan Religijnych i Oswiecenia Publicznego. Wzory Mebli zabytkowych i Nowoczesnych, 1928, Z. 8, s. 1. Citēts no: Huml, I. Polska sztuka stosowana. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1978, s. 103. 36. Petrová, S. K art deco přes postmodernu. A naopak? Umĕní a řemesla, 1989, Nr. 2, s. 8. –10.Tołłoczko, Z. Jeszcze o „stylu zakopiańskim”, op.cit., s. 17.; Bédoyére C. de la, Art Déco, London: Flame Tree Publishing, 2005, p. 13.; Olszewski A.K., Art Deco. Towards the Definition and Chronology of the Style, Polish Art Studies, vol. XIV. 1992, s. 73. 37. Tołłoczko, Z. Architectura perennis. Szkice z historii nieawangardowej architektury nowoczesnej pierwszej polowy XX wieku. Ekspresjonizm – Art Déco – neoklasycyzm. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe DWN, 1999. S. 91. 38. Mūks, R. Ceļā uz Rietumu nirvānu – caur Latviju. Rīga, Valters un Rapa, 2000. 38., 39. lpp. 39. Frampton, K. Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six points for an architecture of resistance. Anti-Aesthetic : Essays on Postmodern Culture (H. Foster, ed.). Port Townsend, WA: Bay Press, 1983, p. 21–25. 40. Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation, Inv. No. 150147, photo by V. Upītis. 41. Rosa, M. Krematorium v Pardubicích [online]. Archiweb.cz, 12.10.2008 [cited 11.07.2012], http://www.archiweb.cz/buildings. php?&action=show&id=512 42. Banga V. Mana vājība – iekštelpu arhitektūra. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1999, Nr. 2 (26), 82. lpp. 43. Latvia State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, Nr. 125705N, photos of an unknown author. 44. Krastiņš J. Latvijas Republikas būvmāksla. Rīga: Zinātne, 1992. 123. lpp. 45. Latvian State Historical Archives (Archives of Riga City Building Board), Fund 2761, Description 3, Vol. 2404, (22. gr./13. gr. gab.; Stabu iela 21) 46. Holcmanis A. Māja Langstiņos. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1999, Nr. 1 (25), 74. lpp.

1998. S. 246–257. Stavební umění. Kubistická architektura v Praze a jejím okolí (red. G. Kolber, Ch. Hölz). München: Bayerische Vereinsbank, 1994, s. 72. Lamarová, M. Od rondokubismu k Art Deco. Nový IN, 1998, č. 4, s. 16.–19. Škranc, P. Rondokubismus. České art deco [online]. Earch.Cz, 2004 [cited 11.07.2012], http://www.earch.cz/clanek/2987-rondokubismus-ceske-artdeco-4dil.aspx Kwiatkowska, M., Sobczaka, M. Kolekcja art déco ze zbiorów Muzeum Mazowieckiego w Płocku [online]. Muzeum Mazowieckie w Płocku [cited 25.06.2012], http://www.muzeumplock.art.pl/index.php?s=art_deco_ze_ zbiorow_MMP Tolloczko, Z. Jeszcze o „stylu zakopiańskim” i jego wpływie na architekturę modernistyczną. Przyczynek do kwestii zaniku ludowej inspiracji w architekturze końca XX wieku. Czasopismo Techniczne, Politechnika Krakowska, 2000, Tom R. 97, z. 1-A, s. 16.–25. Crowley, D. National style and nation – state. Design in Poland from the vernacular revival to the international style. Manchester, New York : Manchester University Press, 1992, p. 66.–70. Huml, I. Polska sztuka stosowana. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe, 1978, s. 9.–64. Krastiņš J. Eklektisms, historisms un neostili : Piezīmes par terminoloģiju. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1997, Nr. 2, 96. lpp. Lamberga, D. Gleznotājs un zīmētājs. Ansis Cīrulis : Saules pagalmos (sast. R. Rinka). Rīga: Neputns, 2008. 129. lpp. Parikka S.K. National Romanticisms in Finnish Architecture [online]. Finnisch Institutions Research Papers [cited 11.07.2008], http://www.uta. fi/FAST/FIN/CULT/sp-natro.html Curl, J. S. A dictionary of architecture. Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1999. P. 445. Tołłoczko, Z. Nowa forma w architekturze łotewskiej i jej filiacje na przełomie XIX i XX wieku na przykładzie Rygi. Wiadomości Konserwatorskie = Conservation News, 2010, No. 27, s. 13. Curtis, W. Modern architecture since 1900. London: Phaidon, 1996. P. 132. Talvik, M. Art Deco in Estonian and Latvian graphic design journals, p. 56 [online]. Electronic Journal of Folklore. Institute of Estonian Language USN [cited 20.06.2012], http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol30/talvik.pdf

Architecture and Urban Planning Renāte Čaupale, Rezekne Higher Education Institution. Folkloristic Art Deco and Latvia

Renāte Čaupale (Riga, 1959). Dr. arch. Defended her doctoral thesis on the subject Evolution of Art Deco Aesthetics in Latvian Architecture of Interwar Period in the Context of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Other Countries (Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Riga Technical University, 2010).

Contact Data

Renāte Čaupale Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Address: Āzenes iela 16, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia Phone: +371 26176433 E-mail: renate.caupale@apollo.lv Acknowledgements: Anda Ozoliņa and Velta Holcmane, Chancery of the President, especially Oskar Volf, Hipotēku Bank’s employees Vsevolod Levin and Inese Romane.

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doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.002 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University Pauls Kampe (10 April 1885 – 23 February 1960, Bonn, Germany) was born near Alūksne, on the farmstead Kampes that was located in Karva, in Alsviķi Parish “where his ancestors had been farming the land in Vidzeme for 250 years, going through hard and difficult times” [2]. He went to school in Riga. In 1905, he began to study architecture at Riga Polytechnic

Abstract: the Art Nouveau buildings of Liepāja have a significant place in the architectural heritage of Latvia. In most cases, there is no precise data regarding their construction history, i.e., the year of construction, architect, etc. The newly discovered design for the building at Peldu iela 33 led to a series of hypothetical conclusions about the contribution made by architect Pauls Kampe to the city of Liepāja in the early 20th century. Keywords: Art Nouveau, apartment houses, Pauls Kampe, architecture of Liepāja.

Art Nouveau buildings have a special place in the architecture of Latvia. Art Nouveau heritage of Riga has been highly acclaimed and recognised; however, the city of Liepāja also has a number of wonderful Art Nouveau buildings which comply with the highest standards of European architecture. As regards the number, concentration and artistic and stylistic qualities of these Art Nouveau buildings, Liepāja definitely outmatches many European cities that are proud of their Art Nouveau architecture. Due to the lack of documents and archival materials, the Art Nouveau of Liepāja has not received much attention yet and has not been adequately presented in scientific circles. The archives of construction designs have not been kept. In the 1970s, the Division of Construction and Architecture of the Executive Committee of the Council of Workers’ Delegates of Liepāja City, which back then performed the same functions as the Construction Board performs today, threw out the preserved designs of buildings as old, useless papers, thus erasing the city’s awareness of its cultural heritage values, which during the Soviet era were seen as the unwanted legacy of the detestable capitalism. Consequently, no precise dates of construction can be ascribed to many buildings and not all masterpieces of architecture can be attributed to certain architects. Anyhow, the heritage values of Liepāja deserve to be recognised and properly appreciated. The archives of the construction designs by architects Berchi preserved in Liepāja Museum provide some information about the houses designed by Max Theodor Bertschy (Bertschy Jr., 1871–1935) and about the designs of several other architects. Nevertheless, most of the buildings remain anonymous. A study of a variety of sources has recently produced documents, which contained previously unknown information about some buildings, including the apartment house at Peldu iela 33. One of the current owners of the building, a retired pharmacist Mrs Kaija Liepiņa, has kept two pages of the construction design signed by the architect Pauls Kampe in 1911. This discovery later led to the emergence of new facts, which allowed tracking, collecting and systematising information about the architect’s life and work, and determining with a certain level of assurance the buildings he may have designed in Liepāja and Riga. This finding turned out to be a surprising one since Pauls Kampe was basically known as a serious scientist – architectural historian and teacher and not as a practicing architect [1].

Fig. 1. Apartment house in Riga, Aleksandra Čaka iela 70. 1910. A. Vanags, P. Kampe

Fig. 2. Apartment house in Riga, Aleksandra Čaka iela 70. A fragment of the façade

Architecture and Urban Planning Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Institute (RPI). Between 1906 and 1908, Kampe continued his studies in Germany, at Darmstadt Technical University, afterwards he returned to Riga where in 1910 he obtained a diploma in architecture from RPI. While he was still a student, Pauls worked in the construction office of architects Aleksandrs Vanags and Alexander Schmaeling. After graduation Pauls Kampe was drafted into the army. The statement made in 1912 reveals that his place of residence was in Liepāja, in the house of H. Katterfeld at Šķūņu (now Leona Paegles) iela 14 [3]. In the same year, Kampe became an assistant at RPI and later also an associate professor. In 1937, Pauls Kampe already was a professor at the Latvian University. After World War II he emigrated. He is the author of at least 70 publications [4], most of them being of quite a large volume. Kampe’s theoretical research was devoted to a broad range of themes, though he was particularly interested in construction history and architecture of individual buildings and creative achievements of certain architects, builders and artists. In fact, textbooks for students of architecture were the very first Kampe’s publications [5, 6]. Then he published a few purely historical studies, e.g., about Viesturdārzs – the oldest park in Riga [7], about the entrance portals of Riga’s ancient buildings and the city gates [8, 9, 10], about the church furnishings, church bells and churches themselves. A series of more than 10 extended articles on the construction history of the most prominent churches in Riga was included in Latvian Encyclopedia (Latviešu konversācijas vārdnīca, 1927–1938), while the articles about the studies of churches in Riga and Latvia can also be found in other issues [11–15]. Pauls Kampe was also interested in interior architecture of residential buildings [16; 17]. A very extensive study about the churches built in Vidzeme under Swedish rule was published in 1937 [18], and Pauls Kampe was awarded a degree of Doctor of Architecture for it. The Lexicon of Master Builders, Building Artisans and Architects of Livonia and Courland 1400–1850 (in German) is the most impressive work published by Kampe [19, 20]. It was published in 1951 and 1957 in two volumes and contained in total 1345 pages. Professor Pauls Kundziņš, Kampe’s former colleague and friend, was rather prophetic when in 1960 he said about this monumental work: “The tremendous value of this publication will be fully assessed when a new generation of scientists free of coercion and prejudice can once again explore and study the history of Latvian architecture in independent Latvia” [21]. Pauls Kampe also devoted several studies to masters of architecture of the previous epoch, namely, Rupert Bindenschu [22], Ludwig Bohnstet [23], Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis [24] and Johann Daniel Felsko [25], and to his contemporaries as well, e.g.. Aleksandrs Vanags [26], Pauls Kundziņš [27] and Eižens Laube [28]. Until now it was known that Pauls Kampe had taken part in the projects for restoration and designing of several buildings in the 1920s [29]. There are references in literature, where Kampe was named as a co-author of apartment houses in Riga, Aleksandra Čaka iela 70 (Figure 1 and 2) and Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71 and 73 (Figures 3 and 4), for which the construction designs were approved in 1910, and works were completed a year later [30]. These buildings are icons of National Romanticism. Their designs were developed in the office of architect Aleksandrs Vanags.

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Fig. 3. Apartment house in Riga, Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71. 1910. A. Vanags, P. Kampe

Fig. 4. Apartment house in Riga, Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 73. 1910. A. Vanags, P. Kampe

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Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Unfortunately, historical records have not yet revealed any other specific information about the Art Nouveau buildings designed by Kampe. However, according to contemporaries “[…] Kampe was actively realising his creative potential in architecture” [31] and “as a student and young architect, he worked in the office of architect Alexander Schmaeling in Riga where he had singlehandedly completed a number of design tasks” [32]. Apparently, these ‘tasks’ could have been the designs for the apartment houses in Riga, at Ģertūdes iela 38 (1907; Figure 5) and at Ģertūdes iela 63 (1910; Figure 6). Both buildings are designed in a manner of National Romanticism and bear the features not characteristic of any other works by Alexander Schmaeling. The visual image of the first building resembles the images of the buildings designed by Vanags and Kampe. The design of the apartment house in Liepāja, Peldu iela 33, confirms the assumption that Pauls Kampe “lived and worked in Liepāja in 1912” [33]. The owner of the building was a local cultural activist and merchant Mr K. Sleinis. The design (Figures 7 and 8) was approved at the Liepāja Construction Board on 10 October 1911. The works may have been completed in 1913. On each floor there are two five-room apartments with all amenities and “the black staircase” leading directly to the kitchen. A well-planned layout of the apartment resembles a layout pattern prevailing in apartment houses in Riga at that time: the entrance hall leads to several rooms and to the second corridor, which then leads to another room, the kitchen, the bathroom and the toilet. A maid’s room with a window facing the courtyard can be accessed directly from the kitchen. The bathroom is located between the maid’s room and the second corridor, its upper part includes a window to the maid’s room bringing the second light into it. Anyhow, the layout of the building reflects also the tradition characteristic of Liepāja: small interior windows are arranged next to the entrance doors to the apartments in the staircase. Usually those are windows to maid’s rooms, but in this case they provide natural light to toilets. The façade of the building at Peldu iela 33 (Figure 9) is restrained and elegant. At first sight it seems symmetrical and it corresponds to the symmetrical layout of the building; however, on the first floor between the left-side bay window and staircase windows there is a small projection topped with a balcony on the second floor. Only horizontal sections of the façade show these differences in the layout of each floor without repeating the drawing of the entire floor plan. The same graphical approach was used in the design of the building in Riga, at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70. In Shinto (“Way of the Gods”), Japan’s oldest religion, a slight asymmetry implies that there is no absolute truth, there are no straight “yes” or “no” answers, there is no right or wrong, and nothing is perfect, and symmetry is not perfect either. For that reason, in ancient Shinto temples a certain element was always deliberately placed so as to break up the otherwise strict symmetry. If Pauls Kampe had lived and worked in Liepāja for some time, he would have designed more than just one apartment house. The comparison of façade composition, finish details and peculiar features of layouts may reveal other buildings that he may have

Fig. 5. Apartment house in Riga, Ģertūdes iela 38. 1907. A. Schmaeling and P. Kampe (?)

Fig. 6. Apartment house with shops in Riga, Ģertūdes iela 63. 1910. A. Schmaeling and P. Kampe (?)

Architecture and Urban Planning Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Fig. 7. Apartment house in Liepāja, Peldu iela 33. Elevation drawing. 1911. P. Kampe

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Fig. 9. Apartment house in Liepāja, Peldu iela 33

of the plot: unlike the building at Peldu iela 33, these houses are located on the street corners. The houses at Republikas iela 19 and Uliha iela 15/17 are higher, they even include elevators. All these buildings have a semi-basement. The semi-basement floors of some buildings house a few shops and smaller and cheaper flats. In the semi-basement at Peldu iela 33 there are four small flats, and two of them have no bathrooms. The apartment house at Republikas iela 19, overlooking the corner of Toma and Republikas Streets (Figure 11), is one of the most impressive Art Nouveau buildings in Liepāja. It has been nicknamed “the blue wonder”. As once the building was painted in a bluish tone, the nickname was suggested by its colour, though to a certain extent, the building, indeed, is a wonder of architecture considering its impressive size and artistic qualities. The building reflects the latest trends in the architecture of its period “taken over by the inhabitants of Liepāja without fail and confidently adapted to their city” [34]. The building abounds in expressive vocabulary of forms and shapes without any attached ornaments apart from two friezes with geometric patterns. One of them encircles both façades at the level of the lintels of the ground-floor apertures rising high above the semi-basement, while the other runs in the same way between the top-floor apertures. Both façades are crowned with two large, low-pitched and vertically corrugated gables. They are noticeably similar to the portal pediment in the elevation drawing of the building at Peldu iela 33. The apertures on the right wing of the façade facing Republikas iela have tapered upper corners (Figure 12). Such a shape of apertures was a characteristic stylistic feature of National Romanticism. Like in the building at Peldu iela 33,

Fig. 8. Apartment house in Liepāja, Peldu iela 33. Drawings of sections and layouts

designed. Certain repeating forms as such cannot serve as proof that they have been created by the same architect; however, the characteristic approach to shaping, the general image of the building and certain architectural language used still reflect an individual artistic style of each creative personality. Considering the aforementioned, first of all, the apartment houses at Republikas iela 19, Uliha iela 15/17 and Uliha iela 25 seem interesting. All these buildings have the same principle of the layout as the building at Peldu iela 33 (Figures 13, 16 and 15). The small differences are related to the configuration

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Fig. 10. Apartment house at Republikas iela 19. A photo taken in the 1920s [35]

Fig. 12. Apartment house at Republikas iela 19. A façade fragment, Republikas iela

Fig. 13. Apartment house at Republikas iela 19. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

staircase windows also form large vertical bands of glass. An old photo (Figure 10) shows that the building used to have a massive cornice and its corner tower was a bit higher than today. In 1940, the internal security agency (KGB) of the Soviet occupation regime moved into the building where they practiced torture and violence in the basement chambers. But the house is not to be blamed; it was, still is and will be one of the adornments of the urban scenery. The buildings at Uliha iela 15/17 and 25 are huge multi-storey apartment houses (Figures 18 and 14). The number “1914” on the façade over the entrance at Uliha iela 25 indicates that they were built just before World War I. Like “the blue wonder”,

Fig. 11. Apartment house at Republikas iela 19. A view from the corner of Toma and Republikas Streets

Architecture and Urban Planning Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Fig. 14. Apartment house at Uliha iela 25. 1914

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Fig. 17. Apartment house with shops at Uliha iela 15/17. A photo taken in the 1930s

Fig. 15. Apartment house at Uliha iela 25. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

Fig. 16. Apartment house with shops at Uliha iela 15/17. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

Fig. 18. Apartment house with shops at Uliha iela 15/17

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the street-corner part of both buildings resembles a cylinder topped with a tower. Since the late 19th century, corner towers have become widespread in Riga, while in Liepāja there are just a few examples more. Both buildings have also strongly protruding and distinctive cornices that are strikingly similar to the one, which used to adorn the building at Republikas iela 19. Façades of both buildings almost have no ornamental decorations apart from a simple relief with stylised ethnographic patterns, which fills the spandrels in the corner part of the building at Uliha iela 15/17. Metal grating of the flower boxes that are attached to balcony banisters and windowsills includes small squares amid strictly arranged rectangular lines resembling the same type of details as in the building at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70, in Riga. Only close scrutiny of the façade reveals those decorative forms. Architectural elements, i.e., bay windows, balconies and loggias create the artistic expressiveness of the building. Balconies are arranged on both sides of the bay windows. This is a method of shaping that became widespread only more than ten years later in the late 1920s with the Modern Movement or Functionalism. The bay windows at Uliha iela 15/17 are crowned with loggias. This solution is the same as in the apartment houses at Ģertrūdes iela 63 and Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71, in Riga. Before World War II, a low-pitched triangular gable (Figure 14) rose above the loggia at the left wing of the façade making this building almost strikingly similar to “the blue wonder”. Certain features of National Romanticism account for another similarity. This does not refer to the apertures as their shapes and arrangement bespeak Perpendicular Art Nouveau. These are the sturdy pillars of loggias and the entrance porch, which strongly resemble the pillars of the buildings at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70 and Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71, in Riga. The apartment house at Liepu iela 23 (Figure 19) was built almost simultaneously with the building at Peldu iela 33. The blind fanlight over the upper window of the staircase bears the number of the year “1912”. The architecture of the façade towards Liepu iela also includes some features resembling the building at Peldu iela 33. First of all, it is the massive, may be too exaggerated cornice, which is interrupted in the middle of the façade by another architectural element – in this case a high, expressive gable. Seemingly, it emphasises the axis of symmetry of the façade; however, this facade is asymmetrical, too: deep loggias supplement the composition on its left. Notable are flower boxes with openwork designs that are attached to the parapets of loggias as their grating includes rhythmically arranged geometric shapes. Staircase windows create a unique architectural sculpture. They are arranged in a multi-level bay window changing its spatial appearance on each floor. It attractively rises above the entrance portal. Like in medieval buildings, the portal consists of sections that are widening outwards. Such multi-layered portals are called perspective portals, yet in this building it is not a historical reference but it anticipates the vocabulary of angular and ridged shapes of Art Deco that came into fashion much later in the 1920s. By the way, the expression of this vocabulary can also be discerned in the corrugated gables of “the blue wonder” at Republikas iela 19. A multi-storey wooden veranda, which is fairly common for Liepāja, was added later to the building on the side of J. Janševska iela. A well-maintained staircase includes

Fig. 19. Apartment house at Liepu iela 23. 1912

Fig. 20. Apartment house at Liepu iela 23. A staircase.

Fig. 21. Apartment house at Liepu iela 23. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

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Fig. 22. Apartment house at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 18. 1913. A photo taken in 1983

Fig. 24. Apartment house at Krišjāņa Valdemāra ielā 18. A fragment of the façade

Fig. 25. Apartment house at Krišjāņa Valdemāra ielā 18. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

Fig. 23. Apartment house at Krišjāņa Valdemāra ielā 18. A photo taken in 2012

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portals of entrance doors designed in a reserved manner of Art Nouveau and pillars of railings made of boards with flutes (Figure 20). Behind the small windows, which are so typical of Liepāja, in the staircase between the entrance doors to the apartments there is a bathroom and a toilet of one apartment. In the other one these rooms are facing the “black staircase”. The maid’s rooms in both apartments have windows to the courtyard (Figure 21). The apartment house at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 18 (Figures 22 and 23) is another building, whose architecture reflects some similar means of architectural and artistic expression. The used layout principle is quite similar (Figure 25). A slightly-protruding bay window rising as a tower high above the building intersects a far-protruding cornice beneath the attic floor in the middle of the façade. At the top of the tower two reliefs enclose the aperture above the vertically arranged staircase windows. The left side includes the initials of Kārlis Bikše, the owner of the house, while the right side indicates the construction year, i.e., 1913 (Figure 24). Spandrels are filled with recessed reliefs that display ethnographic patterns executed in a generalised geometric manner, thus adding a tinge of National Romanticism to the building. The entrance niche to the public rooms on the ground floor was created in the 21st century. Apartment houses at Alejas iela 6 (Figure 26) and Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3 (Figure 28) have almost the same façade structure. Banisters of the stairs are exactly the same in both buildings (Figures 27 and 29). However, these banisters are standard products and can be often encountered in other buildings as well. The building at Alejas iela 6 is located in the courtyard, and it is one of the rare examples when the façade of the building, which cannot be seen from the street, is architecturally refined. The layout of apartments at Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3, which have all possible amenities, is as exact and convenient as at Peldu iela 33 (Figure 30). The apartments do not include maid’s rooms; and it is natural because the building is located in the neighbourhood, whose residents may not have afforded to employ a servant. During the Soviet times, the attic was turned into the upper floor disrupting the harmonious façade composition. A single-family house of a much smaller scale at Leona Paegles iela 16 (Figure 31) has the same principle of façade composition as the apartment houses at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 18, Alejas iela 6 and Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3. A slightly protruding bay window also intersects its mansard roof and the cornice in the middle of the street façade and accentuates the entrance. The massing of the building is strikingly similar to that of a country house which was going to be built in Tīnūži, Ikšķile Parish. Its design was elaborated by architects Gerhard von Tiesenhausen and Pauls Kampe (Figure 32). The design plans and perspective drawings were published in the 1912 Yearbook of the Society of Riga’s Architects [36]. The building in Liepāja was apparently built in 1912 or a bit earlier because in 1912 it was recorded as belonging to a house owner Mrs Olga Groša [37]. At that time, Pauls Kampe lived next door, in the house of H. Katterfeld at Leona Peagles iela 14. Further speculation about who might have been the architect of the building seems needless. Decorative reliefs with some ethnographic motifs that are embedded in the façade surface account for another conspicuous similarity with the building at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 18.

Fig, 26. Apartment house at Alejas iela 6

Fig. 27. Apartment house at Alejas iela 6. A staircase

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Fig. 30. Apartment house at Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

Fig. 28. Apartment house at Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3

Fig. 31. A single-family house at Leona Paegles iela 16. Around 1912

Fig. 29. Apartment house at Ferdinanda Grīniņa iela 3. A staircase

Fig. 32. A country house in Tīnūži, Ikšķile Parish. Design. 1912. G. von Tiesenhausen and P. Kampe

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this architect [26, 18–19]. It allows assuming that the building may have been built in accordance with one of the first designs elaborated by Pauls Kampe in Liepāja, as it is less likely that at exactly this time some other architect would have repeated all architectural details, which characterised the buildings codesigned by Vanags and Kampe in Riga. Among other things these buildings had vigorous massing, combinations of different building materials, e.g., bands of natural stone on plastered walls, apertures with tapered upper corners, serrations under slight façade projections which sooner resembled fringes of Latvian blankets than dentils of classical cornices, bay windows whose configuration changed from segment-shaped to trapeziumshaped on different floors, and many other characteristic details. Particularly notable are rusticated granite portals. The portal in the façade towards Lielā iela is strikingly similar to the portals of the buildings designed by Vanags in Riga, especially the one at Aleksandra Čaka iela 55 (1910). Besides, the architecture of this building implies that Pauls Kampe also took part in its designing. It is implied not only by the portals, but also by the configuration of the slightly protruding bay windows and the gables above them, the patterns of balcony banisters and metal grating of flower boxes that are attached to several windowsills, the top of the corner tower and other details (Figure 33).The apartment houses in Riga, at Krišjāņa Barona iela 64 and Blaumaņa iela 31, the construction designs of which were signed by Aleksandrs Vanags in 1911, also have similar bay windows, gables, balconies and cylindrical corner towers. Like other buildings designed by Pauls Kampe, the one in Liepāja, at Lielā iela 4, also has a simple, rational and logical layout (Figure 35). The apartment house at Republikas iela 26/28 (Figure 36) also has a visually pleasing and dynamic façade composition characteristic of National Romanticism, although its architectural finish does not include direct references or clichés of this stylistic variety, except of dentils and a wavelet motif above the entrance door. The basic principle employed in designing the clearly asymmetrical façade is exactly the same as used for the apartment house at Ģertrūdes iela 63 in Riga, i.e., the right end of the façade includes an asymmetrical bay window with another bay window on it. Above this bay window, the gable rises that dominates the whole composition, while a rectangular bay window on the left side of the façade maintains the visual balance. The top floor between the gable and the left-side bay window is shaped as a mansard. The gable of the building at Republikas iela 26/28 resembles the one adorning the house at Liepu iela 23, though its left side slopes down a little bit lower. A two-level bay window, which is almost identical to the bay at Leona Paegles iela 16 or the top of the corner tower at Lielā iela 4, accentuates the central axis of the gable. Windows of rooms line the right side of the bay window, while staircase windows are located on its left. Like in the houses at Peldu iela 33, Uliha iela 25 and Republikas iela 19, the windows form a high vertical band that is slightly recessed into the façade. It contrasts with the horizontal stringcourse running at the level of first-floor windowsills and other distinctly horizontal finish details. Like in the buildings at Republikas iela 19, Uliha iela 15/17 and other houses, wrought iron flower boxes in an openwork design are attached to the

Fig. 33. Apartment house at Lielā iela 4. 1909

Fig. 34. Apartment house in Riga, at Aleksandra Čaka iela 55. 1910. A. Vanags and P. Kampe (?)

Their stylistic features strongly resemble the graphic manner of Art Deco of the 1920s, and in this respect the architecture of the building was way ahead of its time. All the buildings that were designed or may have been designed by Pauls Kampe include either direct or indirect references to National Romanticism, or at least possess some features of Art Nouveau. Anyhow, the apartment house with shops at Lielā iela 4 (Figure 33) is a typical example of National Romanticism in Liepāja. Another address of this building is at Pasta iela 2, where the year “1909” is chiselled in granite on right side of the gate portal, while the letters ‘MJG’ appear on the left side, standing for the name of the construction company Morduhs Joselis Gordins that belonged to the owner of the house Mr M. Gordins (Figure 35). The number “1909” most likely stands for the foundation year of the company. The building was obviously built around the same time when several icons of National Romanticism appeared in Riga, among them also the apartment houses at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70 and Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71. The building also has all characteristic features of the formal variety of this style favoured by Aleksands Vanags who was the main author of these icons. However, this building cannot be attributed to Vanags because there is a complete list of all the buildings designed by

Architecture and Urban Planning Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Fig. 35. Apartment house at Lielā iela 4. A portal on Pasta iela

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Fig. 37. Apartment house at Republikas iela 26/28

Fig. 36. Apartment house at Lielā iela 4. A layout reconstructed by architect A. Eniņa

windowsills of the rectangular bay window at the left side of the façade. The same flower boxes adorn the house in Riga, at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70, where some of the apertures are enclosed by embedded square-shaped reliefs. They are almost identical to those flanking the ground-floor apertures of the house in Liepāja, at Republikas iela 26/28. Similarity of all those details inevitably leads to a conclusion that they reflect the creative manner of the same architect and allows estimating an approximate construction date of the building, which may be around 1912. Restoration and renovation works, which had begun in the building, were stopped because of the recession. It is planned to restore the finish in the main staircase. All ceilings in the staircase are decorated with painted figural and floral motifs that are framed within various geometric shapes (Figure 37). These murals are supplemented by a variety of geometric ornaments characteristic of Art Nouveau. They adorn walls as well.

Fig. 38. Apartment house at Republikas iela 26/28. Finish details of the staircase

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Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

As regards the style, colours and graphic manner of these murals, they strongly resemble the ceiling paintings in the staircase at Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 55, in Liepāja. Evidently, they all were hand-painted by the same artist. It is quite likely that Pauls Kampe may have designed some other buildings constituting the Art Nouveau heritage of Liepāja. Maybe these are the buildings at Graudu iela 28 and 34 or at Krišjāņa Barona iela 8 and Dzintaru iela 9. However, they may also have been designed by other architects who had drawn inspiration from Kampe’s works. As a person the architect was “very quiet, shy and tactful. He as if lived in a different world, sequestered from others” [38]. Evidently, it was the reason why Pauls Kampe had not documented his own creative works. He even failed to mention himself as a co-author of the buildings at Aleksandra Čaka iela 70 and Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 71, in Riga, when he was compiling the list of all designs by the architect Aleksandrs Vanags [26, 18]. Anyhow, Kampe’s creative achievements must have been noteworthy; otherwise he would not have been invited to deliver lectures at the university being only 27 years old. Pauls Kampe has firmly written his name in the history of the city of Liepāja even if he designed only one building at Peldu iela 33.

16. Kampe, P. Rīgas dzīvojamo ēku iekštelpu arhitektoniskais veidojums : I. Baroka laikmets. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1939, Nr. 3, 77.–88. lpp. 17. Kampe, P. Rīgas dzīvojamo ēku iekštelpu arhitektoniskais veidojums : II. Klasicisma laikmets. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1939, Nr. 8, 243.–256. lpp. 18. Kampe, P. Baznīcu celtniecība Vidzemē zviedru valdības pēdējos 50 gados (1660–1710). Latvijas Universitātes raksti : Arhitektūras Fakultātes sērija. 2. sējums, Nr. 2. Rīga: Latvijas Universitāte, 1937. 15.–238. lpp. Kopsavilkums vācu valodā: Die Baugestaltung der Gotteshäuser in Vidzeme (im lettischen Teil Livlands) in den letzten 50 Jahren schwedischer Herrschaft (1660–1710). 19. Campe, P. Lexicon Liv- und Kurländischer Baumeister, Bauhandwerker und Baugestalter von 1400–1850. Stockholm, 1951. 645 S. 20. Campe, P. Lexicon Liv- und Kurländischer Baumeister, Bauhandwerker und Baugestalter von 1400–1850 : II Teil – Nachtrag und Ergänzung zum I Bande. Stockholm, 1957. 709 S. 21. Kundziņš, P. Profesors Dr. arch. un Dr. ing. Pauls Kampe. Arhitekts (Latvijas arhitektu biedrības – LAB – izdevums), 1960, Nr. 10, 25. lpp. 22. Campe, P. Der Stadt- Kunst- und Werkmeister Rupert Bindenschu und seine Wirksamkeit in Riga : Ein Beitrag zur Baugeschichte Rigas zu Ende des 17. Jh. Riga: Holzner, 1944. 96 S., 16 Bl. Ill. 23. Campe, P. Professor Ludwig Bohnstedt und seine rigaer Bauten (Sonderabdruck aus der „Rigaschen Rundschau” Nr. 138 u. 157). Riga:

Ruetz, 1933. 11 S. 24. Kampe, P. Arhitekts Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis 1834–1891 : Viņa dzīve un viņa mūža darbs. (Atsevišķs novilkums no „Izglītības Ministrijas Mēnešraksta” 1927. g. 1. burtnīcā iespiestā raksta). Rīga, 1927. 18 lpp. 25. Campe, P. Felsko, Johann Daniel. Neue Deutsche Biographie, 1961, Nr. 5, S. 75. 26. Kampe, P. Aleksanders Vanags 1873–1919 kā cilvēks un kā celtnieks (Atsevišķs novilkums no „Izglītības Ministrijas Mēnešraksta” 1929. g. 5./6. burtnīcā iespiestā raksta). Rīga, 1929. 20 lpp. 27. Kampe, P. Profesora Dr. arch. Paula Kundziņa 50 gadi. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1938, Nr. 6, 200.–202. lpp. 28. Kampe, P. Īss pārskats par profesora Dr. arch. h. c. Eižena būvniecības darbību līdz pasaules kara sākumam. Latvijas Arhitektūra, 1940, Nr. 4, 105.–117. lpp 29. Apsītis, V. Pauls Kampe (1885–1960). Latvijas arhitektūras meistari. Rīga: Zvaigzne ABC, 1995. 133. lpp. (Rīgas Tehniskās universitātes Arhitektūras fakultāte). 30. Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst in den Ostseeprovinzen (Herausgegeben vom Architektenverein zu Riga), 1911, S. 108, 109. 31. Kundziņš, P. Paul Campe 10.4.1885–23.2.1960. Commentationes Balticae, VIII/IX, 1960/61 (Jahrbuch des Baltisches Forschungsinstituts). Bonn, 1962. S. 20(436). 32. Kundziņš, P. Profesors Dr. arch. un Dr. ing. Pauls Kampe. Arhitekts (Latvijas arhitektu biedrības – LAB – izdevums), 1960, Nr. 10, 25. lpp. 33. Paul Campe zum 50. Todestag [tiešsaiste]. Herder Institut [skatīts 29.08.2012.]. http://www.herder-institut.de/startseite/sammlungen/ dokumente-dshi/archivale/2010/februar-2010.html 34. Šnipke, G. 12 jūgendstila mirkļi. Liepājas Vēstules, 2012, Nr. 1(9), 24. lpp. 35. Liepājas 300 gadu jubilejas piemiņai : 1625–1925. Liepāja: Liepājas pilsētas valdes izdevums, 1925. 123. lpp. 36. Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst in den Ostzeeprovinzen. Riga: Architektenverein zu Riga, 1912. S. 136. 37. Adolf Richters 1912 Baltische Verkehrs- und Adressbücher. Band 2 : Kurland. Riga: Selbstverlag des Herausgebers, 1912. S. 196. Pieejams arī: http://www.jewishgen.org/courland/verkehrsbuch_1912/p00000172.htm 38. R. L. (Legzdiņš, Roberts). Nekrologs (bez virsraksta). Arhitekts (Latvijas arhitektu biedrības – LAB – izdevums), 1960, Nr. 10, 25. lpp.

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5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Māksla un arhitektūra biogrāfijās [2. sēj.]. Rīga: Latvijas Enciklopēdija, 1996. 8. un 9. lpp. Kundziņš, P. Latvijas celtniecības pētnieks aizsaulē. Arhitekts (Latvijas arhitektu biedrības – LAB – izdevums), 1960, Nr. 10., 24. lpp. Album Academicum des Politechnicums zu Riga. Riga: Jonck und Poliewsky, 1912. S. 577. Ozols, J. Bibliographie Paul Campe. Commentationes Balticae, VIII/ IX, 1960/61 (Jahrbuch des Baltisches Forschungsinstituts). Bonn, 1962, S. 26(442)–30(446). Kampe, P. Dažādu materiālu arhitektoniskās formas. Rīga: 1922. 56 lpp. Kampe, P. Arhitektoniska ķermeņa pamatformas. Rīga: Millera druk., 1924. 18 lpp., 50 lp., ilustr. Kampe, P. Bijušais Ķeizara dārzs, tagad Viestura dārzs – Rīgas pirmais un mākslinieciski vērtīgākais publiskais dārzs. Rīga: Pētersona tip., 1928. 17 lpp., zīm. Kampe, P. Vecrīgas portāli (Atsevišķs novilkums no grāmatas „Rīga kā Latvijas galvas pilsēta”). Rīga: Latvju Kultūra, 1932. 16 lpp., ilustr. Campe, P. Die Haussteinportale des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts in Riga und die damaligen Rigaschen Bildhauer und Steinmetzen. Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft für Geschichteund Altertumskunde zu Riga 1932–1933. Riga:

Druck von Haecker, 1934. S. 10–17. 10. Campe, P. Die Stadttore Rigas im 17., 18. und 19. Jh. und deren Meister. Latvijas Universitātes raksti : Arhitektūras Fakultātes sērija. 2. sējums, Nr. 3. Rīga: Latvijas Universitāte, 1939. 241.–376. lpp. 11. Campe, P. Der St. Mariendom zu Riga (Sonderabdruck aus „Baltischer Almanach”, 1930). Riga: Jonck u. Poliewsky, 1930. 15 S. 12. Campe, P. Die St. Gertud-Kirche zu Riga (Sonderabdruck aus „Baltischer Kalender” 1933). Riga: Druck von Haecker, 1933. 11 S., Ill. 13. Kampe, P. Rīgas Sv. Jāņa baznīcas būvvēsture. Senatne un Māksla, 1936, Nr. IV, 175.–186. lpp. 14. Kampe, P. Centrālveidīgais būvtips Vidzemes baznīcu celtniecībā no XVII gs. vidus līdz XIX gs. vidum. Senatne un Māksla, 1938, Nr. II, 131.–147. lpp. 15. Kampe, P. Rīgas Sv. Pētera baznīcas būvvēsture. Senatne un Māksla, 1939, Nr. III, 70.–108. lpp.

Architecture and Urban Planning Jānis Krastiņš, Riga Technical University. Pauls Kampe and Architecture of Liepāja

Jānis Krastiņš, architect. Born 23.06.1943. in Riga. 1967 – graduated Riga Polytechnic institute (now Riga Technical University; RTU); 1973 – Doctor of Architecture, 1991 – habilitated Doctor of Architecture (Dr.habil.arch.); 1994 – full member of Latvian Academy of Sciences. Since 1972 – ASSOCIATED PROFESSOR, since 1992 – PROFESSOR at RTU, Head of the Department of History of Architecture and Theory of Architectural Design. Have been visiting scholar at Vienna Technical University (1987) and Columbia University, New York (1994), visiting professor at Yuan-Ze University, Chung-li, Taoyan, Taiwan (2000) and guest lecturer in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Austria, Canada and other countries. Publications: more than 640 items, published in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Iceland, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America, including 25 books. The first of them are: JŪGENDSTILS RĪGAS ARHITEKTŪRĀ, Rīga, 1980, 224 lpp. (Art Nouveau in the Architecture of Riga, in Latvian) and EKLEKTISMS RĪGAS ARHITEKTŪRĀ, Rīga, 1988, 280 lpp. (Eclecticism in the Architecture of Riga, in Latvian). The recent books are: RĪGAS ARHITEKTŪRAS STILI / ARCHITECTURAL STYLES IN RIGA / APХИТЕКТУРНЫЕ CТИЛИ PИГИ, Rīga: Jumava, 2005, 240 lpp.; RĪGAS JŪGENDSTILA ĒKAS. CEĻVEDIS PA JŪGENDSTILA METROPOLES ARHITEKTŪRU / ART NOUVEAU BUILDINGS IN RIGA. A GUIDE TO ARCHITECTURE OF ART NOUVEAU METROPOLIS, Rīga: ADD projekts, 2007, 408 p. (in Latvian and English) and ARHITEKTS JĀNIS ALKSNIS 1869– 1939 ARCHITECT, Rīga: ADD projekts, 2009, 400 p. (in Latvian and English). Professional awards: Förderungsbeitrag des Camillo Sitte-Fonds (Austria, 1985), Jānis Baumanis award in Architecture (Latvia, 1989), Fulbright award (USA, 1994), Great medal of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (1998), Baltic Assembly award (1998), Riga-award (2002), Cultural heritage award (Latvia) of 2004.

Contact Data

Jānis Krastiņš Professor, Dr.habil.arch. Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Address: Āzenes iela 16, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia Phone: +371 67089256, +371 67089115 Fax: +371 67089130 E-mail: Janis.Krastins_1@rtu.lv

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doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.003 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

How Rural Becomes Rurban – Rural Manor Residencies in the Urban Context: Lithuanian Case Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, Jurga Vitkuvienė, Kaunas University of Technology suburban, peri-urban interface, etc. These terms were later challenged because the transitional landscapes between a city and countryside were not considered to be the result of solely urban-driven processes; thus, new terms were introduced, such as rurban or ruralurban, emphasising the interaction of rural and urban realms [3, 5]. In our research, we use terms rurban and rural-urban interface in order to underline the potential of rural realm to influence the character of these new landscapes. The aim of this article has been to demonstrate the preservation challenges of the manor residencies in the rural-urban interface in Lithuania in a wider context of literature. In order to accomplish this, we have analysed the literature, historical and contemporary maps, and performed several photographical surveys in the territory of Kaunas.

Abstract. The focus of this research is rural manor residencies, which in the course of history functioned in the agricultural and natural settings and currently became absorbed into urbanised areas. The methodology of the research has included the analysis of literature, historical and contemporary maps, and photographical surveys of the manor residencies in the territory of Kaunas city. The aim of our research has been to identify the trends of research in the area of rural-urban interface and to determine the characteristics of management and preservation of Lithuanian manor residencies under the urban pressure. Keywords: built heritage, heritage management, Kaunas, Lithuania, manor residence, revitalisation, urban sprawl

The research deals with two supposed antagonisms: urban and rural, the cities and the manors, and concentrates on a particular case of Lithuania while analysing in a wider context of Europe. The urban territories had considerably expanded in the European countries, including the countries behind the “iron curtain”, during the 20th century. The territorial expansion of cities accelerated by the industrial construction methods inevitably affected the surrounding natural and agricultural land with built heritage properties. M. Antrop [1, 9] has noted that the shift of focus of territory development towards the urban needs: “thinking, valuing and planning the countryside is done mainly by urbanites, and future rural development is mainly focused upon the urban needs.” He uses the term of functional urban regions to describe these massive changes and new types of landscapes. M. R. Costa and D. Batista [2, 36] describe the character of new landscapes. They note that in the transition from rural to urban, hybrid, changeable landscapes appear. During the middle of the 20th century, the researchers had invented numerous terms to describe these processes and their outcomes: urban fringe, edge-cities, peri-urban, post-

I. The Trends of Research

The problems and new possibilities presented by the radical physical and socio-cultural transformations of the rural and natural environment due to urbanisation generate the increasing attention of researchers worldwide, including Lithuania. We have distinguished several trends of research relevant for the topic under the analysis: 1. Social urbanisation. Literature shows that social urbanization is one-way process in constant progress, and it will inevitably affect the rural heritage through changes in values, attitudes, lifestyles and, consequently, in management. As G. Adell notes that since the 1960s in the Western World, the city has been increasingly viewed not as a particular place but as an urban experience, which has become, in a sense, universal. The basic urban functions were transferred from a central city to suburbs and further to the still larger decentralised “urban field” [3, 6]. 2. Urban sprawl and its effects. The review of literature has demonstrated that the majority of the studies, such as the researches by J. R. Miller et al. [4], R. I. Mcdonald et al. [5], are devoted to the effects of urban sprawl on natural territories. G. Overbeek and I. Terluin [6] have presented ten case studies of rural areas under the urban pressure and identified such threats as the gentrification and the claims of rural land for housing, transport infrastructure, economic and tourist activities. J. Bucas [7] identified the negative effects of urban sprawl on the productive agricultural and natural land, the historic urban centre and the general image of the city. 3. Changes and potential of rural heritage in the context of rural-urban interface. The increasing number of publications on the threats and possibilities presented to the rural heritage by the territorial expansion of cities and the spread of urban lifestyle and values in this decade reflects the relevance of this research area. M. Fonseca et al. [8] discussed the complex heritage preservation problems on the outskirts of uncontrollably

Fig. 1. The rural landscape shaped by village settlements, manors and interconnecting roads in the precincts of Kaunas, Lithuania. Fragment from the military map of the Russian Empire, 1865–1867 [19]

Architecture and Urban Planning Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, Jurga Vitkuvienė, Kaunas University of Technology. How Rural Becomes Rurban – Rural Manor Residencies in the Urban Context: Lithuanian Case

expanding Brazilian cities. J. Jureviciene [9] analysed the state of the rural relics in urban environment in Lithuania. G. Swensen and G. B. Jerpasen [10] have considered how the planning process affects cultural heritage in two Norvegian semi-urban areas. M. R. Costa and D. Batista [2] investigated the challenges of integration of vernacular rural settlements with heritage values into urban development in the coastal areas in Portugal. C. J. A. Mitchell [11], C. J. M. Mitchell and S. B. de Waala [12] analysed the destructive processes affecting the heritage in the rural communities, whose development was oriented towards the commodification of the attractive features of rural environment. This phenomenon, referred to as the “creative destruction”, causes socioeconomic, cultural, and spatial changes in the rural areas resulting in the loss of their authentic aura. The links between the manor residencies and development of urban territories are under consideration as well. For example, C. Steenbergen et al. [13] analysed how the prominent residential ensembles had influenced the development of surrounding urban fabric. W. Fijalkowsi [14] considered the negative influence of the ecological changes caused by the increasing urbanisation on the heritage of Royal Willanow residence in Warsaw. J. Vitkuviene [15, 16] identified the problems associated with the changing environment of the residencies of manors and distinguished different stages of these changes.

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Fig. 2. Manor house on Bugos Str. in the territory of Kaunas is an example of the early stage of absorption of rural residencies into urban environment: A. map of the area in 1928 [24]; B. contemporary (2010) orthophoto [25]; C. view of the main building

II. Present Situation, Management Characteristics and Challenges

M. R. Costa and D. Batista [2] note that studies of particular rural-urban interface situations can reveal how vernacular buildings and building complexes can be integrated into urban areas with appropriate development techniques. This has encouraged highlighting the characteristics of heritage management in the rurban zones in the Central and Eastern context and namely in Lithuania. 1. Historical characteristics of the Central and Eastern European manor residencies. The Central and Eastern European manors, from one point of view, were similar to the extra-urban residencies of the noble and royal families of Western Europe, which were connected with the urban settlements and even influenced their development, and at the same time the majority of them were identified as the antipodes to the cities by the historians [17, 27–32]. These manors were pre-eminently oriented towards the agricultural production [18, 147], which was mainly exported to Western Europe. In this respect, manors even hindered the development of cities and urban culture in this region. The residential and management centres of the manors often were the prominent architectural ensembles with large gardens and played a role of cultural centres in rural areas. Together with plenty of small farms and villages they determined the character of the Central and Eastern European landscapes (Figure 1). These historical urban-rural antagonisms make the issue of urban-rural continuum even more complex. 2. Characteristics of urban expansion. Analyses of urban expansion patterns of Lithuanian urban settlements demonstrate rapid shifts from rather compact development to low-density urban sprawl [20, 66]. J. Bucas [21, 135] described the character of development of Lithuanian landscape as “emergent”:

Fig. 3. Dynamic rural-urban interface on the northern outskirts of Kaunas: A. orthophoto in 2005, B. orthophoto in 2010 [25]

Fig. 4. Manor residencies on the outskirts of Kaunas: A. Sakiai (Sargenai) manor residence in the map of 1928 [24] and contemporary (2010) orthophoto [25]; B. Vytėnai manor residence in the map of 1928 [24] and contemporary (2010) orthophoto [25]

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, Jurga Vitkuvienė, Kaunas University of Technology. How Rural Becomes Rurban – Rural Manor Residencies in the Urban Context: Lithuanian Case

currently facing the problem of hardly regulated urban sprawl (Figure 3). Current character of urbanisation in Lithuania can be described as the chaotic spot expansion of the compact settlements. J. Friedmann [22, 29–44] and I. T. Berend [23, 269–280] indicate a level of corruption in the post-communist societies, which results in non-transparent decision making. This creates the situation, when actual development does not follow the master plans and other official guidelines. Consequently, the residencies of former manors are being increasingly absorbed into the urban fabric without any special considerations (Figure 4). 3. The experience and consequences of the Soviet regime. The policy of the Soviet regime had caused many specific social and heritage preservation problems in the countries that made part of the communist bloc. These are the lost cultural continuity, the alienation of the society from its heritage, lost territorial and spatial integrity of the heritage properties due to nationalisation and adaptation to various new purposes, etc. These problems become even more complex in the context of the dynamic ruralurban interface. G. Overbeek and I. Terluin [6, 21] argue that the fair relationship between the rural and urban areas should be reached when both can benefit from the exchange of goods and services. Their study demonstrates that such balance is possible when the rural areas are viable and communities are able to express their interests. In cases of the lost social viability of rural areas, cultural continuity and continuity of function, the effects of urban pressure can be much more complicated. The case of the Central and Eastern European rural manor residencies demonstrates that the loss of function, the absence of socioeconomic viability and local actors to defend the rural interests turn a green light for the uncompromised urban expansion. Abandonment or inappropriate use and maintenance cause the decline of valuable and attractive features of these rural heritage objects, which would otherwise attract interest from external actors, including institutions and developers (Figure 5). The weak civic society of the postcommunist countries [23, 269–280, 26, 21–79] may also explain the unconcern of the public institutions and local residents about the peri-urban rural heritage. Undervalued built heritage objects often are absorbed into the urban environment without any respect to their historic property limits or valuable architectural and landscape features. The problems of preservation of historic property limits are much more complicated in the post-communist countries. The properties of large rural ensembles, nationalised by the Soviet regime, during the process of privatisation were subdivided into the smaller lots owned by different owners. Even the larger historic buildings became the property of several or more owners [27, 346]. The subdivision of the property and the multiplicity of owners with different intentions and social problems usually become an obstacle for rehabilitation of the ensembles even in their authentic setting. In the urbanised areas, where the pressure for new development is much stronger, it becomes even more difficult to retain the historic rural property. In the worst case, the heritage elements of rural landscape can be totally erased creating a new urban landscape (Figure 6). The clash between the manor residence and the new suburban residential development often results in the social conflicts as new upper- or middle-class residents view the residence with

Fig. 5. Negative effects of urbanisation on Marva manor residence on the western outskirts of Kaunas: A. map of 1928 [24]; B. contemporary (2010) orthophoto [25]; C. State of the manor house in 1999; D. Site of the residence in 2005

Fig. 6. Decline of the manor house on Jonavos Str. in the centre of Kaunas due to intensive urbanisation: A. Kaunas and the site of the manor in the map of 1865– 1867 [19]; B. map of the area of 1928 [14]; C. Manor house and it site in 2005 [25]; D. Site after the demolition of the manor house [25]

the radical changes in land management and landscapes were caused by the radical political shifts and reforms. The change in urbanisation patterns in Lithuania can also be characterised this way. D. Bardauskiene and M. Pakalnis [20, 66] underline the specific character of the urban growth and expansion in Lithuania of the communist and post-communist periods. They note that Lithuania has inherited compact cities and landscape diversity since 1990, but the contemporary situation is quite different: “migration of citizens from cities to the suburbs is induced by the open market and “ad hoc” territory planning”, “after regaining the independence the main driving force of the growth has become a private housing sector”, “cities are surrounded by chaotic urban structures (urban sprawl) and poor landscapes”. They note that the urban expansion in contemporary Lithuania was strongly influenced by the real estate “bubble” in 2006 and 2008. Lithuania like numerous other Central and Eastern European countries is

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Fig. 7. Problems of preservation of the manor residencies in Lithuania and the problems specific to the residencies affected by the urban sprawl [15,16, 27, 28, 29]

experts conducted in our previous studies [30, 9] demonstrated that the interviewed experts had almost unanimously concluded that the residencies of manors possessed the greatest potential of preservation and use in urban development. They identified that the manor residencies could become centres of newly planned urban areas, could be adapted to the recreational needs, and become the “green islands” in the city. M. R. Costa and D. Batista [2, 46] note that, in contrast to the dispersed individual buildings on small properties, which are most often used or reused as housing, the larger building clusters can be adapted to other functions within contemporary cities. They distinguish the manor farms with privileged locations near consolidated urban centres and high-quality architecture. This justifies the need to consider separately the integration of the manor residencies into urban development.

its lower-class residents as a slum or social threat. The social problems, such as increasing social inequality, in rurban areas are described by other researchers [2, 47, 3, 1]. As a result of the destructive policy of the communist regime, mainly residents of low social status occupy the buildings historically owned by the noble society; this makes the issues of social conflicts even more important in the management of rurban areas. The general problems of preservation of manor residencies in Lithuania and the problems specific to the residencies affected by the urban expansion are summarised in Figure 7. 4. Potential for innovations. Despite the negative effects of urbanisation on the heritage of manors, the analyses demonstrate that this type of rural heritage still possesses a considerable potential for shaping peri-urban areas (Figure 8). For example, the interview of heritage preservation and land management

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Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, Jurga Vitkuvienė, Kaunas University of Technology. How Rural Becomes Rurban – Rural Manor Residencies in the Urban Context: Lithuanian Case

Fig. 8. Aukstoji Freda manor residence demonstrates that the concentration of social interests and high cultural value can positively influence the integration of the rural heritage into urban environment: A. map of 1928 [24]; B. contemporary (2010) orthophoto [25]; C. view of the main building

2005, No. 29, p. 62–67. 10. Swensen, G., Jerpasen, G. B. Cultural Heritage in Suburban Landscape Planning : A Case Study in Southern Norway. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2008, No. 87, 289–300. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.07.001 11. Mitchell, C. J. A. Entrepreneurialism, Commodification and Creative Destruction : a Model of Post-modern Community Development. Journal of Rural Studies, 1998, No. 3, p. 273–286. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0743-0167(98)00013-8 12. Mitchell, C. J. A., Walla, S. B. Revisiting the Model of Creative Destruction: St. Jacobs, Ontario, a Decade Later. Journal of Rural Studies, 2009, No. 25, p. 156–167. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2008.09.003 13. Steenbergen C., Wouter R., Gerrit S. Architecture and Landscape: the Design Experiment of the Great European Gardens and Landscapes. Munich: Prestel, 1996. 373 p. 14. Fijalkowski, W. Problemy ekologicznego zagrozenia Wilanowa [The Problems of the Ecological Pressures on Wilanow]. Ochrana zabytkow, 1998, No. 1, p. 14–19. 15. Vitkuvienė, J. Buvusių dvarų sodybų vaidmuo miestovaizdyje [Role of Manor residencies in Cityscape]. Mokslas ir gyvenimas, 2003, No. 10, p. 30–31. 16. Vitkuvienė, J. Problems of Integration of Former Manors into Urban Environment: Paper presented at the conference Architecture and Quality of Life, 27 May, Kaunas, Lithuania, 2004. Kaunas: Technologija, 2004, p. 93–97. 17. Daujotis, A. R. Dvarų ūkio susiformavimo prielaidos LDK [The Premises of the Formation of the Economy of Manors in GDL]. Inžinerinė ekonomika, 1998, No. 11, p. 27–32. 18. Kiaupa, Z., Kiaupiene, J., Kuncevičius, A. The History of Lithuania before 1795. Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History, 2000. 402 p. 19. Военно-топографическая карта Ковенской губернии (Military Topographic Maps of Kaunas Province) [online]. Докусфера : Электронный фонд Российской национальной библиотеки [cited 12. 06. 2012]. http://leb.nlr.ru/edoc/331874/ 20. Bardauskienė, D., Pakalnis, M. Foresighted Urban Planning. Enivronmental Research, Engineering and Management, 2012, No. 59, p. 63–72.

Conclusions

1. The urban expansion absorbing the residencies of former manors of rural origination is a relevant phenomenon demonstrating how the rural built heritage can become the subject of urban problems and how new types of landscapes – rurban, rural-urban – emerge. 2. The interface or even clash of rural and urban territories and lifestyles cause different threats for this already vulnerable heritage of Lithuanian manors: unfavourable shifts in ecological situation, the loss of valuable architectural and landscape features, and the disregard of historical property limits. 3. The ambiguous situation of the Central and Eastern European manor residencies under the pressure of rapid urban expansion, which lost not only their original function, but also the original environmental settings, presents not only the preservation challenges, but also the particular possibilities for adaptive reuse and rehabilitation. The presumptions are made that they can influence the development and quality of rurban places in multiple ways. This demonstrates the need for further research on the integration of these residencies into urban development considering the research trends and characteristics distinguished in this research. References 1.

Landscape and Urban Planning, 2009, No. 93, p. 123–131. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2009.06.011 Mcdonald, R. I., Forman, R. T. T., Kareiva, P., Neugarten, R., Salzer, D., Fisher, J. Urban Effects, Distance, and Protected Areas in an Urbanizing World. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2009, No. 93, p. 63–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2009.06.002 Overbeek, G., Terluin, I. Rural Areas Under Urban Pressure. Case Studies of Rural-urban Relationships Across Europe [online]. Agricultural Economics Research Institute. (LEI Research Report, The Hague, 2006) [cited 12. 06. 2012]. http://dare.uva.nl/document/23165 Bučas, J. Miesto drieka kaime: socialinis ir aplinkosauginis aspektas (Urban Sprawl into Rural Areas: Social and Environmental Aspects). IV Urban forum “Urban Sprawl: Clash of Urban and Rural”, Kaunas, 2010. Kaunas: Technologija, 2010. p. 5–11. Fonseca, M., Sobreira, F., Rainho, M. E., Oliveira, M. Unbridled Development of Urban Space and its Implications on the Preservation of Landmarks – the Morro da Queimada Archeological Site, Ouro Perto, Brazil. Cities, 2001, No. 6, p. 381–389. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751(01)00030-0 Jurevičienė, J. Kaimo aplinkos reliktai šiuolaikiniame mieste (Relicts of Rural Environment in Contemporary City). Urbanistika ir Architektūra,

Antrop, M. Landscape Change and the Urbanization Process in Europe. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2004, No. 67, p. 9–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(03)00026-4 Costa, M. R, Batista, D. Towards Integrating Rural Vernacular Settlements in Urban Regions: a Study of Algarve, Portugal. Journal of the International Society for the Study of Vernacular Settlements, 2011, No. 2, p. 35–51. Adell, G. Theories and Models of the Peri-urban Interface: a Changing Conceptual Landscape [online]. Development Planning Unit, University College London, 1999 [cited 12. 06. 2012]. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/43/ Miller, J. R., Snyder, S. A., Skibbe, A.C., Haight, R. G. Prioritizing Conservation Targets in a Rapidly Urbanizing Landscape.

21. Bučas, J. Kraštotvarkos pagrindai (Fundamentals of Landscape Management). Kaunas: Technologija, 2001. 282 p. 22. Friedmann, J. Planning cultures in transition. Comparative Planning Cultures (B. Sanyal, ed.), New York and London: Routledge, 2005, p. 29–44. 23. Berend, I. T. Social Shock in Transforming Central and Eastern Europe. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2007, No. 3, p. 269–280. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2007.06.007 24. Topographic maps of Inter-War period of Lithuania [online]. Maps4u.lt. Historic maps [cited 12.06.2012]. http://maps4u.lt/lt/maps.php?cat=12 25. Interactive map of the territory of Lithuania [online] Maps.lt. Interactive maps [cited 12.06.2012]. http://www.maps.lt/map 26. Samalavičius, A. Kaita ir tęstinumas: kultūros kritikos ese (Change and Continuity: Cultural Criticism Essays). Vilnius: Kultūros barai, 2008. 200 p. 27. Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, I., Vitkuvienė, J., Ažukaitė, L. Urge and Limits for Change: Problems and Theoretical Framework for Revitalization of the Central and Eastern European Rural Manor Residencies Absorbed by Urban Sprawl. VI Conference of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration “Paradigm Shift in Heritage Protection? Tolerance for Changes - Limits of Changes”, 4-6th March, 2011. Florence: ICOMOS TheoPhilos, 2012, p. 343–352. 28. Kamičaitytė-Virbašienė, J., Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, I. Historic Gardens of Lithuanian Manor Residencies : Works of Landscape Architecture and Objects of Historic Preservation. Spaces of Creation, 2010, No. 12, p. 38–51.

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Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė. Bachelor of Architecture (Kaunas University of Technology, 2003), Master of Land Management (Kaunas University of Technology, 2005), Doctor of Technological Sciences (Kaunas University of Technology, 2009). ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR at Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management. Current research interests: preservation of built heritage, economic aspects of cultural heritage, non-market valuation of cultural goods, sustainable architectural design. Jurga Vitkuvienė. Bachelor of Architecture (Kaunas University of Technology, 1998), Master of Architecture (Kaunas University of Technology, 2000). LECTURER at Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management. Current research interests: heritage preservation, heritage of Lithuanian manors, management of ruralurban interface.

Contact data

Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management Studentų g. 48, 51367 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone: +370 37 300456, Fax: +370 37 451546 E-mail: grazuleviciute@yahoo.co.uk

29. Žilaitytė, J. Buvusių dvarų ir palivarkų sodybos Kauno mieste (Manor Residencies in Kaunas City). Mokslas ir gyvenimas, 2001, No. 2, p. 17–19. 30. Ažukaitė, L., Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė, I., Vitkuvienė, J. Built Heritage Management Challenges in the Areas of Rural-urban Interface. The 3rd International Conference “Advanced Construction”, 18-19th October, 2012. Kaunas: Technologija, p. 9.

Jurga Vitkuvienė Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management Studentų g. 48, 51367 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone: +370 37 300456, Fax: +370 37 451546 E-mail: jurga.vitkuviene@ktu.lt

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.004 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology Fortress. Kaunas Fortress was constructed in the period 1882– 1915 and presents a typical example of the military architecture of the end of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century. The presented results of the research are of significance related not only to Lithuanian context.

Abstract. This paper presents the meta-functional typology of the forts of Kaunas Fortress as the unique architectural-urban objects that can help to create a more preferred, legible and complex cityscape. Space syntax analysis methodology is applied for the analysis of the forts. Two aspects are investigated. The first one: location of the forts in the axial map of Kaunas is considered while evaluating depth, global integration, local integration and other features of the map. The second one: structure of convex spaces of the all 10 remaining forts is analysed in terms of the depth, “here and there” relations, serial vision, etc. Significant changes or destructions of the original plan of the analysed objects are considered as well. Meta-functional typology of the forts in terms of contemporary architecture is offered. The results of the investigation are significant for the utilisation of the forts within the contemporary urban context.

I. Methodology

Cityscape in the article is seen as a complex spatial-social phenomenon. Space syntax methodology [3] has been chosen as the most appropriate one for the identification of the code or architectural genotype of the investigated objects. Investigation has been conducted in two stages: evaluation of the locations of Kaunas forts; identification of the genotype or meta-functional type of the inner structure of the forts. To achieve the abovementioned objective, the original plans of the forts have been analysed. Changes in the inner structure of the forts made after WW1 have been analysed separately. Names for the metafunctional types of the forts have been selected according to the types of the contemporary architectural objects with similar structures.

Keywords: military architecture, utilisation, meta-function, space syntax, Kaunas Fortress.

Military architecture could be seen as a unique phenomenon that represents the architectural and urban features not met in civil architecture. As the unique objects, former fortifications can help to assure the key features of the preferred urban environment: legibility, complexity, coherence, mysteriousness [1], [2, 223–224]. Despite the huge architectural-urban potential, the full-fledged integration of the modern fortifications into contemporary cityscape is not an easy task because of the abovementioned unique architectural features of the objects. The research presented in the article aims to make this task easier by offering a meta-functional typology of the forts of Kaunas

II. Original Typology of the Forts

Meta-functional typology of the forts depends on two things: the location of the forts and the inner structure. Locations of the forts of Kaunas Fortress are analysed using the axial map of Kaunas. Forts in the map of global depth. Using analogy with shallow and deep axes and convex spaces, it is possible to state that the shallow zone of the city tends to be more multi-functional, complex, versatile, integrating, and frequently used. Deep zones tend to be more mono-functional, specialized, episodically used. According to the Global depth map of Kaunas (Figure 1), three groups of the forts can be identified: a) forts within or in vicinity of 5 percent of the shallowest axes of the city (Fort No. 7) ; b) forts within the zone of 10–25 percent of the shallowest axes (Forts No. 6, 8, 9); c) forts in the deep zone of the city (Forts No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Romainiai, Marvele, Domeikava, Reilroad forts) . The first group is in the highest position in terms of multi-functionality, frequency of use, various public functions, etc. The third group is in the lowest position according to the above-mentioned scale and can be identified as episodically used, mono-functional, specialised, etc. Forts in the map of the global integration. Axes of global integration show the reachability of the streets at the city level. The most integrating axes are identified as the functional and compositional backbone of urban network, urban frame or “lines of life” of the city in terms of Gordon Cullen [4, 11–119]. According to the map of global integration of Kaunas (Figure 2), the following forts that are located close to five percent

Fig. 1. Global depth map of Kaunas and locations of Forts (black colour indicates five percent of the shallowest axes). Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

Architecture and Urban Planning Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology. Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

Fig. 2. Global integration map of Kaunas and locations of Forts (black colour indicates five percent of the most integrating axes). Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

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Fig. 3. Local integration map of Kaunas and locations of Forts (black colour indicates five percent of the most integrating axes). Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

of the most integrating global axes, can be identified as the most significant at the city level: Fort No. 7, No. 9, and No. 2. If the zone of 10 percent of the most integrating axes is considered, then Forts No. 8 and 6 should be added to the group. If 25 percent of the most integrating axes are identified, then Forts No. 3 and 4 should be added. The rest of the forts (No. 5, Romainiai, Marva Domeikava, and Railroad) are of the least significance for the urban frame of Kaunas. Forts in the map of local integration. Axes of the local integration demonstrate reachability of the streets within a limited distance. It can be measured in meters (e.g., 500m) or in conditional steps. One conditional step means one change of direction while mowing along the street axis. Because of the limited distance, the local integration is used to model pedestrian traffic and placement of the neighbourhood centres in the city. According to the map of local integration of Kaunas (Figure 3), Forts No. 7, 6, 4, 2, and 8 can perform alone or together with other objects of the centres of neighbourhoods. If 10 percent of the axes with the highest values of local integration are considered, then practically all forts except Marva, Romainiai, and Railroad are included into this zone. The result demonstrates significance of all forts at the local level of the city. Quite a large number of the forts are important both at the city and local level. It reveals the potential of such objects as a specific type of urban central places: besides the specific higher functions they are able to function as the central places of the lower order [5]. Forts in the map of fast choice. Fast choice map (Figure 4) demonstrates the number of choices of each urban axis for journeys from all locations to all locations within the city. The axes of the highest values are the most often chosen ones by traffic flows. The higher traffic flows mean a larger number of spectators and the higher probability of the appearance of the streets in the common mental city image. The same applies to the distinguishing from the context neighbouring objects of the

Fig. 4. Fast choice map of Kaunas and locations of Forts (black colour indicates five percent of the most often chosen axes for journeys within the city). Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

above-mentioned streets. City image in its turn plays a significant role in the assurance of legibility, complexity, coherence of the preferred urban environment. On the other hand, fast choice values represent the traffic attraction, while integration (global and local) is focused more on complex processes of urban life. According to the map of fast choice of Kaunas (Figure 4), Forts No. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are located close to the most often chosen city routes. The above-mentioned vicinity does not only mean visual perception of the objects by the larger number of people but also higher significance of the forts for conceptual perception of the whole city. In other words, there is quite a high probability that the above-mentioned forts will be present in the

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology. Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

Plans of the forts are shown as models of convex (visual) spaces. White circle represents exterior convex space. Black circle represents interior convex space. Lines mark the connections between convex spaces. Forts No. 1, 2, 3 (Figure 5). All tree forts were constructed according to one typical plan. The forts were made of four autonomous zones of different character. The first zone is represented by the courtyard of the barracks. A long façade of the barracks with only three entries to the main postern and the barracks itself creates an architectural code of representative square. Two inner courtyards are separated from each other by the rampart of the central postern. Symmetrical courtyards are surrounded by the hemicircle of the artillery positions at the top of artillery rampart. Artillery positions are asymmetrical to the neighbourhood of fort and separated from each other by traverses. Thus, each of them can be considered a separate convex space. Asymmetry here is understood as a type of visual relations between two spaces. Symmetrical relations mean that observation conditions are identical from both points. Asymmetrical relations mean unequal observation conditions, e.g., environment around the fort can be observed from fire positions within the fort but the possibilities of observation of fire positions from outside are very limited. Artillery positions are open from the side of the courtyard and in both directions represent “known here” and “known there” relation. Architectural code of the two courtyards can be described as an amphitheatre with the hemicircle of observation positions. The infantry rampart with fire positions represents completely different type of space. It is made of enfilade of prolonged spaces closed from both sides. The long axes of the spaces are closed by traverses. Closeness and limited possibility to see what is in the next space can be described as “known here” and “unknown there” relation. Architectural code of the above-mentioned part of the fort can be described as a gallery and labyrinth. Labyrinthlike nature of the zone is strengthened by the entrances to the four posterns of the ammunition depots, central caponier and two semi-caponiers. Maximal depth of the structure from the entrance is 10 conditional steps (crossings of the borders of convex spaces). Important note: forts represent a very deep structure of convex spaces in general in small territory. It should be reminded that the local integration of the axes of the city is calculated for 3 steps only (when the number of the steps is increased, the map of local integrations tends to be more similar to the map of global integration). Despite the fact of big general depth, there are some shallow zones in the forts, e.g., the representative square and the amphitheatric courtyards. One unique feature of the analysed forts: connections between the autonomous groups of exterior convex spaces are assured only by closed convex spaces of interior. Such an “inside out” code is unique in contemporary urban structures and could be met only in some ancient civilisations, e.g., Pre-Columbian Wari (Spanish: Huari) culture in South America (500-900D) [6]. There are 34 exterior convex spaces and 56 interior convex spaces in one fort (total 90). Both groups of spaces function in an integrated way. In Kaunas downtown quarter there are approximately 40 public or semi-public convex spaces [7], while the area of the quarter and fort is more or less the same. In addition to the large number, a variety of both spaces and their relations in the forts if compared

Fig. 5. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 1. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

Fig. 6. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort. No 4. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

Fig. 7. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 5. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

mental city image of Kaunas and will help to assure legibility, complexity and coherence of the whole city at the level of conceptual perception. While analysing the inner structure of the convex spaces of the original plans of the forts, the following features have been considered: depth, integrity or fragmentation, complexity, characteristics of the structure from the point of view of “serial vision” and perceived “here and there” [4, 17–19] relations, etc.

Architecture and Urban Planning Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology. Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

to the homogenic urban quarter should be noted. It demonstrates the high potential of the inner structure of the forts from the point of view of variety of perception and experiences of serial vision. In conclusion, the original genotype of Forts No. 1, 2 and 3 can be described as Wari type (inside out) heterogenic deep complex of representative square, two amphitheaters and labyrinth-like enfilade of backstage “rooms”. Fort No. 4 (Figure 6). It is one of the largest forts of Kaunas Fortress constructed according to the modified typical plan. Entrance to the fort is organised as a series of labyrinth-type spaces (as in some ancient or medieval fortifications). Not like in Forts No. 1, 2 and 3 there are two crossroads with possibility to choose three directions after the entrances through rear caponier and the entrance in the barracks rampart. It makes the central triple core of the fort functional via closed interior convex spaces or via semi-open exterior spaces. The core is made of three amphitheatric courtyards as in Forts No. 1, 2 and 3. The amphitheatres in Fort No. 4 are much smaller if compared to the above-mentioned forts: here only 4–5 convex spaces surround one side of each “stage” instead of 8 spaces in Fort No. 1. Labyrinthlike nature of the enfilades on the infantry ramparts here is even stronger expressed than in previous forts. The maximal depth of the structure from the entrance is 17 steps. 3 steps are taken only by the entrance to the fort. The structure of the interiors is much more complicated and developed here than in Fort No. 1. In Fort No. 4 they can be seen as autonomous labyrinth-like underground structures. There are 48 exterior and 139 interior convex spaces in the fort. Original genotype of the fort could be described as a complex made of the following: labyrinth-like deep entrance; triple core made of three small shallow amphitheatres; labyrinth-like enfilade of backstage spaces accessible only via closed and deep (from 4 to 11 steps) interior spaces, 6 autonomous islands of deep underground labyrinths. Fort No. 5 (Figure 7). It is the fort of asymmetric plan with artillery battery located outside the fort. Entrance to the fort is made by the representative square in front of the barracks. One big amphitheatric courtyard, surrounded by 17 smaller convex spaces, is located behind the barracks. Entrance to the courtyard was assured by shallow postern (2 steps) or one exterior convex space on the left side of the barracks. Two alternative deep ways through the second small courtyard and part of the infantry rampart were available as well. The second small courtyard represents the sequence of two small amphitheatric spaces and can be described as rehearsal halls. Infantry rampart is represented by two autonomous simple segments. Their labyrinth-like structure is reinforced by entrance to the central caponier, semi-caponier and three ammunition depots. Maximal depth of the fort from its entrance is 9 steps. There are 54 exterior and 79 interior convex spaces in the fort. Original genotype of the fort can be described as a group of the following: representative square; big amphitheatre with few small rehearsal halls; two autonomous relatively shallow labyrinth-like backstage enfilades. The expression of “inside out” code here is limited to the deepest art of the fort (as in Fort No. 4). Fort N.o 6 (Figure 8). It has a symmetrical plan with the barracks pushed to the centre of the fort. Position of the barracks and walkable rampart at the top of them create circular amphitheatric spaces around two courtyards. In contrast to the

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Fig. 8. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 6. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

Fig. 9. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 7. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

Fig. 10. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 8. Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

other courtyards of the forts these two can be named arenas. Entrance to the fort combines the labyrinth of the rear caponier with the representative square in front of the barracks. Infantry rampart creates the same type of labyrinth-like enfilade along the perimeter of the object as in the other forts. Another unique feature of Fort No. 6: interior convex spaces are not necessary to assure connections between the exterior convex spaces; thus, the fort can function as a traditional urban system

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Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology. Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

Fort No. 9 (Figure 11). It is the newest fort of Kaunas Fortress built in the period 1903–1913. All communications of the fort were organized in underground casemates. At the entrance of the fort, a representative square was formed. The rest of the fort represents the homogenic structure of the underground labyrinthlike enfilades with three isolated exterior islands (courtyards) in the centre. The plan of the first floor contains the barrack itself with the exit to the rampart at the top. From the roof of the barracks there is a direct connection through the rampart of the central postern to the fire positions in the front of the fort. Fire positions and the rampart of the barracks surround the courtyards and form two small arena-type spaces. Important note: the arenas cannot be used autonomously without the underground labyrinth. The characteristic of the fort is the presence of two vertical levels of organisation. In the other forts all parts are more or less integrated in one plane. There are 12 exterior and 78 interior convex spaces on the ground level of the fort. There are approximately 1 exterior and 10 interior convex spaces on the first level. The original genotype of the fort can be described as the homogenic labyrinth made from dominant underground passages and the depending island of exterior spaces in the centre. The original plans of Marva, Romainiai, Domeikava and Railroad Forts are not analysed in this article because of the unrecognisably transformed original structure or only partially implemented initial plans. In general, tree typological groups of the forts can be identified according to the inner structure of the objects.

Fig. 11. Structure of the convex spaces of Fort No. 9 (ground floor). Black circles represent the interior convex spaces. Map by Kestutis Zaleckis and Giedre Gudzineviciute

of exterior volumes with added buildings. Due to the big size (average size is 7–8 convex spaces) and the above-mentioned integrity of exterior spaces, islands of underground casemates can function in a truly autonomous way in the fort. The maximal depth of the fort is 16 steps from the entrance space. There are 71 exterior and 112 interior convex spaces. Original genotype of the fort can be described as the labyrinth-like complex of the exterior spaces with two arenas in the centre and numerous truly autonomous underground islands. Fort No. 7 (Figure 9). It has a small asymmetric plan. The double entrance through the labyrinth of rear caponier with the entrance ramp and representative square in front of barracks is present in the fort. Behind the barracks the two amphitheatres can be found as in the other forts. The unique feature of these spaces in this fort is the following: the scene of the amphitheatre is made of few convex spaces instead of one. Such a structure allows for organisation of more sophisticated events and shows. Entrances to the amphitheatres are assured by the central postern and bypasses of the barracks. Infantry rampart creates the labyrinth-like enfilade characteristic of Kaunas Fortress. Its labyrinth features are strengthened by spaces for the counter assault artillery on the left and right flanks of the fort. The “inside out” access code is functioning only for the infantry rampart. The maximal depth of the structure is 17 steps. There are 61 exterior and 3 interior convex spaces in the fort. Original code of the fort can be identified as follows: the complex of representative square and two amphitheatres with multi-spatial stages; autonomous labyrinth-like enfilade. Fort No. 8 (Figure 10). It is the first concrete fort in Kaunas Fortress. Entrance to the fort was made practically directly via barracks hidden in the rampart. From the barracks the central poster leads to ammunition magazine and two amphitheatric courtyards. Ramps from the courtyards to the top of the rampart over the barracks give the features of arena to the spaces. Labyrinth-like enfilade of the infantry rampart is connected to the two arenas by the exterior convex spaces. Maximal depth of the structure is 14 steps. There are 46 exterior and 19 interior convex spaces in the fort. Original genotype of the fort could be described as the following dual structure: the barracks with the postern and ammunition magazine; two arenas and enfilade of the labyrinth.

III. Alterations of the Meta-Functional Types of the Forts

During exploitation of the forts after WW1, many changes were made there. Even if the above-mentioned changes do not look very significant from the architectural point of view, the conducted analysis has revealed the significant alterations of the genotype of the objects. Fort No. 1. In the fort the infantry rampart was repealed during the modernisation before WW1. As a result, the deep labyrinthlike backstage enfilade and 12 exterior convex spaces are lost. During the battles some casemates were destroyed and the number of interior convex spaces decreased as well. In the Soviet period, windows of the barracks were changed into car gates, thus transforming the representative square into the market square. Fort No. 2. The additional entrance is made from the representative square to the amphitheatre. Fort No. 3. Two additional entrances are made through both infantry and artillery ramparts to the both amphitheatres. Fort No. 4. Some casemates and part of the ramparts were destroyed on the right flank of the fort. The number of convex spaces was decreased a little because of the destruction. Fort No. 5. On the left flank the two small amphitheatres together with part of the casemates were destroyed and the space structure became simpler there (~ 10 convex spaces were lost). On the right flank the autonomous part of the infantry rampart and fire position is destroyed and unreadable. Because of the Soviet reconstructions of the barracks, the representative square was changed to the market square. Additional entrance through the ditch and infantry rampart was made to the courtyard through the postern of ammunition depot. Artillery rampart was left intact.

Architecture and Urban Planning Kęstutis Zaleckis, Nijole Steponaitytė, Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė, Kaunas University of Technology. Meta-Functional Typology of the Forts of Kaunas Fortress

Fort No. 6. Rampart of the barracks is not walkable at the moment and arenas are transformed into amphitheatres. Additional entrance to the representative square directly through the rampart makes the unique feature of the dominant exterior spaces even more obvious. Fort No. 7. The entrance is made directly to the representative square. It reduces the maximal depth of the structure by 4 steps. Fort No. 8. The additional entrance is made to the right courtyards of the fort through the rampart. It makes the dual structure of the fort even more balanced. Now each of two parts has its own entrance and can function autonomously. Slope of the infantry rampart is used for the gardens of inhabitants, but it does not change the structure of the fire positions. Fort No. 9. The fort was not changed in essence. Before WW2 it functioned as a prison. During WW2 it was used as a concentration camp. Functional modifications made because of the above-mentioned functions were the following: construction of the courtyard surrounded by the wall in front of the barracks; construction of the control point at the entrance to the newly built courtyard. These changes influenced just the transformation of the representative square. In general, it can be concluded that in many cases some minor features or parts of the inner structure of the forts were lost, but in general the main unique characteristics of the code are still present. In some cases (e.g., transformation of the representative square into the market square; separate entrances to the autonomous zones, etc.), the changes just modified the possible way of usage of the unique spaces.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

De Jung, R. Environmental psychology. Encyclopedia of environmental science. Hingman, MA: Kluver Academic Publishers. 1999. 786 p. Hillier, B. Space is the machine : A Configurational Theory of Architecture. London: Space Syntax. 2007. 355 p. Cullen, G. The Concise Townscape. Abingdon: Architectural Press, 2009. 200 p. King, Leslie J.. Central Place Theory (Scientific Geography Series). Beverly Hills: Sage Publications, 1984. 96 p. Gordon, M. E. Pikillacta Huari Empire in Cuzko. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005. 181 p. Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė, I. Urbanistinis genotipas: kai kurie aspektai ir jų kaitos tyrimai. Urbanistika ir architektūra, 2001, Vol. 35, No. 2, p. 73–81.

Kęstutis Zaleckis. Architect (1991), PhD (2002). Thesis topic: “Archetype of the City in Lithuanian Mentality and its Usage in Urban Planning”. Professor of Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology. Coordinator and Senior Researcher of the two research projects financed by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and two INTERREG projects; COST Action participant. Research interests: urban genotypes, urban history, military architecture, space syntax, fractal analysis of urban structures. Vice-editor of the scientific journal “Architecture and Urbanism” issued by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University; member of the editorial boards of scientific journals and conferences; member of the board for evaluation of cultural heritage; author of 23 scientific publications and one textbook. • Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė I. Hidden urban revolution in Kaunas downtown area: 1935-1988-2011 // Eight International Space Syntax Symposium, January 3-6, 2012, Santiago de Chile, Chile: proceedings [elektroninis išteklius]. Santiago de Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2012. ISBN 97889563458626. p. 1–16. • Zaleckis K., Matijošaitienė I. Investigation of changes in Kaunas downtown social-spatial code // Land Management for Urban Dynamics: Innovative Methods and Practices in a Changing Europe: COST action TU0602 final report. Milano : Maggioli Editore, 2011. ISBN 9788838760667. p. 493-500 • Zaleckis K., Steponaitytė N. Analysis of the utilization possibilities for the defense military constructions of the Kaunas Fortress. Architecture Civil Engineering Environment: ACEE / The Silesian University of Technology. Gliwice: The Silesian University of Technology. 2011, Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 21-35.

Conclusions

Meta-functional types of the forts of Kaunas Fortress are identified according to the location and inner structure of the objects. Three groups of the types have been identified: forts of the “inside out” code; forts as complexes of spaces with buildings; underground labyrinth. There are some forts that do combine features of two types. The common unique features of the fort genotype: big depth, tree type (in opposition to the dominant network type structure of the cities), labyrinth structure, presence of amphitheatric spaces, variety of the spaces and spatial complexity. Some changes or destructions in the forts made significant alterations of the code of the object but it has preserved its unique features. Locations of the forts give additional dimension to the fort meta-typology. The following groups of the forts can be identified: central places of the highest rank with the high importance for the city and local neighbourhoods; local centres, specialised objects of the episodic usage; objects of the city image importance. The presented two layers of typology (location and inner structure) can be used in combination as the background for architectural interpretation and utilisation scenarios of the forts.

Nijole Steponaitytė. Architect (1972). Junior Researcher and Senior Architect at the Institute of Architecture and Construction at Kaunas University of Technology. Research interests: history of architecture, history of military architecture in Lithuania. Expert of protection of immovable cultural heritage; member of the board for evaluation of cultural heritage; author of 8 scientific publications; coauthor of 20 master plans. Giedre Gudzinevičiūtė. Bachelor of Architecture (2003), Master of Architecture (2005). Junior Researcher at the Institute of Architecture and Construction at Kaunas University of Technology. Research interests: urban planning. Author of five scientific publications, co-author of 12 master plans, and 2 detailed plans.

Contact Data

Kęstutis Zaleckis Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management Address: Studentų st. 48, LT-51367 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone: +370 37 45 15 46 E-mail addresses: kestutis.zaleckis@ktu.lt nijole.steponaityte@ktu.lt giedre.gudzineviciute@ktu.lt

References 1.

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Zaleckis, K., Steponaitytė, N. Analysis of the utilization possibilities for the defense military constructions of the Kaunas Fortress. Architecture Civil Engineering Environment (The Silesian University of Technology). Gliwice: The Silesian University of Technology. 2011, Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 21–35.

The research represented in this article was financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (Agreement No. VAT-37/2012).

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.005 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens

As an aesthetic operation, the intervention is the imaginary, arbitrary and free proposal by which one seeks not only to recognise the significant structures of the existing historical material but also to use them as analogical marks of the new construction [1, 237]. The relationship between new architecture with its historical context is determined from the values assigned to the meaning of its heritage architecture and consequently its modern interpretation. It is the architect’s task to express architecturally his or her era and simultaneously get involved in a dialogue with the context, in which he or she builds. Our aim is to focus on strategies involved in cases, where new architecture is implemented in the historical urban fabric as infill. The new building is inserted into the continuous streetscape or

forms a corner of an urban block, aligned along the street façade with the historical presence. The problems of the interrelation between the new and old architecture in the urban fabric are crucial in all cities, which represent physically the combination of the historical part of corridor streets, grid organisation of the roads, squares, green public spaces, free standing public buildings and buildings articulated in a line with a main façade. When implementing in a dense urban historical fabric we have to take into account the close proximity of the adjacent architecture, and our intervention should be part of a whole considered as a unity. Issues involved in the implementation are the notions: place/ context, identity, interpretation, metaphoric imitation/analogical composition. The notion of context refers to the existing reality, to the given in its broad sense, whereas the notion of place has additionally a phenomenological connotation. The place is a totality made of concrete things and has an identity that comprises various aspects. It has a physical identity (landform, climate, environmental characteristics), a built environment identity (structure and organization of the urban setting as an imprint on the ground and as a section, size of its buildings, articulation of the building volumes, architectural morphology and materiality). Additionally, it is characterised by its economic identity that encompasses all the economic activities. Its social and cultural identity refers to all social and cultural events; and,

Fig. 1 Café De Unie, Rotterdam (1924-1925). Front elevation [6, 340]

Fig. 2 Café De Unie with the adjacent buildings [8]

Abstract. Strategies and theoretical issues are analysed in cases, where new architecture is implemented in the historical urban fabric as infill aligned along the street façade with the historical presence. The analysis of examples shows that there is a shift in strategies applied at the beginning of the 20th century until today, from a contrasting approach to referential and differential strategies and back to a contrasting approach in our days; however, it was originally introduced in a different manner. Keywords: contrasting approach, differential approach, interpretation, modern movement, referential approach.

Architecture and Urban Planning Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

finally, its historical identity is related to the collective memory of the inhabitants (monuments, landmarks, events taken place in the city, narratives). Considering all these parameters together, every place has a particular character and is designated by a special atmosphere. Every intervention in a historical context is based on the interpretation of the place since the new should be approached not in isolation but as totality with the existing architecture. The act of interpreting, in general, is the act of explaining and revealing all that is obscure and underneath the surface. As Colomina Beatriz states: “Architecture is an interpretive, critical act…A building is interpreted when its rhetorical mechanism and principles are revealed” [2, 207]. We use interpretation in the process of designing since it allows us to understand the parts related to the whole vice versa and help us to position a building in relation to everything around it. The connection with the existing reality involved in any act of intervention in historical settings is related in a way to the notion of imitation. Imitation should be regarded in a metaphorical sense and not literal, e.g., in the way Quatremère de Quincy approached it in his seminal piece On Imitation [3]. It refers to the underlying principles of the existing reality, scrutinizing the intentions underlying the form of the precedent. Metaphoric imitation is critical and syntactic since it implies a procedure, where the architect discovers, interprets, actualises and uses the ideas and the generative principles beneath the external form of the buildings of the past. The analogical procedure adopted by Ignasi Solà Morales Rubió [1, 230–237] is close to the idea of metaphoric imitation of Quatremère. Characteristic of the analogical way of creation is the articulation between similarity and differentiation; and, as a result, the intervention is distinguished from the old in terms of materials and techniques but proceeds from the old in terms of its compositional principles. As opposed to this attitude, the work of the architects of the Modern Movement reveals a contrasting approach when intervening in the historical context. The Modern Movement distanced itself from tradition and history. The pioneer architects of the 1920s considered architectural artifacts as isolated objects bearing no concern for the adjacent buildings and their context. As Theo van Doesburg stressed in 1925: “In contrast to frontalism, which has its origin in a rigid, static way of life, the new architecture offers the plastic richness of an all-sided development in space and time” [4, 80]. This statement embodies an attitude toward architectural form that “a building should exist in the round isolated from its neighbours, multi-sided and without preferential faces” [5, 81]. Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud in his famous Café De Unie exhibited his ideas on composition and considered the building as an independent artifact. It is an example of the Dutch artistic movement De Stijl. Its facade coloured in Mondrianesque primary colours is a composition on vertical and horizontal lines. The building formed a great contrast to its stately neoclassical neighbours (Figure 1). Conformity to them was not planned [7] and this is apparent in the way he designed the façade isolated, with no information for the adjacent properties (Figure 2). As Oud pointed out: “To make the café a linking element between the adjoining buildings was inadmissible what was

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Fig. 3. Maison Planeix, Paris (1928). View from boulevard Massena [9]

Fig. 4. Maison de Tristan Tzara, Paris (1925-1926). Main elevation [11]

needed here on the contrary was to keep the café completely autonomous and in this way to try by means of rational contrast to respect the value of the one and the other. We have been taught [...] that only that arises organically from the essence of an age goes well with the authentic product of the essence of another age” [8, 345–346].

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

Fig. 5 Maison de Tristan Tzara. View from Avenue Junot with the adjacent building and the retaining wall [12]

Fig. 6. French Embassy, Berlin (1997–2003) [15]

Fig. 7. Clinical Neuroscience Centre, London (2008) [16]

In Le Corbusier’s case, very few buildings have been designed by himself in close proximity with others. Characteristically, in his Maison Planeix (Figure 3), a collaborating work with Pierre Jeanneret, he achieved the implementation of contrasting architecture between two different buildings in terms of volume, height and formal language. In this elegant building, the architect achieved with its formal, nearly symmetrical facade, the entrance axis, the piano nobile, the emphasised ground level and cornice to connect the two adjacent properties (one tall and one low) with its intermediate height. Despite its completely different architectural vocabulary, the building is not juxtaposed strongly with the neighbouring buildings due to its aligned elements in relation to their openings and balconies. Le Corbusier did not comment on his intentions of how he handled the relationship of his building with the old settings; however, he masterfully achieved the connection through contrast and analogy. As opposed to Le Corbusier and more to Oud, Adolf Loos was more concerned with the context in his infill building, the Maison de Tristan Tzara. Though he never commented on this, “he always situated himself dialectically to the historic continuity of tradition…he was very concerned about how the building fit into its context” [10]. In this building, he applied his ideas on Raum plan. The symmetrical street façade (Figure 4) is emphasised by an inverted bay window and is organised basically in two parts.

It curves slightly inwards following the turn of the street. Its masonry base follows the adjacent retaining wall in height (Figure 5) and material and this, with some alignments with the adjacent building, leads to a dialogue with the existing reality despite its difference in the architectural vocabulary. In this way the Maison fits its context, though Bernard Tschumi comments that the house violates the territory and has a problem of disjunction with the vernacular nineteenth-century suburban Paris [13, 134]. At the end of the modernist period we witnessed a shift from the relativist view of history of modernism to a normative view. As a result, the past was regarded as a heritage and as a base for the new interventions. As Sebastiano Brandolini and Pierre-Alian Croset pointed out “through the debate on the conservation of the historical centres […] the last twenty years have witnessed in the architectural and urbanistic culture, a progressive attention paid to the existing reality, seen as a patrimony […] an existing reality no longer to be negated through the project but rather be accepted in its heterogeneity and historical stratifications” [14, 16]. In that period with the urban theory of Colin Rowe, named contextualism, and the development of typological approach to design of the Italian neo-rationalists, a shift occurred towards issues concerning the interpretation of the architectural cultural heritage and its complex relationship with the urban frame. Within this framework, architects developed

Architecture and Urban Planning Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

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Fig. 9. “Golden Nugget”, Graz (2008) [19]

Fig. 8. Basic compositional lines connecting the new with the old [18]

a critical approach through the analysis and interpretation of the existing built environment. The new architecture as infill in a row of old buildings is regarded as a layer added to the existing fabric as the contribution to the formation of totality. The strategies applied are a matter of interpretation of the historical context and the values attributed to its meaning. An analysis of various infill projects reveals three basic approaches. The first one can be characterised as referential, the second one differential and the third one contrasting. In referential cases, the new develops a language by analogy with the old with immediate and many references to its principles. The architects grasp as a challenge the existing architecture as a productive source for their design. In the differential approach, the new has a different architectural language from the old, is conceived as an abstract continuation of its pattern of development and very few analogies can be traced. In case of contrasting approach, the new architecture is opposed to the existing context violating its principles. The term ‘violate’ should be understood in the way Bernard Tschumi attributes its meaning as related to intensity, contradiction, dynamism and disruption [13, 121–135]. This approach is more close to Oud’s and less to Le Corbusier’s. In the case of the French Embassy (Figure 6) in Berlin, designed by Christian de Portzamparc, the architect achieved the embedding of his building in continuity with the existing fabric with many references to the organizational rules of its neighbour

Fig. 10. ‘House Box’, Athens (2011), Personal archive of the author

on the left (tripartite organisation, sequential arrangement of the openings in horizontal and vertical direction, nearly symmetrical façade, central entrance, alignments with the row of openings of its neighbour). Its difference with the adjacent building on its right is mitigated with a reflective surface that mirrors its neighbour and extends visually its façade. Additionally the back yard is organised in analogical way with the buildings of the area. A recent example of referential approach is the Clinical Neuroscience Centre (Figure 7) designed by Allies & Morrison Architects in collaboration with Devereux Architects.

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Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

Fig. 12. Townhouse, Landskrona [21]

Fig. 11. Casa on the Campo del Príncipe, Granada (2002) [20]

Fig. 13. The Topazz hotel, Vienna, (2012) [24]

This narrow eight-storey infill has a façade that is intended to create a visual link between its two adjacent buildings. According to the architects’ comments, “the design seeks to extend the adjacent Victorian hospital building by continuing the principal building plane in Portland stone and recalling the articulation of its balconies in the projecting stone and metal details of the new elevation. This encourages a natural transition to the horizontal brick balconies of the 1930’s Queen Mary Wing. The vertical fins continue the composition of the square as a whole, characterised by a rhythm and proportion borrowed from the original Georgian fenestration. The connection with the red brick Queen Mary Wing is underlined by a bronze surface, held by the metal fins, and is visible only from the west” [17]. This referential approach is precisely mirrored in the architects’ words, sketches (Figure 8) and models. The instruments incorporated are proportions, alignments and analogies in materials and compositional rules. In a similar way, the architects INNOCAD handle an office and residential building (Figure 9) in a plot sandwiched between two protected houses in the historic centre of Graz, which is a UNESCO designated World Cultural Heritage Area. The street façade of the so-called “Golden Nugget” completes the streetscape, and the golden colour of the laminar net of copper tiles is slightly different from the yellow hue of the adjacent buildings. The new architecture with its neighbours creates an ensemble. The top level is organised under a slope roof creating

a middle step between the roof heights of the adjacent properties. The openings despite their variety in size and distribution have many references to the windows of the adjoined houses through alignments and similar width. A differential attitude is revealed in the “House-Box” in the old area Petralona in Athens designed by Sofia Tsiraki in collaboration with T. Biris. The House (Figure 10) explores juxtapositions between the old and the new. According to the architect, the preference of a solid ‘box’ over an open composition of planes was a primary compositional decision that facilitated the integration of the house within the old neighbourhood. Additionally, the small balcony, the analogies of the openings and the syntactical elements of the composition echo characteristics of the historical context. Although the building is contrasted with the environment, it is simultaneously connected with it through alignments with lines of the neighbouring elevations of the building. A differential example is also the “casa on the Campo del Príncipe” designed by Ramón Fernández, and Alonso Borrajo in the historic Spanish city of Granada. This double residence (Figure 11), despite its diverse form and architectural language, is incorporated finely in the environment due to its abstract interpretation of the place, its composition of the voids, its open balconies and windows, its volumetric articulation, its organization of the facades and its sculptural manipulation.

Architecture and Urban Planning Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

The context characterised by diverse architectural forms and scales is interpreted and translated into a distinct and balanced modern artifact with allusions to the basic forms and elements of the environment. Its composition is generated by intersections and framing created by the historic surrounding which is characterised by a fusion of myriad architectural styles, of Christian and Islamic tradition [20, 100]. Though in all previously mentioned examples there is balance between similarity and difference, in the Townhouse (Figure 12) designed by Elding Oscarson on a small traditional street of a southern Swedish town, the intensity is obvious. The narrow site is sandwiched between old neighbouring traditional cottage houses. According to the architects’ comment, their aim was to create a sharp contrast, to express inherent clarity, but more importantly to highlight the beauty of the surroundings [22]. This infill contrasts strongly with its neighbours due to its height, type of roof, colour, materials and bears no relationship with them in a close view. However, the extreme impression is diminished if seen in perspective of the road and as the architects refers to: “immediately the adjacent buildings are low, but the street is lined with buildings of various height, size, facade material, age, and approach” [23]. The contrasting presence of the new Topazz hotel (Figure 13) designed by BWM Architekten und Partners was the architects’ main intention so as to make the building a real eye-catcher. According to their comments, “the design is characterised by striking elliptical window openings that jut out slightly. This unconventional, distinctive treatment of the façade gives this round-cornered building a sense of weightlessness and elegance as well as an unusually physical presence within the fabric of Vienna’s historical architecture” [25]. It is obvious that the building can be read as “violating” its place with its dominant features that lack any similarity with the logic of composition and the organisation of structure of the buildings of its environment. Its contrast resembles the approach of Oud’s café de unie; nevertheless, it keeps the scale of the place and the solid to void relationships. All examples presented from the beginning of the 20th century show that the pioneers, seeking to express the zeitgeist, created unique buildings of their time. Contrast dominated their approach without considering the old. In the post-war period, we witness a shift towards the polyphony of strategies, including contrasting. Nowadays, this approach is not based on a general doctrine that today’s architecture should stand as a symbol of the future. As a starting point, it has the extreme analogical interpretation of the existing architecture and the atmosphere of the place. In strict differentiation, the new with its self-complacent form defines itself essentially through abstraction and implicit interpretation of the old. It is related to the old but interprets their relationship through intensity and conflict. Thus, all contemporary strategies are linked, one way or another, with the identity of the place and its interpretation is a matter that forms the very basis of any intervention in historical context. It is up to the architect’s point of view the way he approaches the historical material as a source of meaning and inspiration.

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References 1.

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5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

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Solà Morales Rubió, I. de. From Contrast to Analogy. Developments in the Concept of Architectural Intervention. Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture: An Anthology of Architectural Theory 1965–1995 (K. Nesbitt, ed.). Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1996, p. 228–238. Colomina, B. Architectureproduction. This Is Not Architecture (K. Rattenbury, ed.) London: Routledge, 2002, p. 207. Quatremère de Quincy, Antoine-Chrysostome. Encyclopédie méthodique : Architecture. Tome 2. Paris: Agasse, Imprimeur-Libraire, 1801–1820. P. 543–546. Doesburg, T. von. Plastic architecture. Programs and Manifestoes on 20thCentury Architecture (U. Conrads, ed.). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1975, p. 80. Schumacher, T. Contextualism : Urban Ideals and Deformation, Casabella, 1971, No.359/360, p. 81. Gössel, P., Leuthäuser, G. Architecture in the Twentieth Century. Köln: Taschen, 1991. P. 140. Taverne, E., Wagenaar, C., Vletter, M. de. J. J. P. Oud : The Complete Works, 1890–1963. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2001. 575 p. Rotterdam, Café De Unie by Jacobus Johannes Pieter [online]. De Engelfriet site [cited 24.07.2012]. http://www.engelfriet.net/Alie/Hans/verheul.htm

Paris, Maison Planeix by Le Corbusier [online]. Google Maps [cited 24.07.2012]. https://maps.google.com/ Tournikiotis, P., Adolf Loos. New York: Princeton University Press, 2002. P. 9, 59. Paris, Maison de Tristan Tzara by Adolf Loos, photo by alexandrealari [online]. Panoramio [cited 24.07.2012]. http://www.panoramio.com/ photo/33628857 Paris, Maison de Tristan Tzara by Adolf Loos [online]. Google Maps [cited 24.07.2012]. https://maps.google.com/ Tschumi, B., Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1996. 280 p. Brandolini, S., Croset, P-A. Strategie della modificazione 1, Casabella, No 498–499, 1984, p. 16. Berlin, French Embassy by Christian de Portzamparc French embassy, photo by B. Coleman [online]. Flickr [cited 24.07.2012]. http://www.flickr. com/photos/32215181@N08/3932262479/ London, Clinical Neuroscience Centre by Allies & Morrison Architects [online]. Allies and Morrison Architects [cited 02.09.2008]. http://www. alliesandmorrison.com/projects/health/2008/clinical-neuroscience-centre/ London, Clinical Neuroscience Centre by Allies & Morrison Architects [online]. Architecture Today [cited 02.09.2008]. http://www. architecturetoday.co.uk/?p=1753, AT191/September 08 p83 London, Clinical Neuroscience Centre by Allies & Morrison Architects [online]. Allies and Morrison Architects [cited 02.09.2008]. http://www. alliesandmorrison.com/projects/health/2008/clinical-neuroscience-centre/. Graz, “Golden Nugget” by INNOCAD [online]. INNOCAD [cited 24.07.2012.]. http://php.innocad.at/subsite/golden_nugget/index.php?bild=1 Bell, J. 21st Century House. London: Laurence King, 2006. 256 p. Landskrona, Townhouse by Elding Oscarson, photo by Åke E:son Lindman [online]. ArchDaily [cited 29.07.2011]. http://www.archdaily.com/46808/ townhouse-elding-oscarson/ Landskrona, Townhouse by Elding Oscarson [online]. Elding Oscarson [cited 29.07.2011]. http://www.eldingoscarson.com/ Landskrona, Townhouse by Elding Oscarson [online]. Contemporist [cited 25.01.2010]. http://www.contemporist.com/2010/01/25/townhouse-inlandskrona-by-elding-oscarson/

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Konstantina Demiri, National Technical University of Athens. New Architecture as Infill in Historical Context

24. Vienna, The Topazz hotel, Vienna by BWM Architekten und Partners, photo by Lenikus GmbH [online]. BWM Architekten und Partners [cited 17.07.2012]. http://bwm.at/ 25. Vienna, The Topazz hotel, Vienna by BWM Architekten und Partners [online]. Contemporist [cited 29.06.2012]. http://www.contemporist. com/2012/06/29/hotel-topazz-by-bwm-architekten-und-partner/ Konstantina Demiri (Thessaloniki, Greece, 1952), Dipl.Arch.Eng. (School of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessloniki, 1975), PhD thesis (University of Edinburgh, 1985) A Typological Investigation of Mill Buildings in Greece. TUTOR, Department of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1977–1987). LECTURER, Department of Architecture, AUTH (1987–1995), ASSISTANT PROF., Department of Architecture, AUTH (1995–2000), ASSISTANT PROF., School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens (2000–2004), ASSOCIATE PROF. School of Architecture, NTUA. (2004– today), Visiting ASSISTANT PROF., Technical University of Crete (1989), Current teaching activities: Architectural design studio 5 (design of an educational building), architectural design studio 6 (implementation of new architecture into a historical context), architectural and musical interrelations (elective module), spaces of work and production areas (elective module) • Demiri, K. Parallel routes of music and architecture. A historical preview, in Biris, T., Demiri, K., Tsiraki, Athanasopoulos,J., Aggelou, A. Architectural and Musical Interrelations : Counterpoint as a Tool of Composition in Music and Architecture, (in Greek), Athens: Patakis Publ., 2011 • Demiri, K. Interweaving the new with the old: theoretical and methodological issues of rehabilitation, Architektonika Themata (in Greek), no. 27, 1993, p. 21–26. • Demiri, K. Greek Mill Buildings: Historical and Typological Investigation, Public Benefit Foundation, ETBA, (in Greek), Athens: 1991 Current and previous research interests: Implementing new architecture into historically important places/ Industrial building architecture: a route towards post-fordism and postmodern architecture/ Relationship of music and architecture Memberships: Technical Chamber of Greece (1975–today).

Contact Data

Konstantina Demiri National Technical University of Athens, School of Architecture, Section I: Architectural Design Address: 42 Patission Str., Athens, Greece, 10682 Phone: +30 210 6977681966 E-mail: kdemiri@arch.ntua.gr

Architecture and Urban Planning

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.006 2013 / 7

Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities Petras DĹžervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

(and should) change the physical environment of mass housing areas, as well as the necessary and possible changes. This article is based on the postmodern urbanism paradigm.

Abstract. This article gives an overview of some aspects of postmodern reality, directly touching upon the large-scale housing estates, and searches for the evidence to prove such an assumption that the post-Soviet society has changed; thus, the high-quality existence in the large-scale housing estates becomes impossible without changing them essentially. The research is based on the analysis of literature, comparison of analogies: the experiences of cases of Western Europe. The result of this research is the conceptual framework for the regeneration of large-scale post-Soviet housing districts.

I. Postmodernism

Global Society Residential Districts

and the

Large-Scale

Nowadays, the postmodern society sees the phenomenon of post-Soviet mass housing area in many different ways. Most frequently researchers choose a convenient position while providing the subjective evaluation of this phenomenon. Quite frequently they leave it not assessed at all, just classify the mass housing districts as a physical expression of a certain era and social organisation, in other words, a negotiable status quo. Surprisingly, an approach like this is generally possible in the twenty-first century, especially in the post-Soviet space. This can only be compared to the lack of judgment. The artistic value of the Soviet time mass housing estates is researched surprisingly frequently. No value construction elements are regarded as high value decorative elements [8, 9]. Pure rationalisation effects of mono-functional district planning are treated as an advanced urban design. Even if it does not make any sense or generates no real benefit to the objective assessment of the situation, it still reflects what today has become the norm, i.e., the situation where meaning disappears [15, 26], as Jean Baudrillard has written: â&#x20AC;&#x153;more information and less and less meaningâ&#x20AC;?[2]. Thus, to adequately evaluate public property (mass housing estates) one needs to understand the society itself. Otherwise, further steps in urban modelling will remain only the simulation of improvement of the existing physical environment using presentiments; all of which is likely incorrect. The section continues with a brief overview of the modern society and its connection to the physical space of the global world conditions, including changing values, dominance of neoliberal free market logic, rupture of social relations, etc. Globalisation. The entirety of such aspects of globalisation as declining physical, economic, legal and language barriers, increase in mobility and disappearance of the significance of location reveals the diametric contrasting nature of the global society, when compared to the one for which the largescale residential districts have been designed. Any attempts to convince the members of the changed society that the socialistic residential environment is sufficiently humane and of high quality seem cynical in the 21st century. Separate buildings are being renovated in order to reduce waste of energy resources. There is no indication that this could be salvation from a situation, where a majority of urban population live in the worn mass construction areas, especially when financial strength of the population decreases. Globalisation is a platform of alternatives.

Keywords: large-scale residential districts, regeneration, globalisation, postmodernism, restructuring large housing estates.

When studying the goals, needs and possibilities of largescale residential estate restructuring, one frequently confronts the problem of adequate assessment of the current situation. It is apparent and has been recognised that something has fundamentally changed the world. Global events are directly related to postmodernism, which is the prevalent paradigm of thinking along with the attributes of modern society life. This article offers an overview of some aspects of postmodern reality, directly or indirectly related to large-scale housing estates and searches for the evidence to prove the following assumptions: 1. the post-Soviet society has changed; therefore, the highquality living in the large-scale housing estates becomes impossible without carrying out fundamental changes; 2. Soviet mass housing blocks are often overpopulated; however, this is in no way related to the quality of life in these areas; 3. the current methods of renovation of the outdated and worn living environment are nothing but waste of time and public financial resources. The government has designed an action plan involving the restructuring of urban neighbourhoods. This top-down model in the post-industrial society is outdated, and it is clear that the main initiator of such a policy is the construction corporations because they present the tools for guaranteeing the prevalent power of government. However, the society develops thereby altering its needs and the tools with the help of which these needs are ensured. It is, therefore, clear that condominium as a too complicated form of ownership of mass housing residential buildings leads to new kinds of problems and challenges, which have not existed until now. No one emphasised the need to solve the problem in the nearest future before it became universal and socially too obvious. The attention is focused solely on saving energy resources. The alternatives are not considered. This article analyses how the globalisation affects the post-Soviet society, how this transformation of society can

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Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

Mass construction of residential districts has become the economic inevitability of the Soviet government’s socialist provision of affordable housing. Construction of impressive scope has been achieved. These areas have still remained the usual place of residence for most of the urban population (Figure 1). However, this does not mean that these areas are suitable for today’s society. Obviously, the large-scale residential areas are a poverty environment. It is, however, tolerated only because a large part of society is still unable to afford alternative residence [5]. Postmodernism employs the instruments provided by globalisation to fight against the “vulture-like” version of globalisation. Unfortunately, regardless of persuasion that the globalisation has a “human face”, most of globalists remain associated with the corporative globalisation ideology. Their reform proposals, even if they were implemented, were essentially just symbolic [10, 199]. The fact that postmodernism as a trend of thought and daily occurrence is essentially a novelty, turning point and chance to distance away from the modernity [15, 238] merely confirms that the “rules of the game” have changed. Within the scope of the present research, this is nonconformity of the large-scale residential districts to the needs of the contemporary society. Moreover, the purport of the renovation of single buildings is highly dubious. It would seem that the altered model of lifestyle may present a partial solution to the problem presented by the large-scale residential districts. The people are free to move around and relocate to wherever the residential environment (economic, social, etc.) satisfies their needs. However, this causes no physical changes in the large-scale residential districts and they remain the same. All the more so that the attributes of the post modernistic lifestyle and the freedom to choose such attributes without any restraint create groups of residents, who obtain distinct types of lifestyle that are clearly different. The most important ones of these resident groups are the following: educated people of employable age, people of employable age with low levels of education, families with children and elderly people. The groups of people, who will most probably move away from the large-scale residential districts, show the ability to utilise the possibilities granted by globalisation. This does not happen due to the more advanced nature of other residential environment forms but rather because the free market fails to guarantee the possibility of transforming the large-scale residential districts into the desired residential environment. Moreover, the skills to use the mobile and communication devices allow dampening the experienced discomfort when living in remote locations. The resident groups of the large-scale residential districts, who are unable to change their place of residence, most often become affected by the negative postmodernism aspects. These groups are relatively easy to control by imitating the modernisation of their places of residence. Differently from the advanced part of the society, the majority of the residents of the large-scale residential districts are fed with “white noise” masking the underlying information [15, 156]. When drawing the initial conclusions, it is important to note the following several aspects that are of significance to the analysed topic:

Fig. 1. 60% of the population of major cities live in post-Soviet housing residential districts in Lithuania [1, 11]

However, it also dictates the dominating ideology, i.e., globalism or, in other words, the neoliberal globalisation [10, 171]. This means that the various residential media have become favourable to powerful bureaucratic and political institutions and corporations. Thus, along with the growing social and economic integration [15, 75] the society is forced to adapt to the rise and domination of the rich class, which controls the major part of the corporations. From one point of view, it is a transition from a personal to impersonal control form [15, 126]; yet, from another point of view, it is the dictate of capital. Firms owned by one person are now changed by companies, so at present corporations are usually owned by banks and insurance companies. Thus, even under favourable conditions created to rehabilitate living environment, it is unclear who can participate and take responsibility in this process. The role of the state and of the one who gets the benefits is unclear as well. M. B. Steger notes that commercial interests have begun to dominate in the society and the ruthless logic of the free-market that successfully separates economic activity from social relations. Profit became the only intention. Of course, this is the negative aspect of assessing the mass housing opportunities of conversion. Both of these aspects are assessed negatively. It can be stated that globalisation grants the following: 1. new possibilities to easily use alternatives when choosing the place and type of residence; 2. turning the private capital away from the “profitless” area, i.e., reconstruction of the large-scale residential districts; 3. increase of the distance between the strata of different financial capacity. The occurred possibilities for the residents to increase their capital have the opposite effect on the estimated one: rather than investing the money into the current residential environment the residents are simply relocating. These aspects confirm that the large-scale residential district is a place of residence, which is rather easy to relocate from; however, the economically disabled part of the society (i.e., the elderly, residents with lower levels of education and immigrants) becomes “imprisoned” in the large-scale residential districts. It is difficult to estimate whether or not the occurred interaction of social tension and depreciation of physical environment is going to cause the current processes in the West to be repeated in Eastern Europe. However, one thing is clear: globalisation has created the state of society inherent in postmodernism.

Architecture and Urban Planning Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

•

After the de facto prevalence of globalisation, the postmodernistic lifestyle model has become the only possible method of survival under the market conditions; • The prevalence of the new lifestyle model confirms the mutation of the society. This is noticed much more drastically in Eastern Europe due to the sudden change in the political and economic systems; • The current urbanistic structures will be forced to submit to the post modernistic conceptual models; otherwise, they will be gradually turned into ghettos. The change in circumstances may grant the chance for new ideas to be born. Up until the total globalisation, the dogma that the bureaucratic organisation is a condition for effectiveness [6] was prevalent. The speed of the economics of the globalisation is too rapid to allow for the existence of such cumbersome establishment while the competitiveness is too high to condition the luxury of having bureaucracy of several stages [15,89]. This means that globalisation allows the postmodernistic society to dismiss the need of bureaucracy. The strength of the post-modernistic society, in general, is that it finds the forms of mutated environment and activities agreeable, which are open to multiculturalism, accepting multiplicity and demanding multidisciplinarity. This is especially relevant when deciding on the fate of the large-scale residential districts [12, 83–91]. Postmodernism grants the possibility to manage the large-scale residential districts by introducing new concepts and forms and applying various scientific and cultural potentials. However, time is of importance here: if delayed too long, there will be high probability that the large-scale residential districts will turn into ghettos, where the prevalent social problems will become larger than the problems of the physical environment and the restructuring and modernisation of these districts will become much more difficult to implement. A conclusion is drawn that the urbanistic logic is perfect for the areas, where the ownership relations and social needs are clear; however, it is not easily adapted in the areas, where the ownership relations and social needs are too ambiguous. The real needs of the population and changes of living conditions in reality challenge to create a new type of algorithm steps for modelling restructuring scenarios for large-scale residential districts. Such a scenario can not be based solely on energy-saving ideas because: • saving energy resources has little to do with the creation of a comprehensive residence; • the economic potential of population is difficult to predict; therefore, the claims that massive construction of residential areas will remain attractive for a long period of time is doubtful. The society has changed along with the desired attributes of a place of residence. Although it is difficult to imagine these desires to come true, it is clear that the modernisation of several separate apartment buildings is not the way to go.

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medium, the countries with the avant-garde style of architecture are considering this problem seriously. The researchers from Utrecht University present a systemised experience gathered while analysing the large-scale residential districts of the cities of Western Europe and modelling the possibilities for modernisation and restructuring. By accentuating that the current situation in Eastern Europe is not adequate to the one in Western Europe, van Kempen et al. summarise: “The physical design of large housing estates followed the design proposals of the Modern Movement in architecture. At the time large housing estates were considered a symbol of modernity and improved the living conditions of residents. After some decades of use and, in some of the cases, little maintenance, the decay of the buildings is evident and the estates are no longer state of the art.” [12, 97] The analysis of the need of investments into restructuring is stated in the RESTATE project. In many cases, the need for additional investments to make certain changes in policy is identified as well. It is offered to direct the attention towards the costs of different attitudes and possibilities. Several of the scenarios are utopian due to their exceedingly high prices. The remaining scenarios may be classified as the issue of long-term or short-term strategy arrangement. Also, the perspectives of the change in market demand must be perceived as well. Van Kempen et al. conclude [12, 98]: “If existing poor quality dwellings are merely patched up with low levels of investment, will this solve problem or merely postpone it?” The identification of the problems and difference between the social and physical problems in the studied area is presented in the RESTATE project [7] as the first objective of the regeneration process. The following allocation of the different physical intervention types is suggested: 1. Revitalization; 2. Reconstruction. District revitalisation tools for improvement of physical environment. The look of the buildings is restored and a new quality for energy saving is formulated. Improvements to individual buildings, common spaces and utility services, and development of the areas between buildings are performed. It is determined that any delays in implementing such “minor” intervention cause the necessity for more expensive and drastic tools, i.e., demolition [13, 42–43]. The experience shows that in most cases minor intervention is not enough. The status of the large-scale residential districts in post-Soviet states was accurately characterised by Sigurds Grava: “The irony of the Soviet legacy is that there are not enough mass-produced apartments, and everyone hates these buildings. This is not really a paradox. The housing shortage still exists; people fight to get a new apartment, and, once they secure one, they see all its inadequacies: • Construction is sloppy, thus, some units may be in danger of falling down, but almost all need capital repairs and expensive maintenance, particularly to the plumbing, elevators, windows, and wiring. • The buildings are massive and overwhelming, beyond any human scale. Families with children continue to have difficulties adjusting.

II. Experiment

The large-scale residential districts have also become a de facto urbanistic problem [12, 12–13] for the cities of Western Europe in the 21st century. Differently from the post-Soviet

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Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

Fig. 2. The mass housing district of Gellerup, Århus, Denmark

Fig. 4. The site plan of rebuilt Gellerup district [4]

Fig. 3. The image of rebuilt Gellerup district [4]

Fig. 5. Gellerup – the largest Danish mass housing residential district (A) and a relatively small Lithuanian analogue – Putinai district, Alytus. Source: Google Earth

•

The apartment layouts tend to be uniform and inflexible, so that the units can not be modified. As living standards improve, residents will want larger apartments and more rooms. The heavy concrete bearing walls preclude interior reconstruction. • Crime is rampant and burglar-proofing is difficult. • Parking areas are remote, particularly in the older projects. • Provisions are inadequate for washing and drying laundry. Garbage disposal is primitive. • Public transport is inadequate.” [5] Most probably, the mild regeneration will not serve its purpose in the large-scale residential districts of the Soviet type; therefore, special attention should be devoted to the second type of physical intervention indicated in the RESTATE [7]: District redesigning tools may be the necessary solution, when the district lacks any strong positions in the real estate market (hereinafter referred to as the RE market) and when

the revitalization tools may not be applied due to high costs or complicated transformation of the buildings. The partial redesigning and reconstruction of the large-scale residential districts may change its position in the market if the following is to be performed: creation of new types of housing, new commercial and other premises, new public spaces, built-up reorganisation by relinquishing the monotonous and repetitive architecture, formation of favourable circumstances, etc. Reconstruction demands a higher level of intervention and larger investments when compared to renovation. Demolition is a tool with a heavy impact upon the surrounding areas. The process of demolition is long; therefore, it is important to clearly understand the desirable goals in each case. Demolition gives new possibilities to the physical environment but it is impossible without the political willpower. Successful strategies improve living conditions and the functioning of the society. However, the demolition process is hazardous, extra expensive

Architecture and Urban Planning Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

and must be implemented only as the most effective method to reach the set goals. In most cases, it is likely that many reasons may occur to change the situation by employing the demolition tool in the districts, where monotonous build-up is dominant and no variety of building types and height exists. In conclusion, it may be stated that the RESTATE research [7] is a systemised and professional post-modernistic approach towards the large-scale residential districts. The case of Århus. The Danish architects EFFEKT suggested their own solution for the tender held by the Århus municipality in 2009 for the preparation of the Gellerup district reconstruction vision [4]. The largest residential district in Denmark was designed and constructed during 1968–1972 from sectional structures as an ambitious “modernistic dream”. Currently, the district image is poor: concrete buildings, dead ends and car parking lots are dominating the area. Radical changes are suggested as follows: new streets for the large-scale use of the area, the increase in the build-up density and the variety of functions and building types. Such changes are radical – the EFFEKT team says at their webpage [4]. The reconstruction of the devastated spaces was designed to be turned into city streets, promenades, courts and the revitalised “green areas”. The new main street is intended to house business premises and 1000 new workplaces. The typological variety of public spaces is suggested. The central park is restored and renewed with both infrastructure and biodiversity with the goal to introduce possibilities for various experiences. The buildings of the new type will present new lifestyle forms and types, and the residents will have a choice in the building types and building location in the district. The old panel buildings are transformed into new designs with contemporary lofts, etc. The case of Alytus. When comparing the large-scale residential districts of the Republic of Lithuania with the European ones, it is evident that the physical depreciation of the large-scale residential districts causes the increase in social problems. The European practice shows that the critical level of depth of such problems leaves only one way out, i.e., reconstruction. This is hardly possible in post-Soviet states due to the condominium model chosen during the privatisation of houses, the uncertainty of the land ownership in the large-scale residential districts and the absence of the state urbanistic policy regarding this matter. The attempts [3, 14] to envisage the possible scenarios do not leave the safety of the academic medium, and their implementation lacks the political willpower. The further studies of this field are related not only to the socioeconomic environment but particularly to the special urbanistic modelling. A building group of Alytus large-scale residential district was chosen for the study of such a type. The physical parameters were assessed during the study. Also, a high level of discrepancy between the official and non-official renovation prices was detected during the study. The difference between the lowest possible price and the highest noticed price of renovation is four times and though it has no influence on the urbanistic modelling it denotes the limits of the socioeconomic possibilities. The aforementioned limits are significant when modelling the possibilities for area restructuring. According to the public data, the average cost of renovation for the entire microrayon is EUR 12.9 million. Theoretically, part

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Fig. 6. The part of Putinai district. Chosen area for the concept is marked

of the budget can be covered through EU funds and the national residential building renovation programme. The studied portion will need 14.75% of the aforementioned amount; therefore, attraction of additional funds is a goal as well. Part of this amount should be used for modelling the urbanistic solution of the regeneration process on the basis of cooperation between the society and local government. The experience in identical processes and recommendations, as well as the critical assessment of local socio-cultural medium in the context of globalisation were employed in creating the scenario for the hypothetic area regeneration, which is presented below. Also, the experience, gathered while working in the academic environment and during internship with the colleagues from the Urban Research Lab at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Department of Urban Design (hereinafter referred to as the UAML), was applied. During the period 2005–2010, under the guidance of Professor A. Vyšniūnas, scientific feasibility methodology was perfected and widely applied to various practical urban regeneration and urban restructuring projects from visual identity of the city assessment and improvement to the working with local territorial communities. The details of this experience are the object of a far more comprehensive scientific work. Thus, a feasible theoretic model reflecting the needs of the changed society and the ratio of these needs with the unused possibilities of urbanistic structure is presented. The model is systemised into four steps, which denote the action limits. In each particular case, these limits may be expanded or constricted: Situation identification • The studied building group consists of seven five-storey buildings and one non-economic nine-storey building (362 apartments) constructed in 1968. The physical status of the buildings is poor. Although all of the Soviet panel buildings can be called uneconomic – still the high ones

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

Fig. 7. Assessment of the situation

Fig. 8. Concept – an action plan for the project, the first physical intervention

have outdated lifting systems, which require relatively high investment. Also, high buildings require more complex care. Territorial reserves allow replacing them with lower ones. It has a positive impact on the city’s image. • The status of the premises and their equipment is critical. • No land ownership. • Open spaces belonging to nobody and used for car parking are dominant. According to the standards of the Republic of Lithuania, 435 spaces for vehicle parking are intended for the houses with 362 apartments. Concept: an action plan, project and the first physical intervention • A structure is built for temporary residence. • The structures to be demolished are identified, new buildings of various functions are designed and public spaces are formed. • The land lots are formed and the ownership limits are defined. • The construction of the underground parking lot is performed. • The pre-selected buildings are demolished. Phase 1: Modernisation • The structures that are not to be demolished are modernised: the application of the ground floors for the non-residential purposes, construction of attics and apartment expansion for current residents. The buildings are expanded according to the situation; additional apartments are built, etc. • A community building with a hall and with premises designed for various functions is constructed for future local community activity and cultural organisations. • Public spaces are constructed. A private courtyard with a square is designed. Phase 2: Development • The second phase of constructing the community house: social dwelling is constructed. • A HUB is constructed: a structure with an easily transformable interior for provision of social services and contemporary business and production. • New polyfunctional buildings are constructed: the lower

floors are designed for business premises and the upper ones for residential purposes. • The temporary structure is transformed according to the needs, e.g., the elderly nursing home is established, etc. The presented scenario is hypothetical and its implementation possibilities depend on various factors. However, under favourable conditions and in the presence of political willpower this scenario is realistic and, in essence, it complies with the needs of the post-modernistic society. Separate details may be further discussed in the close circle of professionals. When trying to answer the question what the large-scale residential district (in Lithuania) is in the post-modernistic society, it is important to first agree on how the phenomenon is perceived in general. In the present studied case, the question was raised while perceiving the large-scale residential districts as: • Depreciated residential urban structures, which cause a negative visual and semantic image of the Lithuanian cities and, first of all, deplorable living conditions; • Obstruction (taking up incredibly large urbanised areas of the cities) in implementing more advanced urban ideas while using human and environmentally-friendly technologies; • The space for society’s existence, the depreciation of which is partially not being solved on purpose, which in turn causes the naturally increasing dictate of capital and leads to the situation when the small group of society members get rich not by the way of high level technologies and brainstorming but rather with the help of “white noise” of information by exhausting the society materially and socially. Conclusions

The large-scale residential district is: 1. An inadequately assessed residential area, the residents of which feel no natural connection to it, do not cherish or enjoy it, etc. However, this is nothing new: the large-scale residential districts have never been the indicator of pleasant residential environment and lifestyle during the Soviet times.

Architecture and Urban Planning Petras Džervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

Fig. 9. Phase 1: modernization

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Fig. 10. Phase 2: expansion

2. A perspective area kept hostage by the state. This happened due to the endless land restitution with elements of criminal nature and the chosen “partial ownership” model, i.e., condominium, during the privatisation of former state apartments. Both of these moments are crucial when finding solutions for the possible integrated modernisation of districts. 3. A lifestyle form rejected in the consciousness of the postmodernistic society: non-flexible, unable to house more people, with no outlook for investments, etc. 4. A platform for the analogues occurring in the West, which will grow ever stronger in the future: social disintegration of the residential areas on the basis of which the multiculturalism is shrouded in mystery. Monofunctional units of urban structure, in which the retaining and exploiting of the post-modernistic cultural forms existing de facto, are on principle quite impossible. It can be explained by the excessively static and monotonous physical environment, in which no tradition of successful administration exists (even under conditions of economic boom).

[cited 19.07.2012]. http://www.effekt.dk/ (Additional resource on project: http://www.helhedsplangellerup.dk/da/Gellerup-in-English.aspx)

5. Grava, S. (1993) The Urban Heritage of Soviet Regime: The Case of Riga, Latvia. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 59 No. 1 (Winter), p. 9-30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944369308975842 6. Held, D., Mcgrew, A., Goldblatt, D., Perraton, J. Global transformations: Politics, Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Polity, 1999. 138 p. 7. Restructuring Large Housing Estates in European Cities: Good Practices and New Visions for Sustainable Neighbourhoods and Cities [online]. RESTATE [cited 19.07.2012]. http://www.restate.geog.uu.nl 8. Ruseckas, D., Čiulionienė, I. Aukštybinių monolitinių pastatų renovacijos Vilniuje specifika / Danas Ruseckas, Indrė Čiurlionienė // Urbanistinis forumas. T.3: Būsto modernizavimas: nuo pastato iki miesto at(si) naujinimo. Vilnius: Lietuvos Respublikos Aplinkos ministerija, 2009. ISSN 2029-3399. p. 8-9. (Available also from internet: http://www.am.lt/VI/ files/0.577071001291287969.pdf) 9. Ruseckaitė, I. Sovietinių metų gyvenamieji rajonai Vilniuje: tipiškumo problema. Urbanistika ir architektūra (Town Planning and Architecture), 2010, Vol. 34(5), p. 270–281. 10. Steger, M. B. Globalizacija. Labai trumpas įvadas. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 2008. 207 p. 11. Valstybinio audito ataskaita : Daugiabučių namų atnaujinimas (modernizavimas) (Lietuvos Respublikos Valstybės kontrolė). Vilnius: Lietuvos Respublikos valstybės kontrolė, 2010, 49 p. 12. Van Kempen, R., Murie, A., Knorr-Siedow, T., Tosic, I. Regenerating Large Housing Estates in Europe: A guide to better practice. Utrecht: Utrecht University, 2006. 192 p. 13. Van Kempen, R., Dekker, K., Hall, S., & Tosic, I., eds. Restructuring Large Housing Estates in Europe, Bristol: The Policy Press, 2005. 380 p. 14. Archive of Urbanistinės analizės mokslo laboratorija (UAML) VGTU AF department of Urban Design. Užsakomasis darbas “Gyvenamųjų rajonų ir pastatų renovacijos metodinių principų ir kriterijų sistema” (Autoriai: A. Vyšniūnas, M. Cirtautas, P. Džervus; Užsakovas: Lietuvos architektų rūmai LAR), Vilnius, 2010, p 3. (Case study “Program of rehabilitation of environment. Methodoligical principles and system of criteria for renovation of residential districts and separate building” (Authors: A. Vyšniūnas, M. Cirtautas, P. Džervus; Client: Architects’ Council of Lithuanian LAR). 15. Webster, F. Informacinės visuomenės teorijos. Kaunas: Poligrafija ir informatika, 2006. 324 p.

References 1. Bardauskienė, D. Miesto bendrasis planas ir ekspertiniai vertinimai. Urbanistika ir architektūra (Town Planning and Architecture), Vol. 31. No.1, 2007, p. 119–130.

2. Baudrillard, J. In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities, or, The End of the Social and Other Essays. New York: Semiotext(e), 1983. 95 p. 3. Archive of Urbanistinės analizės mokslo laboratorija (UAML) VGTU AF department of Urban Design. Užsakomasis darbas “Kvartalo tarp Tuskulėnų, Minties ir Žirmūnų g. Vilniuje kompleksinis atnaujinimas. Visuomenės įtraukimo į planavimo procesą modelis” (Autoriai: M.Cirtautas, P.Džervus; Užsakovas: Vilniaus miesto savvaldybė, Būsto ir Urbanistinės plėtros agentūra BUPA). Vilnius, 2010. 20 p. (Case study “Integrated renovation of urban block between Tuskulėnų, Minties and Žirmūnų str. in Vilnius. Model of community involvement in the planning process. Authors: M.Cirtautas, P.Džervus; Client: Vilnius Municipality, Housing and Urban Development Agency BUPA). 4. Architectural proposal GELERUP [online]. EFFECT architects web page

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Petras D탑ervus, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Postmodern Discourse of Post-Soviet Large Housing Districts: Modelling the Possibilities

Petras D탑ervus (Vilnius, 1982), B.Arch (2005), MSc.Arch (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, 2007). Currently he is a PhD student at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Department of Urban Design. Research interests: urban design, spatial layout of towns and districts, restructuring of large-scale housing estates, public spaces of urban structures.

Contact Data

Petras D탑ervus Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Department of Urban Design Address: Pylimo g. 26 / Trak킬 g. 1, 1.8. kab., LT-01132, Vilnius, Lithuania Web: www.petrasdzervus.com E-mail: petras@petrasdzervus.com

Architecture and Urban Planning

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.007 2013 / 7

Sustainable City – A City without Crime

Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology the prism of urban configuration [9]. B. Hillier, who is one of the co-founders and developers of space syntax theory and method, proposed using the space syntax model to link crime activity to the patterns of activity and movement in urban structure, and to identify properties of the urban structure, which may have an impact on crime in cities [10]. According to B. Hillier and O. Sahbaz, such factors as movement, land use and high and low activity patterns are to be linked in some way to crime [4]. According to these scholars, urban crime could be reduced by the presence of pedestrians on the streets and the higher number of entrances from residential houses to the streets. From one point of view, this statement could be true since the more people pass the street the more it is controlled. For criminals it would be harder to commit a crime in a public space, which is observed by passengers and inhabitants of surrounding buildings. On the other hand, overcrowded streets can be a good target for pickpockets. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse the effect of urban structure on the different types of crime separately. The investigation of crime and its prevention in Lithuanian cities are carried out by the Institute of Law and some Lithuanian universities. Most usually they seek to ascertain a statistical situation and tendencies, whereas the territorial coherence is studied more on a level of the whole city or its large territorial parts without linking the research result with spatial properties of a certain territory. Space syntax enables us to investigate relations between urban structure and crime in a city, then to reduce crime by restructuring urban open public spaces. This new approach to urban crime through the prism of urban planning will let us not only analyse the present situation, but also forecast crime reduction/increase in various urban patterns.

Abstract. The focus of this research is to check if urban crime is related to the social spatial urban structure and to identify the most unsafe territories in the city of Klaipeda from the point of view of crime and urban structure. Space syntax theory and method, as well as correlation analysis have been used for this purpose. The research results have revealed that all types of crimes depend on global integration and global depth: the more integrated and shallow the open public spaces are the more crime incidents in these spaces happen. Keywords: crime, space syntax, urban structure.

The concept of sustainable development requires using the possibilities and potentials of environment maximally. Contemporary urbanism looks at the social, economic, cultural contents of the city as a primary and urban form and as secondary aspects of city planning. Despite the above-mentioned orientation of planning towards social determinism, the analysis of urban spatial structures plays an important role in understanding and prediction of human behaviour. Human behaviour in open public spaces can be described as movement to and movement through the spaces. The intensity and character of movement, assessed by using the space syntax method, enable us to identify the foreground and background of urban pattern. This stage of the research has also revealed that some public spaces are safer than others. The hypothesis of the research is that urban crime is closely related to urban structure. The authors seek to identify how urban spatial pattern correlates and affects urban crime. The objective of the proposed research is formulated while having in mind the alienation of society and bad criminogenic situation in Lithuanian cities. Results of the proposed project will allow implementing the sustainable urban development in Lithuania more effectively, to realise the social spatial reasons of urban crime and identify the earlier urban mistakes. The research presented in this paper is based on the space syntax theory and method [1], [2]. Space syntax is about identifying, representing, and measuring the social spatial relationships in our built environment [3]. Such research of urban crime through the social spatial structure of a city by the application of space syntax method has never been conducted in Lithuania. Though, in the UK (B. Hillier, J. etc.), USA (J. Peponis, A. Carpenter etc.), as well as in Brazil, Turkey, Germany, Holland, Denmark, and Poland, the space syntax method is more frequently used to analyse the urban crime and make forecasts. B. Hillier and O. Sahbaz conducted thorough research of crime and urban structure in London [4]. A. van Nes and M.J.J. López applied this method for the analysis of relation between urban social spatial structure and thefts from cars in some Dutch cities [5], [6]. C. Monteiro and C.P. Iannicelli analysed the relation between robberies and thefts and urban structure of the city of Recife in Brazil [7]. A. Awtuch investigated the dependence of safety in residential blocks and spatial urban structure in Gdansk, Poland [8]. E. Friedrich with colleagues conducted research of anti-social behaviour through

I. Research Object and Methods

Klaipėda, the third largest Lithuanian city that is situated on the coast of the Baltic Sea, is the research object. The city occupies the area of 110 km2, and it has about 161 300 inhabitants. According to the statistical data [11], Klaipėda remains one of the leaders having in mind the number of robberies, thefts, public nuisance and murders in Lithuania. Taking into account the number of all types of crime occurred in Klaipėda during 2008–2010, it has the second-highest crime rate in Lithuania after Vilnius. For the research, the data of 2010–2011 on various types of crime in Klaipeda has been analysed: destruction or damage of property, public nuisance, thefts, crimes against a person, explosives, other crimes. For the analysis of urban structure of Klaipėda, the space syntax method has been applied. According to the method, open public spaces (streets, squares, pedestrian paths, etc.) are crossed by axial lines. Thus, the axial maps need to be prepared. The axial maps consist of the “longest and fewest straight lines that go through all convex spaces and make all axial links” [12], [13]. The axial structure is one-dimensional and it “describes the

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology. Sustainable City – A City without Crime

TABLE 1 Kendall’s Tau_B Correlation Coefficient Values (weak correlations are marked with grey colour)

0.095**

Global integration 0.226**

Local integration R2 0.129**

Local integration R3 0.134**

-0.201**

0.066**

0.235**

0.136**

0.149**

-0.180**

0.087**

0.223**

0.142**

0.145**

-0.110**

0.066**

0.146**

0.089**

0.100**

All the crimes 0.126** 0.041* -0.227** ** Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the .05 level (2-tailed)

0.038*

0.283**

0.151**

0.175**

Destruction or damage of property Public nuisance Thefts

Crimes against a person Explosives Other crimes

Connectivity

Control

Depth

Fast choice

0.139**

0.061**

-0.186**

0.138**

0.058**

0.150**

0.067**

0.131** 0.088**

0.137**

0.064** 0.041*

0.059**

-0.188**

0.069**

-0.214**

0.062**

0.232**

0.244**

0.123**

0.141**

0.133**

0.155**

TABLE 2 Spearman’s Rho Correlation Coefficient Values (weak correlations are marked with grey colour)

0.121**

Global integration 0.297**

Local integration R2 0.164**

Local integration R3 0.175**

-0.270**

0.088**

0.319**

0.181**

0.202**

0.088**

-0.240**

-0.247**

0.113**

0.089**

0.300**

0.187**

0.195**

0.049*

-0.134**

0.079**

0.182**

0.107**

0.124**

All the crimes 0.156** 0.056* -0.314** ** Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed) * Correlation is significant at the .05 level (2-tailed)

0.051*

0.394**

0.205**

0.243**

Destruction or damage of property Public nuisance Thefts

Crimes against a person Explosives Other crimes

Connectivity

Control

Depth

Fast choice

0.162**

0.078**

-0.242**

0.168**

0.078**

0.180**

0.097**

0.155**

0.170**

0.083**

0.080**

-0.291**

0.082**

degree to which any space extends linearly” [12]. It gives us the information about where we may go in the system. Axiality is more related with movement inside the town. According to the method, connectivity, control, global depth, fast choice, global integration, local integration R2 and local integration R3 maps have to be prepared for the social spatial analysis of urban structure of Klaipėda. Connectivity is a local characteristic, which enables us to know about the direct connection of spaces. Connectivity is defined as the number of nodes that connect directly to a given node [14]. Control measures the degree of control, when one axis controls the entrance to and from other axes, which are directly linked. Depth defines the number of steps from any node to any other node [14]. Depth is related to the integration. According to B. Hillier, the integration of axial lines correlates well with the number of pedestrians found to be walking along the axial line [15]. Integration measures how easily accessible a node is from other nodes in the system [14]. Integration can be measured at a global scale – having in mind that a person can reach all the segments in the system (Rn), and at a local scale – when a person

0.310**

0.335**

0.160**

0.190**

0.176**

0.212**

has to make one turn to reach the segment (R1), two turns (R2) and so on. Fast choice shows how many times an axis is used in comparison with all the shortest paths. To assess the relations and the strength of relations between various types of crimes and urban structure of Klaipėda, the correlation analysis has been applied. The variables describing the number of crimes on the streets and social spatial characteristics of urban structure (connectivity, control, depth, etc.) are scale. Therefore, Kendall’s tau_b and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients have been calculated. Kendall’s tau-b correlation coefficient is used to measure the association between two measured quantities. Kendall’s tau-b, unlike tau-a, makes adjustments for ties and is suitable for square tables. In our case, we have 7x7 table (according to the number of variables), thereby the table is square. Values of Kendall’s tau_b range from –1 to +1. Spearman’s correlation coefficient (Spearman’s rho) is a non-parametric measure of statistical dependence between two variables. It assesses how well the relationship between two variables can be described using a monotonic function. If

Architecture and Urban Planning Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology. Sustainable City – A City without Crime

2013 / 7

Fig. 1. Global integration of Klaipėda

Fig. 2. Global depth of Klaipėda

there are no repeated data values, a perfect Spearman correlation of +1 or −1 occurs, when each of the variables is a perfect monotone function of the other. For instance, when X increases, Y monotonously increases (not necessarily linearly) or decreases. For the both correlation coefficients, the correlation can be: • very strong, when the value is –1 or +1, • strong, when the value is from –1 to –0.7 or from +1 to +0.7, • moderate, when the value is from –0.7 to –0.5 or from +0.7 to +0.5, • weak, when the value is from –0.5 to –0.2 or from +0.5 to +0.2 and • very weak, when the value is from –0.2 to 0 or from +0.2 to 0. A value of 0 indicates the absence of relation.

have been covered with the maps of the data on the number and location of various types of crime. Calculation results on Kendall’s tau_b correlation coefficient values (Table I) demonstrate that there is a weak relation between all the types of crime, except explosives, and global integration. Also there is a weak negative relation between public nuisance and depth rtau_b=-0.201 (p=0.000<α=0.05), other crimes and depth rtau_b=-0.214 (p=0.000<α=0.05). The calculation results of Spearman’s rho correlation coefficient (Table II) reveal weak negative relations between all the types of crimes, except explosives, and depth. Also there are weak relations between all the types of crimes, except explosives, and global integration. According to Kendall’s tau_b and Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients, there are very weak relations between connectivity, control, fast choice, global integration, local integration R2, local integration R3, and all the analysed types of crimes. The prepared maps of global integration (Figure 1) and global depth (Figure 2) of Klaipėda reveal potentially the most and the least dangerous open public spaces from the point of view of crime and urban structure. Hot colours (red, orange, and yellow)

II. Results and Discussion

The axial maps of Klaipėda have been prepared and analysed: connectivity, control, global depth, fast choice, global integration, local integration R2 and local integration R3. Then the axial maps 61

Architecture and Urban Planning 2013 / 7

Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology. Sustainable City – A City without Crime

TABLE 3 Comparative Analysis of the Most Unsafe Parts of Klaipėda Name and number of city part Old Town (1)

New Town (2)

Lietuvninkai (3)

Pušynas (4) Kretinga (5)

Universitetas (6) Miškas (7) Mažasis kaimelis (8) Liepoja (9) Baltikalnė (10)

Rumpiškė (11)

Birutė (12)

Vėtrungė (13)

Kaunas (14)

Land use

Detailed description

Commercial Public Green areas Residential (very few) Infrastructural (very few) Residential (blocks of flats and private houses) Commercial Public Green areas Recreational Industrial Infrastructural Residential Public Commercial Green areas Residential (blocks of flats)

Commercial lands occupy the most part of this area

Residential (blocks of flats and private houses) Public Infrastructural Commercial (very few) Green areas (very few) Public Residential (private houses) Commercial (very few) Public (very few) Residential (blocks of flats) Commercial (very few) Public (very few) Residential (blocks of flats) Commercial (very few) Residential (private houses and blocks of flats) Public Commercial Industrial Residential (private houses) Commercial Industrial Infrastructural Public (very few) Residential (private houses and blocks of flats) Commercial Industrial Public Infrastructural Green areas Residential (private houses and blocks of flats) Commercial Public Infrastructural (very few) Residential (private houses) Green areas Public Commercial

Fig. 3. Master plan of Klaipėda [16]

Mixed land use. There are very few private houses

Blocks of houses and commercial buildings occupy the most part of this area Private residential houses and 2-3 storey residential houses Blocks of houses occupy the most part of this area. There are very few private houses. In general, it is a mixed land use area Public lands occupy the most part of this area It is a prestigious part of Klaipėda. 5-12 storey residential houses dominate here One of the most prestigious parts of Klaipėda city. Luxurious private houses dominate here 1-3 storey residential houses dominate Block of flats occupy the most part of this area

In the Western part 5- and some 9-storey blocks of flats are situated. In the Eastern part of Rumpiškė commercial, idunstrial and infrastructural areas dominate In the Easthern part 5-storey blocks of flats dominate. In the Western part there are mixed land use areas and various buildings: 2-3 storey residential houses, storehouses, garages, scholastic institutions and various companies Residential lands occupy the most part of this area

Private houses occupy the most part of this area

Architecture and Urban Planning Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology. Sustainable City – A City without Crime

mean very integrated spaces on the global integration map, as well as shallow spaces on the global depth map – in other words, the foreground network of high-activity linked centres. According to the correlation analysis, these spaces have the highest crime rates: the more a space is integrated and shallow the more accidents happen there. Cold colours (blue, dark green, etc.) mean low integrated or disintegrated spaces on the global integration map, as well as deep spaces on the global depth map, i.e., the background network of lower activity spaces. These spaces have the lowest crime rates according to the correlation analysis. The number of crime incidents is presented in the circles for some streets. The research has revealed the foreground network of spaces with more people activity and movement (marked with hot colours on both maps), which have the highest crime rate and, accordingly, are unsafe for inhabitants and passengers. In the case of Klaipėda, these dangerous city parts are the Old and New Towns, Lietuvninkai, Pušynas, Kretinga, Universitetas, Miškas, Mažasis kaimelis, Liepoja, Baltikalnė, Rumpiškė, Birutė, Vėtrungė and Kaunas districts, Šiaurės and Šilutės avenues, as well as Liepojos, Mokyklos, Kauno and Dubysos streets. The comparable analysis of these city parts is proposed in Table III. These urban parts and streets have evolved into very integrating and shallow open public spaces. It may be the reason of their unsafety. However, other factors, such as land use, street segment length and angle they intersect with each other, etc., may also affect the urban crime. The analysis of these factors is the objective of our further research. The analysed Šiaurės and Šilutės avenues, as well as Liepojos, Mokyklos and Dubysos streets are B category streets, and Kauno street is C category street. There is very intensive traffic on these streets. It is worth mentioning that not the whole area of the abovementioned parts of Klaipėda are dangerous. Unsafe areas are layered by the foreground of global integration and global depth maps. Despite the fact that almost all the most unsafe parts of Klaipėda include residential, public and commercial land use, we can not conclude that the land use increases the rate of urban crime. It is logical that residential, public and commercial lands attrack more people – inhabitants and passengers. As we may know, the more people pass the space the more accidents may happen in this space. On the other hand, in the space with more eyewitnesses it becomes more difficult to commit a crime. Hereby, for the more detailed analysis and identification of urban factors, which influence crime incidents in cities, we need more detailed data on the urban crime and existing urban structure.

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The parts of Klaipėda that have potentially high crime rates are the Old and New Towns, Lietuvninkai, Pušynas, Kretinga, Universitetas, Miškas, Mažasis kaimelis, Liepoja, Baltikalnė, Rumpiškė, Birutė, Vėtrungė and Kaunas districts, Šiaurės and Šilutės avenues, as well as Liepojos, Mokyklos, Kauno and Dubysos streets. References 1. 2. 3.

10. 11. 12.

13.

Conclusions

Hillier, B. Space is the machine. London: UCL, 2007. 355 p. Hillier, B., Hanson, J. The social logic of space. London: Cambridge University Press, 1989. 296 p. Peponis, J. Space Syntax. Implications. A Newsletter by InformeDesign [online]. A Web site for design and human behavior research, Vol. 4, Issue 12 (2005) [cited 15.07.2012]. http://www.informedesign.org/_news/dec_v04r-p.pdf Hillier, B., Sahbaz, O. Crime and urban design: an evidence based approach. Designing sustainable cities. Singapore: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2009. p. 162–185. van Nes, A., López, M.J.J. Macro and micro scale spatial variables and the distribution of residential burglaries and theft from cars: an investigation of space and crime in Dutch cities of Alkmaar and Goada. The Journal of Space Syntax, 2010, Vol. 1, Issue 2, p. 296–314. López, M.J.J., van Nes, A. Space and crime in Dutch built environments: macro and micro scale spatial conditions for residential burglaries and thefts from cars. Proceedings of 6th International Space Syntax Symposium, 2007, p. 026-01–026-14. Monteiro, C., Iannicelli, C.P. Spatial profiles of urban crime. The role of morphology in a context of social inequality. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium, 2009, p. 080:1–080:11. Awtuch, A. Spatial order and security. Case study of two housing estates. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium, 2009, p. 005:1–005:10. Friedrich, E., Hillier, B., Chiaradia, A. Anti-social behaviour and urban configuration. Proceedings of the 7th International Space Syntax Symposium, 2009, p. 034:1–034:16. Hillier, B. Can Streets Be Made Safe? Urban Design International., 2004, Nr. 9(1), p. 31–45. Rodiklių duomenų bazė, 2012 [online]. Lietuvos statistikos departamentas [cited 15.07.2012]. http://db1.stat.gov.lt/statbank/default.asp?w=1024 Hillier, B., Hanson, J., Peponis, J. Syntactic Analysis of Settlements. Architecture et Comportement/Architecture and Behaviour, 1987, Vol. 3, No 3, p. 217–231. Topcu, M., Kubat, A. S. Morphological Comparison of Two Historical Anatolian Towns [online]. Proceedings of 6th International Space Syntax Symposium. 2007 [cited 15.07.2012]. http://www. spacesyntaxistanbul.itu.edu.tr/papers%5Clongpapers%5C028%20 -%20Topcu%20Kubat.pdf

14. Raford, N., & Ragland, D. R. Space Syntax: An Innovative Pedestrian Volume Modeling Tool for Pedestrian Safety [online]. Transportation Research Record, 2004, Vol. 1878, p. 66–74 [cited 15.07.2012]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3141/1878-09 15. Hillier, B., Penn, A., Hanson, J., Grajewski, T., Xu, J. Natural movement: or configuration and attraction in urban pedestrian movement. Environment and Planning B : Planning and Design, 1993, No. 20, p. 29–66. http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/b200029 16. Klaipėdos miesto bendrasis planas, Klaipėdos miesto savivaldybės taryba, 2007 [cited 15.07.2012]. http://www.klaipeda.lt/klaipeda/m/m_files/wfiles/ file1827.jpg

According to the research results, all types of crime depend on such spatial characteristics of urban structure as global integration and global depth. Therefore, for the further research of urban safety through urban structure we should use the maps of global integration and global depth. The correlation analysis has revealed that the more integrated and shallow the open public spaces are the more crime incidents in these spaces happen, i.e., the foreground network of the city is more dangerous from the point of view of all the analysed types of crime, and background network is more safe.

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Irina Matijošaitienė, Kęstutis Zaleckis, Inga Stankevičė, Kaunas University of Technology. Sustainable City – A City without Crime

Irina Matijošaitienė (Kaunas, 1982), B.Arch. (2004), MSc.Arch. (Kaunas University of Technology, 2006), Dr.Env.Eng. (Kaunas University of Technology, 2011), PhD research thesis: The Principles of Formation of the Hedonomic Road Landscape, available for reading online at: http://en.ktu.lt/content/dissertation/ principles-formation-hedonomic-roadlandscape-0; scientific adviser: Prof., Dr. Kęstutis Zaleckis. LECTURER at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Kaunas University of Technology. RESEARCHER in two national projects financed by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, one project financed by the Ministry of Environment and one international INTERREG project, COST Action participant. MEMBER of organisational committee of the Drawing Olympiad for the 11th and 12th grade pupils. Participant of various scientific conferences and author of more than 26 scientific publications, including the methodological material for students. • Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė, I. Hidden urban revolution in Kaunas downtown area: 1935-1988-2011. Eight International Space Syntax Symposium, January 3-6, 2012, Santiago de Chile, Chile: Proceedings [electronic source]. Santiago de Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2012., p. 1-16. • Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė, I. Investigation of changes in Kaunas downtown social-spatial code. Land Management for Urban Dynamics: Innovative Methods and Practices in a Changing Europe : COST action TU0602 final report. Milano: Maggioli Editore, 2011, p. 493-500. Current and previous research interests: urban and road landscape, urban crime, space syntax, hedonomics, Kansei engineering, statistics in land management. Awards: In 2010 was chosen by students as one of the best lecturers of the autumn semester, 2009.

Inga Stankevičė (Kaunas, 1984), Bachelor in Political Sciences and International Relations (Vilnius University, VU, 2007), MBA (Kaunas University of Technology, KTU, 2009), Doctoral Student, research subject – Institutional Dimension of Innovation Strategies of Firms (since 2009). Exchange student/visiting researcher: Bergen University (UiB), Norway (2005–2006); University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland (2009–2010); University of Nottingham Business School (2012). JUNIOR RESEARCH ASSISTANT (since 2012), Department. of Strategic Management, and the Department of Architecture and Land Management, KTU. CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER, JSC Runway International (since 2007). Co-author of a full (4 years) KTU Bachelor Program Leadership, and of a full semester course of KTU Bachelor Program in Leadership – Virtual Networks. Participant of various scientific conferences (Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain), author of 11 scientific publications. Junior Research Assistant in scientific projects, contracted by the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuanian Development Agency, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Lithuania, and executed in collaboration with Business Mobility International, Belgium, ECORYS, the Netherlands; as well as projects financed by the Research Council of Lithuania. Grants, honours: Grant for implementing the research at UNIGE (2010, administered by the Research Council of Lithuania, provided by the European Social Fund Agency), Scholarship for outstanding study results (2009, awarded by the Rector of KTU to 22 students out of about 18,000), Certificate of the best graduate of Lithuanian technical universities in 2009, Grant for perfect master thesis (2009, awarded by the Department of Strategic Management, KTU), Erasmus scholarship for studies at UiB (2005) and NUBS (2012), the best KTU doctoral student 2011, doctoral scholarship from the Research Council of Lithuania. Memberships: DRUID Society (since 2010).

Kestutis Zaleckis (Kaunas, 1969), Architect (1991), PhD (2002). PhD thesis: Archetype of the City in Lithuanian Mentality and its Usage in Urban Planning. PROFESSOR of Humanities at Kaunas University of Technology. COORDINATOR and SENIOR RESEARCHER of the two research projects financed by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and two INTERREG projects, COST Action participant. VICE-EDITOR of the scientific journal Architecture and Urbanism issued by Vilnius Gediminas Technical University; MEMBER of the editorial boards of scientific journals and conferences; MEMBER of the board for evaluation of cultural heritage; author of the 23 scientific publications and one text book. • Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė, I. Hidden urban revolution in Kaunas downtown area: 1935-1988-2011. Eight International Space Syntax Symposium, January 3-6, 2012, Santiago de Chile, Chile: Proceedings [electronic source]. Santiago de Chile: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 2012, p. 1-16. • Zaleckis, K., Matijošaitienė, I. Investigation of changes in Kaunas downtown social-spatial code. Land Management for Urban Dynamics: Innovative Methods and Practices in a Changing Europe: COST action TU0602 final report. Milano: Maggioli Editore, 2011, p. 493-500. • Zaleckis, K., Steponaitytė, N. Analysis of the utilization possibilities for the defense military constructions of the Kaunas Fortress. Architecture Civil Engineering Environment: ACEE / The Silesian University of Technology. Gliwice: The Silesian University of Technology, 2011, Vol. 4, No. 4, p. 21-35. Current and previous research interests: urban genotypes, urban history, military architecture, space syntax, fractal analysis of urban structures.

Contact Data

Irina Matijošaitienė Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management Address: Studentų Str. 48, LT-51367 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone: +370 37 45 15 46 Skype: iri_varl_iri E-mail: irivarl@yahoo.com Kęstutis Zaleckis Kaunas University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Department of Architecture and Land Management Address: Studentų Str. 48, LT-51367 Kaunas, Lithuania Phone: +370 37 45 15 46 E-mail: kestutis.zaleckis@ktu.lt Inga Stankevičė Kaunas University of Technology, Department of Strategic Management Address: K.Donelaičio Str. 20-321, Kaunas LT 44239, Lithuania Phone: +370 62072757 Skype: varlyte_zalia E-mail: inga.stankevice@ktu.edu The research represented in this article was financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (Agreement No. SIN–08/2012).

Architecture and Urban Planning

Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.008 2013 / 7

Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University ask whether the former socialist city is truly unable to meet the today’s needs (particularly, in the context of the mass housing phenomena of the 21st century). Why the urban and architectural heritage of residential districts is not regarded appropriately? What are the ways to initiate the environmental improvement by the very residents? “Architecture is necessary to strengthen the understanding of society as well as to raise the awareness of key habitat conditions and their outlook” [2], and architectural public tours are one of the most acceptable tools to achieve this – for both professional experts (creating a platform for knowledge of status quo at a scale of 1:1 – the real basis for further research and for the start of the re-thought modernisation) and wider audience, especially residents of the districts (consolidating their perception and appreciation of local identity, increasing the added value of the districts, provoking to take the initiative).

Abstract. The paper is focused on the impact of the public architectural excursions in the discourse of marginal modernist heritage of Soviet residential districts. It is argued that architectural public tours are one of the most acceptable tools for both professional experts (creating a platform for knowledge of status quo at a scale of 1:1 – the real basis for further research and for the start of the rethought modernisation) and wider audience, especially residents of the districts (re-appreciating the local identity, increasing the added value of the districts, provoking to take the initiative to improve the habitat). Keywords: architectural excursions, community involvement, contemporary heritage, Vilnius modernist architecture, Soviet residential districts, modernisation.

Lithuanian history of the 20th century was marked by coercive collectivisation in the 1950s and rapid growth of industry in the 1970s – the key factors that caused people’s migration to cities. Sudden need of a living space for numerous factory workers demanded for fast and cheap building technology. In Vilnius, as well as in other European cities, the solution came up to be the implementation of iterative multi-storey dwelling projects. During the second half of the 20th century, the area and the number of residents of Lithuania’s capital city Vilnius were growing as never before. Despite the fact that during the Second World War, Vilnius had lost more than a half of its population and almost a half of its buildings were destroyed, till the early 1990s the area of the city increased several times, as well as the number of citizens exceeding half a million. This kind of rapid expansion has led to an essential change in the city structure and cityscape; on the other hand, regarding the fact that these changes took place in a relatively short time, they have shown a serious threat for the city to lose its identity. This new city, being emerged in the light of “construction of communism”, is still considered controversial. On the one hand, industrialised mass construction was practised in the whole continent (in the East as well as in the West), during the postwar period. On the other hand, in Eastern Europe it had a strong political nuance – here mass construction served as an attribute of new communist society. The new socialist city having emerged in the suburbs of Vilnius over 30 years still has the major share in the housing fund that shall be re-thought and re-activated in the twenty-first century. The technocratic modernisation programme [1] contains neither a clear policy nor criteria or extensive research on how to deal with still unprivileged modernist urban and architectural heritage that undergoes changes and irreversibly loses its previous shape during the processes of modernisation. The growing public interest in the modernist heritage and increasing research on the subject have also involved the grey brother of Modernism – the residential or the so-called “sleeping” districts – prompting to

I. Experimental Excursion Around the Socialist Experiment

From the 60s to 90s, the north-western suburbs of Vilnius were occupied by the new socialist city arranging nine new districts (Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Viršuliškės, Šeškinė, Justiniškės, Pašilaičiai, Baltupiai, Fabijoniškės, Pilaitė) along 12 km long Kosmonautų Avenue (Astronauts’ Avenue). Since the very beginning, the construction of residential districts in Vilnius caused controversy: they were built in the spirit of slogans “Faster, Cheaper, Better!”, “An Apartment for Each Family!” and highly appreciated all-Union wide for excellent planning (Žirmūnai located in the north-eastern part of the city was awarded the USSR State Prize in 1968, whereas Lazdynai was granted the Lenin Prize in 1974; both added to the heritage list in the 1980s). Some pieces of architecture found in the aforementioned districts were also awarded a range of various state prizes. After half a century people are still being involved in this socialist experiment, which is beginning to show his other – dark side. Maintenance of large-panel houses theoretically reaches 125 years, maintenance of building till capital reconstruction is considered to be from 30 (walls) to 60 (foundation) years. Facades should be renewed every eight years [3, 137]. However, in Vilnius the first large-panel multi-storey houses built in 1962 and later, still are not renovated properly. Condition of some buildings is now regarded as critical. Therefore, the question of destiny of the entire Soviet residential districts becomes inevitable: to renovate or build new ones in their place? Here we face various opinions. Opponents of renovation claim that if requirements of maintenance have not been complied for five decades (housing renovation was not implemented till 1996), now there is no point in saving these buildings. Real estate developers hold this notion from the beginning: Soviet multi-storey residential dwellings should be destroyed and new dwellings, compliant with modern comfort and construction requirements,

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Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

with the conception, design and construction of buildings... The second group of questions, by contrast, concerns the subsequent history of buildings, after their completion...” [5, 2]. Hence, another important aspect is the architecture and urban planning of Soviet districts, which were highly assessed during the Soviet occupation, yet nowadays their architectural and urban accomplishments are often left unnoticed. 20 thousand multistorey dwellings in Lithuania are being regarded as an obsolete inventory, which, referring to some – unfortunately, cannot be replaced, but that is just a temporary condition. On the other hand, these are the towns of scientific and technological revolution era, charming with all their exaggerated optimism and today’s poverty. If the participants of this discussion asked themselves “What are these districts?”, “Why are they the way they are?”, “What are their artistic, architectural and cultural values?”, the authors of this paper believe that the answers to these questions would accelerate the discussion. Considering the importance of the problem and limitations of the classroom gatherings, the initiative group of the Architecture Fund has undertaken an experiment – to organise an exploratory tour (with expedition features) to the socialist city. Differing from a recreational excursion, this tour is unique and unitary. At the same time, it is continuous research. Each subsequent tour is based on the results of the previous one. Each participant is an expert with his or her own experience in respect of the object: some of them were involved in the planning of these districts, some designed the buildings, others lived and some would never live there. Also, we should not forget those who studied these areas in terms of architectural, sociological, cultural, technological or other aspects, and for whom they were a source of artistic inspiration. For some people the Soviet residential districts are associated with mono-functional, unsafe, bleak environment settled by those who had no other choice; for the others, the districts represent an unexplored territory of Vilnius or the former/current place of residence remembered with nostalgia. The two approaches were vividly illustrated by the response of the public and professionals invited to the first excursions around Vilnius “sleeping” districts – that was a kind of experiment to determine who and why will be interested in taking a tour around the socialist experiment.

Fig. 1. The route of the first tour

must be built in their place. According to the study “Real Estate Value” prepared by the working group led by the Associate Professor Dr. Saulius Raslanas from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University [4, 31], significant investment in facilities is required to improve the aesthetic appearance of buildings, to repair critical construction spots and to extend terms of maintenance, as well as increase economic and environmental sustainability; moreover, it is almost impossible to change the layout of flats, and it is very unlikely that this struggle will increase the value of the buildings. The authors of this study have concluded that the renovation of Soviet residential buildings is economically inefficient and not recommended. This position could be agreeable; however, it solves the problem from the economical point of view, whereas social problems should not be left outside as well. There are 6000 multi-storey dwellings in Vilnius; most of them are large-panel houses built in the period between the 1960s and 1990s. Refusal to renovate or to reconstruct them may lead to continuous deterioration of living conditions, as only a small number of people can afford to buy a new apartment. Some residents would choose an economic flat in a renovated building; however, nowadays such supply does not exist. The result – the number of middle-class families living in Soviet residential districts decreases. That is one of the most important, yet not clearly perceived, problems, which causes difficulties in establishing housing renovation programmes and projects. However, these were reflections based on purely pragmatic interests. “All histories of building and architecture ask the same basic questions. These questions fall into two broad categories. The first group comprises questions concerned

II. Research at a Scale of 1:1

The first two tours were organized in 2011 under the title “A Perfect (Micro)Rayon: Do-It-Yourself”; the focus of attention was Astronauts Avenue (Lithuanian Kosmonautų, today renamed as Laisvės (Freedom) Avenue) – one of all-time largest urban projects implemented in Lithuania (Figure 1.). The answer to the question “What are these districts?” lies in the very title of the tour – “Do-It-Yourself”. Conception of these tours is partly based on the method of Roland Barthes [6]: in order to disclose the operation of a particular object, original object needs to be reconstructed, to create his own model, which would reveal something not seen or understood before. Reconstruction of the object combines two operations: decomposition and assembling. Decomposing a primary object means excluding its mobile parts – paradigms – whose distribution acquires a specific meaning. Parts in themselves do not make sense, but they are

Architecture and Urban Planning Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

such that the slightest change in their present configuration changes the whole. All the units (not regarding their inner structure or size, they may be very different) acquire significant presence only by their boundaries, which make them different from other actual units of discourse. All together they form a particular class. When the units are determined, rules of their relationship need to be ascertained and affixed. The operation of assembling has an anthropological value: it is a man himself, his history, situation, freedom, even resistance leading his mind against the nature. Acknowledging reality according to this method – decomposing, and then assembling – participants of excursions create intelligibility, which provides the reconstructed object meaning and artistic value. All the districts are quite similar by composition thereof: 3–4 microrayons, groups of modular apartment blocks arranged around the public spaces, commercial/service centre, school, nursery-kindergarten, tower blocks, etc. Some of the aforementioned components are standard, whereas others are considered unique pieces of architecture. Excursion objects are split into three recurring categories: buildings, on which participants ascend, for example, high-rise dwellings (Figure 2), public buildings, which participants enter, for example, high school, kindergarten, shopping mall (Figure 3), open air public space, which participants traverse, for example, spaces created between public or residential buildings (Figure 4). The focus of attention, during the first tour around Soviet “sleeping” districts, was pointed to the chronological evolution of events and its estimation of those days. Excursion started in the oldest quarter of large-panel system dwellings and continued in Soviet residential districts in the northwest part of Vilnius. It is hard to ignore the dissonance between today’s condition and the image one sees in Soviet chronicles. Co-author of Lazdynai district, architect Vytautas Brėdikis did not try to hide the bitterness failure by claiming that together with architect Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas they had created an English garden-city. However, after nearly 50 years, we see only the ruins of misshaped socialism, which at most reasonable sense should be covered with soil. Here the question arises whether salvation is still possible. Lazdynai architectural solutions highlighted the forested, terraced area and developed a system of public spaces – unique in Lithuania at that time. Distinctive largepanel multi-storey dwellings of Lazdynai had extraordinary, broken plans and were composed on the terraces using a sectional mode. In order to form comfortable and original spaces, landmark buildings were designed and implemented (for a big disappointment – only part) – shopping malls with distinguishing sculptural compositions, high schools of original architecture and 16-storey monolithic buildings marking the Baltic Highland and South-East Plain limits. Lazdynai fairyland, despite being partially implemented in the presence of ineffective planned socialist conditions, retains the reserve of trust and affection among the citizens and the community of architects even till today. Inspired by trips (1959) to Helsinki Tapiola district (1950–69) [7] the project had become the golden standard, according to which all the residential districts of the country, and especially of the capital city were measured at that time. Conceived by the government of that time, the enormous residential area

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Fig. 2. Tower blocks in Lazdynai (above) and Šeškinė (below)

Fig. 3. Gymnasium in Lazdynai (above), shopping mall in Justiniškės (below)

Fig. 4. Open air public space in Justiniškės (above) and Pašilaičiai (below)

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Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

in the Northwest side of Vilnius eventually shaped as three different residential districts (Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Viršuliškės), isolated from the historic city centre by parks and forests, all presenting distinguishing artistic features and their own identity. This part of the city is reasonably compared to the Toulouse-Le Mirail (1960s, arch. Candilis, Josic, Woods) campus, or unimplemented standard of modernist urban planning Amsterdam-Zuid Plan (1904, arch. Hendrik Petrus Berlage). Architect Leonidas Pranas Ziberkas presented a research study concerning residential districts carried out in the 1980s. This created assumptions to compare experts’ comments and fears at that time with today’s realities. The fact that architects Brėdikis and Ziberkas still live in these districts and have experienced their problems from inside, with no doubt, adds value to their statements. Philosopher Nerijus Milerius, who a few years ago organised a series of the urban study seminars, a scientific conference and compiled a publication, presented the most relevant problems, concerning Soviet residential districts, highlighted during previously mentioned events [8, 9]. In the second excursion the following question was asked: “Why these districts are the way they are?”. The tour was held with the participation of architect Sigitas Čereškevičius, the co-author of Justiniškės district, one of the latest of those attached to Astronauts Avenue, and a general planning manager of municipal enterprise “Vilniaus planas”, architect Marius Grabauskas. “Vilniaus planas” team – urban planning specialists, engineers and architects – are now in search for the ways on how to regenerate modernist Vilnius, which slowly turns into “depressive” zone. This excursion was oriented to professional community and examined such questions as: how the change in planning norms, for example, increasing building intensity, influences the cityscape, as well as the reasons why the artistic ideas, embodied in the competitive district projects, were transformed. Especially thoughtful discussion began while speaking about today’s modernist district planning processes. The third excursion was organised to explore Antakalnis and Žirmūnai districts located in the east side of Vilnius. Both created under the strong influence of the classical tradition of functionalist design and implemented on both sides of the Neris River – these early Vilnius Soviet districts are hardly comparable with each other. Žirmūnai is a pure example of tabula rasa conception, USSR state prize winner. Antakalnis, in turn, is an instance of harmonious mix of modernist, baroque, historicism, secession and regionalist architecture in architecture and tourist guidebooks often presented by separate distinguishing objects and rarely understood as an integral residential district, and this makes it somehow mystical. Invited participants were architects and architectural historians: Prof. Jurate Jurevičienė, PhD student Inga Genytė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University), transport museum historian Ričardas Žickus, architect of a new student campus library Rolandas Palekas, as well as modern and technological heritage specialist, art critic Marija Drėmaitė. All participants were invited to take a ride with a vintage trolleybus Škoda. The vehicle has been chosen taking into account the importance of Antakalnis in Vilnius transport system development. One street in Antakalnis is entitled Tramvajų (Tram Street) – the name is the only one relict that is left of horse

tram system once used in the city. First trolleybus line was also built in Antakalnis. This was intended solely to draw attention to the current widely evolving Lithuania’s capital communication issues. It is exceptional that this type of tours attracted and still attracts foreign researchers’ attention. In 2011 the Architecture Fund held several excursions concerning modernist buildings in the centre of Vilnius as well as residential buildings in peripheral area, with participation of DOCOMOMO (Documentation and Conservation of Modern Movement) annual assembly members. Later, in 2012, tours were held with a partnership of Prof. Anna Bronovitskaya (Moscow Architectural Institute) and Frankfurt Städelschule student group led by an artist Simon Starling. In spring 2012, an exploratory trip was organized for the purpose to highlight all aspects of modernist Vilnius artistic value. Invited guests were modern architecture researchers: Professor Miles Glendinning (University of Edinburgh), Marija Drėmaitė, philosopher Nerijus Milerius (Vilnius University), founder of community cultural centre in Pilaitė district, designer Andrius Ciplijauskas. During the excursion participants were invited to visit Vilnius TV Tower – the unfolding view of the historical and modernist urban panoramas allowed for a more systematic assessment of the object, which led to new turns in the discussion. The tour took place in Soviet residential districts, already visited in the previous excursions and extended with a visit to a representative functionalistic object – mono-functional Santariškės hospital complex. These kind of tours were a unique opportunity to see the Soviet “sleeping” districts from a different point of view, and evaluate the “margins“ of Vilnius modernism more positively in a broader international context. III. Excursion as Provocation

Architectural excursion as a tool was chosen in order to provoke the complement of the personal memories/stories by historical facts and comments of the architects having designed the districts, thereby encouraging the very participants of the tours to re-think the concepts of “[im]perfect” district. Unlike the round table discussion inside four walls, excursion works as a non-stop illustration, live images generate fresh and new turns in a discussion and the presence of ‘reality’ does not accept lies. Excursion, as a totally informal event provided an opportunity to invite professionals with various fields of interests and acknowledge their “unedited” opinions. That is another advantage of this kind of event – a double narrative, where an official version finds its liaison with unofficial, somewhat, silent part of district history. Initiators believe that this is particularly important when shaping self-consciousness of local residents. Most participants of the tours are the people who live or used to live in Soviet residential districts. In addition to their own personal stories, they were interested in the history of their district development in terms of more objective assessment. On the other hand, there were some participants who had the “first time” experience visiting these residential districts. Despite the fact that each district was designed referring to an individual urban and architectural idea more or less reflected in the construction of buildings; neither its residents, nor other citizens have clear perception of it today. As it has always been stated

Architecture and Urban Planning Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

in the art world “narratives create value”. Stories and legends are often linked with the old towns of cities, being part of their genius loci and “charm”. Architectural excursions around Soviet residential districts were a perfect platform for personal stories of the residents to collide with those of the architects; therefore, they frame an identity and story. Another aspect of personal stories is clearly defined by the name of the very first excursion: “Do-it- yourself”. Processes of increasing the inner added value have already started in the Soviet times, when residents aspired to improve and individualise inner space of their flats. Now these unique activities become the topic of scientific research [10, 3]. Residents propose widescale and multi-function public spaces as well – from gardens and micro-sculpture parks to the cultural community centre “BeePart” (Figure 5). Being the latest one-man-initiative in Pilaitė, “BeePart” asks directly whether such a cultural centre in the district is able to increase the added value of the district [11]. Initiators of the excursions re-ask: could the tours around the Soviet residential districts be the tool that helps the residents to re-appreciate their environment? And even more: could discussions commenced during the tours provoke actual moves of the professionals? One of the direct consequences of excursions is the measurement of playground area of pre-school in Karoliniškės, done by students of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, in summer 2012 (under the guidance of Dr. Arch. Virginijus Gerdvilis). A sudden response to the striking news is that this playground of exceptional design will soon be demolished (Figure 6). The topic of public spaces for children can possibly be continued – there are plans to organise a workshop designated for this theme. “Vietos. org” – the project initiated by architects Tomas Grunskis, Liutauras Nekrošius and Martynas Mankus together with students at VGTU, Faculty of Architecture. The authors, who placed Hazel in public space research, developed conceptual suggestions for regeneration, which are presented at the project website for public assessment, inviting communities to take the lead when dealing with essential issues regarding quality of living environment [12] (Figure 7). Maybe soon we will be able to declare definitely what is considered to be the perfect neighbourhood and what is missing. Maybe the actions taken by the architects’ community would provoke reflections from social and governmental institutions These issues are the codes for further research.

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Fig. 5. Cultural community centre “BeePart”

Fig. 6. Playground area of the pre-school in Karoliniškės

a series of explorative excursions around the socialist city in the period 2011–2012. The conception of architectural excursions is partially based on the method of Roland Barthes: in order to disclose the operation of a particular object, the original object needs to be reconstructed, to create its own model, which would reveal something not seen or understood before. Reconstruction of the object combines two operations: decomposition and assembling. Excursion objects are split into three recurring categories: buildings, on which participants ascend; public buildings, which participants enter; open air public space, which participants traverse. All these trajectories are completed by the narrative of a district. Acknowledging reality according to this method – decomposing, and then assembling – participants of excursions create intelligibility, which provides the reconstructed object meaning and artistic value. Differing from a recreational excursion, this tour is unique and unitary. At the same time, it is continuous research. Each subsequent tour is based on the results of the previous one. Each participant is an expert with his or her own experience in respect of the object.

Conclusions

The pragmatic side of modernisation of Vilnius modernist residential districts (that still are awaiting the comprehensive and thorough re-thinking and appreciation), adequate distance of time and gradually declining reflex of Soviet heritage rejection provoke new questions about modernist residential districts of the Soviet times: “What are these districts?”, “Why are they the way they are?”, “What are their artistic- architectural and cultural values?” The authors believe that the answers to these questions would accelerate and upgrade the processes of appreciation, revitalisation and adaptation of the Soviet residential districts in context of needs of the 21st century. Considering this topicality and the lack of audience attention, the initiative groups of the Architecture Fund ventured the experiment of organising

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Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

References 1.

4. Fig. 7. Screenshot of “vietos.org” trailer 5.

The public architectural excursion is used as a tool researching modernist residential districts at a scale of 1:1 and providing a platform for interdisciplinary discussion on the spot. This format provokes a double narrative, where the official version finds its liaison with unofficial, somewhat, silent part of district history. ‘Narratives create value’ – architectural excursions around the Soviet residential districts were a perfect platform for personal stories of the residents to collide with those of the architects; therefore, they frame an identity and story. Excursion is a remedy provoking (or coordinating) the public initiatives to clarify the concept of the perfect habitat and the ways to attain it. Public excursion is an irreplaceable tool attaining publicity and updating information about the current state and alterations inside the residential districts, as well as obligation to verify topical questions on the spot eliminating misapprehension or obscure interpretations. This is an unexpected way to expand the boundaries of unexplored Vilnius, too. Architectural excursions around the modernist residential districts work as the expeditions without any strict declarations so far. On the other hand, such occasions as emerging public studies (vietos.org in Lazdynai), public initiatives (Beepart in Pilaitė), fixation of status quo at the critical points of alteration (measurement of pre-school in Karoliniškės by VGTU students) hopefully suggest that maybe architectural excursions and other actions taken by the architects’ community will provoke reflections from social and governmental institutions; and that maybe soon we will be able to declare definitely what is the perfect neighbourhood and what is still missing.

Lietuvos Respublikos architektūros politikos krypčių aprašas, patvirtintas Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės 2005 m. gegužės 18 d. Nr. 554 (Žin., 2005, Nr. 64-2302) [online]. Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania [cited 15.05.2012.] http://www.am.lt/VI/article.php3?article_ id=5553 Daugiabučių namų atnaujinimo (modernizavimo) programa. Patvirtinta Lietuvos Respublikos vyriausybės 2004 m. Rugsėjo 23 d. Nutarimu nr. 1213 (Lietuvos Respublikos vyriausybės 2011 m. Gruodžio 28 d. Nutarimo nr. 1556 redakcija) [online]. Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Lithuania [cited 15.05.2012.] http://www.am.lt/vi/article.php3?article_ id=3201 Ignatavičius, Č. Pastatų konstrukcijos. Rekomendacijos būsto ir gyvenamosios aplinkos renovacijai. Vilnius: VMS MPD/ SĮ „Vilniaus planas“, 2004, p. 135–178. Raslanas, S., Palubinskas, V., Tumėnaitė, L. Nekilnojamojo turto vertė. Rekomendacijos būsto ir gyvenamosios aplinkos renovacijai. Vilnius: VMS MPD/ SĮ „Vilniaus planas“, 2004, p. 25–50. Glendinning, M., Muthesius, S. Tower Block: Modern Public Housing in England, Scotland, Wales and Nothern Ireland. London: Yale University Press, 1994, 428 p.

6. Bartas, R. Struktūralistinė veikla. Teksto malonumas. Vilnius: Vaga, 1991, p. 158–165. 7. Drėmaite, M. Lazdynai. Living and Dying in the Modern Urbanity. Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden. Nordic- Baltic Experience (Docomomo). Published by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in cooperation with Chalmers University of Technology, 2010, p. 106–107 8. P.S. Landscapes: Optics for Urban Studies (B. Cope, N. Milerius, eds.). Vilnius: EHU Publishing House, 2008. p. 37–62. 9. Milerius, N., Tornau, Ū., Dranseika, V. Rytų ir Vidurio Europos miestų kaita: architektūriniai, kultūriniai ir socialiniai aspektai [Urban Change in Eastern and Central Europe: Social, Cultural and Architectural Transformations]. Seminaro „Lietuvos miestai: lokalinė architektūra globalizacijos sąlygomis“, įvykusios Vilniuje, 2008 m. kovo 27 d. medžiaga. Vilnius: Vilniaus Universiteto leidykla, 2009, p. 12–26. 10. Milstead, T. M. Housing and Urban Development in a Post-Soviet City: A Case Study of Vilnius, Lithuania [online]. Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations. 2008 [cited 15.05.2012.]http://diginole.lib.fsu.edu/etd/2398 11. Domeikaitė, R. Miegamieji rajonai skirti ne tik miegui – galima gyventi ir kitaip [online] . Grynas. Delfi. 2011 [cited 15.05.2012.] http://grynas.delfi. lt/gyvenimas/miegamieji-rajonai-skirti-ne-tik-miegui-galima-gyventi-ir-kit aip.d?id=49451230#ixzz225zzdzUV 12. Objective, tasks and subjects [online]. Vietos.org.2012 [cited 15.05.2012.] http://vietos.org/main.html

Architecture and Urban Planning Indrė Ruseckaitė, Aistė Galaunytė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Architectural Excursion as a Tool: Modernist Vilnius Case

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Liutauras Nekrošius (Vilnius, 1976), B.Arch. (VGTU, 2002), M.Arch. (VGTU, 2004), Doctor of Humanities (architecture, VGTU, 2009), research thesis: Ideas of Structuralism in Contemporary Lithuanian Architecture; scientific adviser: Prof, Dr. Arch. Rimantas Buivydas. RESEARCH results have been presented in numerous national and international scientific, profesional and specialised publications and conferences since 2004. TEACHING: Contemporary Architecture, Urban Composition, Ethnic Culture. Since 2011 – CURATOR of the Architecture [excursion] Fund; since 1999 – author and co-author of architectural design PROJECTS. WORK at the other institutions: 2006–2007 – Editor-in-Chief of the professional magazine Archiforma; 2008 – Chief Expert of the Housing and Urban Development Agency; since 2007 – Member of the editorial board of the international professional magazine Projekt Baltia; since 2010 – Expert of the Department for Cultural Heritage at the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. Current and previous research interests: modern, contemporary and traditional Lithuanian architecture, architectural heritage • Nekrošius L. Architektūra kaip meno kolekcija. Palangos atvejis (Architecture as Art Collection. Palanga Case)/ Liutauras Nekrošius // Journal of architecture and urbanism Vilnius: Technika, 2012. ISSN 2029-7955. T. 36, nr. 3 (2012), p. 222-238. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3846/20297955.2012.732799 • Nekrošius L. Sovietinių metų architektūra kaip kultūros vertybė. Vilniaus atvejis (Contemporary Architecture as Cultural Value. Vilnius Case). Urbanistika ir Architektūra/ Journal of Architecture and Urbanism, 2012, Vol. 36, No. 1, p. 38–53. Vilnius: “Technika”, “Rutledge”. ISSN 2029-7947. www.tandfonline. com/doi/pdf/10.3846/20297955.2012.679786 • Nekrošius L. The Particularity of Lithuanian Structuralist Architecture: Case of the Dainava Settlement in Ukmergė District. Meno istorija ir kritika 3. Menas ir politika: Rytų Europos atvejai / Art and Politics: Case-Studies from Eastern Europe. Kaunas: Menų institutas, VDU, 2007, p. 129–135. ISSN 1822-4555. www.vdu.lt/Leidiniai/MIK/mik_3.pdf

Indrė Ruseckaitė (Kaunas, 1980), B.Arch. (VGTU, 2003), M.Arch. (VGTU, 2005), currently PhD student (VGTU), research thesis: Development of Vilnius City Planning: the Aspect of Contextuality; scientific adviser: Prof, Dr. Arch. Jūratė Jurevičienė. RESEARCHER in various scientific projects. CURATOR of Architecture [excursion] Fund (since 2011), currently working on a series of public architectural excursions modernism.lt GRAPHIC DESIGNER of www.senoviniaiauto.lt (since 2010). Certified ARCHITECT at Danas Ruseckas Studio (since 2006), participant and winner of several urban and architectural competitions. Participant of various scientific conferences and author of several scientific publications. Current and previous research interests: architectural excursions, contemporary heritage, modernisation, modernist architecture, Soviet residential districts. • Drėmaitė, M., Ruseckaitė, I. Soviet residential districts. Vilnius 1900— 2012: Guide to Modern Architecture, Vilnius: Baltos lankos, 2012, p. 142–155. • Ruseckaitė, I. Soviet Period Residential Districts in Vilnius: Problem of Typical Character. Town Planning and Architecture 2010/34(5) Special issue, p: 270–281. • Ruseckaitė, I. Changes in Spatial Layout Structure of The Soviet Period Residential Districts (Vilnius Case). Ideas of Sustainable Development in Architecture and Territorial Planning. Kaunas: KTU, 2009, p.104-117. Aistė Galaunytė (Kaunas, 1987), B.Arch. (VGTU, 2010), exchange student at Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture de Montpellier (2008– 2009), currently master’s student at VGTU, studying History and Theory of Architecture – research thesis: Post-Modern Single-Family Houses in Lithuania; scientific adviser: Dr. Arch. T.Grunskis. Manager of architectural excursions at the Architecture Fund (since 2011). She has been involved in the organisation of the following excursions and events concerning contemporary heritage: Modernism of Interwar Period. Kaunas, A Perfect Micro(Rayon) – “Do-it-yourself”, Antakalnis and Žirmūnai. How do they live here?, J.U.S.T. Jamming Underused Socialist Treasures, part 2. Current and previous research interests: architectural excursions, contemporary heritage , postmodern architecture, modernist architecture, living space in architecture. • Galaunytė, A. Vilnius: Bringing-Up the City . Вильнюс : выращивая город. Project Baltia, 2012, 02/12, p. 56–59. • Galaunytė, A. Ukmergė town. [online]. [cited 2012 07 31] http://www. autc.lt/Public/HeritageObject.aspx?rt=3&type=2&ss=aist%C4%97%20 galaunyt%C4%97&id=968 • Galaunytė, A. Salos manor. [online]. [cited 2012 07 31] http://www. autc.lt/Public/HeritageObject.aspx?rt=3&type=2&ss=aist%C4%97%20 galaunyt%C4%97&id=974

Contact Data

Indrė Ruseckaitė Danas Ruseckas Studio Address: Goštauto 40a, Vilnius LT-01112, Lithuania Phone: +370 67506605 Skype: indre.ruse E-mail: ruseckaite.indre@gmail.com Aistė Galaunytė Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architectural Fundamentals and Theory Address: Pylimo g. 26/Trakų g. 1, Vilnius LT-01132, Lithuania Phone: +37062026087 Skype: mintiesuolis E-mail: galaunyte.aiste@gmail.com Liutauras Nekrošius Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architectural Fundamentals and Theory Address: Pylimo g. 26/Trakų g. 1, Vilnius LT-01132, Lithuania Phone: +37068257414 E-mail: liutauras.nekrosius@vgtu.lt

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.009 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

Abstract. The debates on the negative consequences of extensive growth of cities increasingly occur all over the world. However, cities continue to sprawl. Baltic cities, as well as other cities in Central and Eastern Europe, are not the exception. This article seeks to establish better understanding of processes, which shape the current development of the Baltic cities and tries to develop explanations, which would be useful in distinguishing features of urban sprawl of the major cities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

suburban growth is as old as the city itself [6], it has never been so intense and causing so much damage. It is now recognised that modern suburbia is no longer just a complementary area, which highly depends on the city. It has become a self-sufficient territorial unit though closely connected with the city. Therefore, peri-urban areas now are comparable to traditional urban and rural environments and can be equally studied and planned [7, 8]. The main principle in the case of analysing an intermediate zone between urban and rural areas is a holistic approach, which allows explaining the phenomenon and looking for the organisational and functional logic in peripheral urban areas [9]. It is generally accepted that main contributors to extensive urban development throughout the 20th century were variety of economic (land speculation, tax policy, mono-functional land use planning) and technological (development of transport infrastructure, mass usage of cars) factors. However, according to R. Bruegmann, the history of urban sprawl suggests two factors that seem to be most closely linked with sprawl: increasing affluence of citizens and political democratisation [10]. This empowered people to take individual decisions on their place of residence, work, etc. These choices have led to the formation of extensive urban development patterns that we observe today all over the world. In actively developing and transitional countries, to which the Baltic States can be attributed, processes of urban change are particularly vivid. In some cases, urban development in these countries is not related to planning efforts and is generally led by private and commercial interests, active real estate market and directly or indirectly encouraged by public policy decisions [11]. The negative consequences of contemporary urban sprawl are usually divided into three groups: economic, environmental and social. Economic consequences are generally linked with the transformation of functional structure of a city and the surrounding region, e.g., a city can lose various activities, which determine its economic viability (industry, commerce, etc.). The dispersion of urban structure also increases public expenditures. The most significant environmental problems caused by urban sprawl are associated with substantial land use changes in the peri-urban areas: diminishing agricultural activity, changing suburban landscape and its ecological and aesthetic structure. Urban sprawl is also blamed for the amount of pollution generated by longer commuting distances. The most common social implications are changing social values of the society (consumerism) and potential social conflicts between the newcomers and other residents in the suburban settlements. Overall, the urban expansion of cities is criticised for the inefficient use of energy and other resources and, especially in the context of Europe, is blamed for the erosion of culturally strong image of compact European city [4]. However, urban sprawl is a process of urban change that is not occurring only on the outskirts of the city. It equally affects the central city, suburban areas and distant exurbs. Therefore, in order to manage this process it is

Keywords: urban sprawl, suburban development, post-Soviet city, Baltic States.

After a century of modern urban planning, debates on the negative consequences of extensive growth of our cities increasingly occur. However, cities continue to sprawl, and the Baltic cities are not the exception. The growth of major Baltic cities has been severely limited in the second half of the 20th century. During that time, focus was placed on economic and socio-cultural benefits of polycentric urban systems [1]. Although the concept of polycentrism has not been denied and currently is one of the priorities of regional development in the EU [2], further theoretical and practical development of even distributed central cities in the Baltic States has became problematic in the context of market economy and globalisation processes [3]. Current growth of Baltic cities is highly affected by market forces and individual choices of residents. Therefore, their urban development inherits some features of Western cities. One of them â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more and more people are choosing to live in suburbs and this results in diverse changes of peri-urban areas. These recent trends in urban development of Baltic cities require more attention and are described in this article. The article seeks to establish better understanding of processes, which shape current development of the Baltic cities, and tries to develop explanations, which would be useful in distinguishing features of urban sprawl of the major cities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. As causes and consequences of urban sprawl are discussed in the article and illustrated with facts about expansion on Lithuanian cities since 1990, the special emphasis is placed on the causal links between legal and methodological characteristics of urban planning and its impact on physical and functional structure of urban areas. Also similarities and differences between urban planning of Western cities and current development tendencies of major cities in post-Soviet countries are considered. I. Urban Sprawl: Causes and Consequences

While debate about urban sprawl is mostly active in United Stated and some other countries of Anglo-Saxon urban planning tradition, recently it started to gain more attention in continental Europe [4, 5]. The main goal of these studies is to clarify the causes of extensive urban development and capture resulting effects of the phenomenon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; formation of urbanised regions, which span cities and large rural areas around them. Although the 72

Architecture and Urban Planning Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

necessary to address strategic planning efforts at the level of the city and its functional region or other higher-scale territorial formation [5, 10].

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Various political, economic and social factors have undoubtedly changed cities and their physical form. Although the above-mentioned external factors of urban development have been similar throughout the Central and Eastern Europe, local characteristics of countries and cities have resulted in some differences and this allow us to talk about the transformation characteristics of cities in the Baltic States [26, 29]. In recent decades, post-Soviet cities have been exposed to multiple transformations: institutional, social and physical-spatial [30]. The main processes currently affecting post-Soviet cities are intense commercialisation of city centre and suburbanisation of its periphery [15, 31, 32, 33, 34]. However, these processes did not occur immediately after the political changes in the 1990s, but emerged gradually. The past two decades of urban development in the Baltic States can be divided into two phases. The first decade of independence of the Baltic States did not produce the intense external urban development. There were several reasons: uncompleted institutional reforms, unfinished land restitution, low income, etc. Even if the demand for good quality housing was great, at that time only some people, most of whom lived in flats with deteriorating physical conditions in large-scale housing estates, could afford to improve their quality of life. Some movement of lower socioeconomic status city dwellers to the suburbs emerged primarily due to economic circumstances or because the restitution policy enabled them to become property owners elsewhere [18, 35]. Urban development of the Baltic cities at this stage can be partly characterised by greater residential constructions close to the city administrative border or within it, and around peripheral rural settlements. Many of these houses were constructed at expenses of their own residents and sometimes remained incomplete for a long period of time [25]. In fact, the first decade of urban development of the Baltic cities was marked mainly by active commercial development as elsewhere in CEE, rather than residential boom on the city outskirts [23, 32]. Generally, commercial constructions took place on the edge of compactly built city centres as land ownership was clearer there. Similarly, this type of construction appeared near the main transport arteries and in voids left by former urban planning practice (large open areas between residential districts were typical feature of urban fabric in post-Soviet cities) [26]. Urban development of the Baltic cities during the second decade of independence was somewhat different. Completion of institutional reforms, adoption of laws regulating urban development, and nearly finished land restitution enabled residential constructions, which were restricted during Soviet period, to expand in administrative areas of cities (Figure 1) and in the areas adjacent to them. Therefore, single-family houses were started to be built rapidly with most noticeable changes taking place on the outskirts of the city and former areas of allotment gardens [26, 35, 36, 49]. Later, the state housing policies, availability of bank loans and other factors stimulated the construction of multi-family buildings and they began to dominate in housing market (Figure 2). Usually they were built as economyclass apartments near Soviet housing estates [26]. However, the majority of housing units in one or two apartment buildings were built in large cities and municipalities adjacent to them.

II. The Baltic Case: Some Facts About the Sprawling of Baltic Metropolises

Urban sprawl of major cities in the Baltic States is mostly analysed in the context of urban development trends in postSoviet countries in Central and Eastern Europe [12, 13, 14]. Recently, local researchers (mainly urban geographers and city planners) have also expressed interest in this topic. Usually the studies focus on capital cities and their metropolitan regions, which experience major transformations: Vilnius [15, 16], Riga [17, 18] and Tallinn [19, 20, 21]. The amount of information on the current development of Baltic and other post-Soviet cities allows for further discussions about urban sprawl of major cities in the three Baltic States: distinguishing specific causes and consequences of the phenomenon. Changing form of Baltic cities: urban development since 1990. After political changes in 1990, the urban development of Baltic cities and towns have ceased the former course. Although the polycentric urban systems, which more or less have been developed during the Soviet period in the Baltic States, are identical to the decentralised concentration conception, which is escalated in the EU planning doctrine [22, 2], the further centrally governed development of networked regional urban centres has become impossible. The main reasons were identified as follows [3]: • there was no more opportunity to accumulate vast resources for the rapid development of central cities; • public and, particularly, private investment processes could not be directly controlled or accurately predicted; • competition emerged between cities within the country and cities in much larger cross-border regions. Thus, previously centrally planned Baltic cities, which inherited relatively compact urban structure, had to adapt to a completely different political and economic situation. Land privatisation, decentralisation of governance and competition at the local and global level were essential features of this new reality. The further development of physical structure of Baltic cities was also affected by economic restructuring, deindustrialisation, negative demographic trends, traffic problems and, of course, “planning vacuum” [23, 24], which could be explained as the lack of planning standards and incompetence of local government, which was responsible for controlling land-use development processes in the cities and around them. According to N. Pichler-Milanovič [24], understanding that urban development, which has been quite strictly controlled in the socialist period, shall again be governed by the planners has been observed only since 2000. Until then, urban and regional planning has been neglected because of the priority being placed on economic reforms, economic regeneration and the connotations of such planning with the former Soviet regime. All this has led to the deregulation of urban development and the strengthening of private capital role in the urban development processes [25, 26, 27, 28]. The latter has been one of the driving forces behind urban dispersion processes of the major cities in the Baltic States.

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Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

housing even if there was no real need to do so [40, 41]. However, some urban researchers noticed that the chaotic character of suburban areas was damaging spatial representativeness of Baltic cities [42]. As soon as unsustainable patterns of the sprawling of Baltic cities became visible and studies on motivations of suburbanites proved that the majority of them represented educated, middleand higher-income residents, this encouraged some urban scholars to predict pessimistic scenarios of future development of cities in the Baltic States and other Central and Eastern European countries. They used typical deterministic rhetoric often applied by critics of North American cities [17, 43]. But this is just one of the post-Soviet urban development scenarios. The difference is quite significant [23, 34]. As some researchers observed, suburbanisation of post-Soviet cities was not such a massive phenomenon as in the Western countries [32], and resulting changes of suburban landscape were not severe. This is explained by the fact that rural population after political changes and economic turmoil in the 1990s had an alternative â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they could immigrate to Western European countries instead of moving to larger cities [26]. As the total population of Central and Eastern European countries is stagnating or even rapidly declining, suburbanisation is characterised by redistribution of residents at the expense of the urban population [23, 32]. In some countries, it is understood as a threat to the viability of cities. Therefore, cities fight against this by enabling low density residential development in their administrative areas [27], or even encouraging suburban lifestyle as a feature of modern information society [34]. So, what is the current form of the post-Soviet city? A post-Soviet city is often referred to as different from its western counterparts. The main difference mentioned is that in the last years of Soviet regime, these cities did not have low intensity built-up residential areas, which were specific to the Western cities. Also their urban structure was not dominated by urban commercial facilities. The Soviet city had a sharp edge, and its urban fabric was mainly characterised by two parts: the historic centre and large housing estates on the periphery. Current form of post-Soviet city is conceptualised as consisting of three up to four rings [31, 33, 34, 44]. This implies the compactly built-up centre, middle part and suburban periphery. The fourth ring is sometimes identified as the functional urban region [45]. Since, the Baltic cities had mostly expanded during the second half of the 20th century under the Soviet regime, they inherited features attributable to the post-Soviet city. Therefore, the Baltic city can be described as a structure consisting of three rings (Figure 3) [15, 26, 46]. In this case, the central part is a result of cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s organic growth till the middle of the 20th century. It spans the old town and other older neighbourhoods (historical suburbs), new town with rectangular street pattern, historical quarters of villas, etc. Recently this part of Baltic cities has been affected by the establishment of new commercial and administrative centre (CBD). It is often stated that the valuable fragments of pre-Soviet urban structure survived the period of Soviet urban development because they were partly neglected and forgotten [34, 46, 47]. The second half of the 20th century in the Soviet city was dominated by the construction of large housing estates on the periphery, which formed the foundation of the middle part of Baltic city.

Fig. 1. The expansion of Lithuanian major cities (administrative areas). Source: Statistics Lithuania, 2012 (http://www.stat.gov.lt)

Fig. 2. Housing constructions in Lithuania (2000â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2011). Source: Statistics Lithuania, 2012 (http://www.stat.gov.lt)

This trend highlights the growing and stagnating regions in the Baltic States, where growing municipalities are characterised as having the largest activity in real estate market, higher land prices, more intensive land use patterns and population, which is not primarily engaged in agricultural activities, but is dependent on labour market in the urban areas [15, 18]. This also demonstrates that functional regions of major cities are more vivid than expected or appreciated by local politicians [2, 15]. New suburban housing types emerged in the 2000s as well. Although single-family houses were continued to be built randomly and in leapfrogging patterns, now this was done in larger groups, which sometimes assumed characteristics of gated communities [38, 39]. The second decade also showed a significant trend of agricultural areas massively being converted and divided into smaller residential plots. Therefore, the outskirts of the cities were dotted with billboards offering to buy small pieces of land in the vicinity of nature, which actually was yet another abandoned agricultural field. These processes raised concerns about loss of fertile land, which was speculatively devoted to suburban

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Fig. 3. Changing form of the Baltic cities

This area is also characterised by large forest parks, situated between residential estates, isolated industrial areas, specialised complexes (hospitals, universities, etc.). The middle part is not static. There are also some new elements, which have been built in recent decades: commercial and entertainment centres, new apartment buildings, etc. Suburban periphery is often referred to as the most recent area of post-Soviet city [29]. Its physical fabric is framed by historical homesteads and villages, garden communities, newly built quarters of single-family houses, highways, modern warehouses and logistics centres, recreation complexes, etc. There are also many open spaces, which formerly dominated throughout suburbia: fragments of agrarian and natural landscapes. This multi-functionality is one of the unique features of the urban periphery [7, 48]. Current trends of urban development of major Baltic cities allow presuming the emergence of the fourth structural ring – the outer suburbs (exurbs). This area, which is located more distantly from the city centre, is still affected by suburban development processes, but they are concentrated close to the existing settlements and do not expose unsustainable dispersal patterns or at least they are not so extensive. Some evidences of the sprawling of Lithuanian cities. The major changes, affecting Baltic cities and their peripheral areas, can be shown by statistics of residential construction. The difference between granted permissions and actually built residential units (buildings or apartments) can convey actual commercial interest of private land owners and real estate developers at different municipalities (Figure 4). Intense residential construction in the Baltic States, as well as in other post-Soviet countries, for reasons already mentioned, has begun since 2000. Residential construction mostly took place in the urban areas. For example, during the 2000s, 67% (51200) of total new housing units were built in the 6 major cities. However, active residential construction was typical to suburban municipalities, located adjacent to 6 major cities, and in the resort municipalities (Druskininkai, Palanga, etc). According to the Statistics Lithuania, 6 major cities (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Panevėžys, Alytus) occupy only 1.3% of the country’s area, but in 2000– 2011 there were granted up to 30% (18950) permits for residential units in one or two

Fig. 4. Housing construction in different municipalities in Lithuania (2000–2011). Source: Statistics Lithuania, 2012 (http://www.stat.gov.lt)

apartment buildings and 87% (43660) permits for flats in multifamily buildings. During the same period, in these cities there were completed 35% (12290) of all residential units built in single-family buildings and more than 90% (38920) of units in multi-family buildings. Six suburban municipalities of major Lithuanian cities occupy 16% of the country; however, during 2000–2011 there were granted permissions for construction of 38% (23920) of all residential units in single-family buildings. There were 9940 housing units built accounting for 30% of total housing stock in such municipalities. The fact that the actual number of housing units built in these municipalities was twice lower than the number of permits granted suggests that in reality private land owners and developers had huge commercial interest in developing housing in these areas. Some of these buildings may have been unfinished or their construction may have been halted at the initial phase. However, there is possibility that in the near future the construction of these buildings can be resumed 75

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Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

urban core. This type characterises urban sprawl around other two Lithuanian major cities – Kaunas and Klaipėda. Sometimes this type of urban sprawl is referred to as a “doughnut effect”. Here also due to the lack of quality housing in the city, the population is moving to more attractive areas of suburban municipalities but remains dependent on city services. • Type 3: Urban erosion with suburban sprawl. The city expands into the surrounding territory of the municipality, but both the urban core and the suburban municipalities suffer from population shrinkage. This type is characteristic of the rest of large Lithuanian cities and their environs – Šiauliai, Panevėžys and Alytus. Here the population decreased significantly due to emigration and migration to other cities, but cities still experience some degree of urban dispersion. Urban sprawl here is partly induced by the general economic downturn of the region (unemployment, low income, deteriorated living environment, etc.) that motivates people to move into suburbs or migrate to other major urban centres. As shown, Lithuania is a relatively small country, but there were identified a few different types of urban sprawl. A variety of urban development cases are characteristic of CEE countries and the Baltic States are not an exception [5], and this emerges due to the specific context of particular countries. This implies the uniqueness of urban culture in these countries and differences in practice of urban planning, which is largely determined by government acts. In case of Lithuania, the urban expansion and resulting change of suburban landscape occur mainly because of the lack of proper planning tools, which could be used to coordinate the extensive growth of urban regions [50]. Municipal master plans disregard current demographic trends and still allocate large areas for residential use, even if there is no real demand for that, expect legal expectations of land owners. It is calculated that while applying population density, which is typical of the European cities (30 inhabitants per hectare), the city of Vilnius can settle twice as many people as it has now; the number of residents in Vilnius district can be quadruplicated, in the city of Kaunas it can be 1.4 times larger, and in Kaunas district – 2.5 times larger [49]. It can be argued that the approved master plans of suburban municipalities have legitimated the urban sprawl of major cities in Lithuania and even further are encouraging expansive urban development. These plans appointed large plots of former agricultural fields on the outskirts of cities, likewise areas adjacent to the existing suburban settlements and in scenic rural locations to low density residential constructions. This basically does not allow for the coordinated planning of the city and its peripheral areas (Figure 7). If the outer expansion of major cities continues to be a dominant trend (e.g., high demand for quality housing will encourage real estate developers to promote projects of suburban housing), there will be a need for urban planners to start widely address some important issues of this type of urban development. For example, what form of suburban residential areas is more sustainable and appropriate for Lithuanian cities? Thus, we need to prepare to deal with the consequences of uncoordinated urban development and try to improve the current negligent urban planning system.

Fig. 5. Trends of residential construction and population change in Lithuania (2000–2011). Source: Statistics Lithuania, 2012 (http://www.stat.gov.lt)

and this leads to assumption that the negative effect of housing development, particularly, on visual-aesthetic quality of suburban landscape can be even higher. Whether new construction of residential buildings appeared in the vicinity of existing settlements or as greenfield investment on former agricultural land, requires more data and has not been evaluated. However, both types of residential development are identified around Lithuanian cities [49]. As studies of urban development in countries of CEE have shown, urban sprawl of cities is even stronger related to commercial development [23, 32]. However, the scope of this article did not allow for such studies to be carried out based on Lithuanian cities. Comparison of the scale of residential construction with current demographic trends produces an interesting image (Figure 5). As the major Lithuanian cities and their suburban municipalities show relatively higher activity of residential construction than the national average, it can be assumed that a greater or lesser expansion of urban fabric occurs [49, 50]. The difference between urban sprawl processes in cities and their regions can be identified by pointing out particular patterns of population migration within the urban regions. There are three main types (Figure 6): • Type 1: Urban growth with suburban sprawl. The city sprawls rapidly into the suburban areas, while the central city and suburban municipalities experience population growth. This type is most appropriate for the capital city (Vilnius), which undergoes permanent inflows of people from all over the country. Population redistribution in the urban region takes place due to “spillover effect”, which can be described as a process, when due to the lack of quality housing in the city, part of the population chooses to move to suburbs and their residential units are occupied by newcomers. However, the economic dominance of the central city in the region retains suburbanites to be highly dependent on city services. • Type 2: Urban decline with suburban sprawl. The city rapidly expands into the suburban areas; however, the city’s population is shrinking and population of the suburban municipalities is growing at the expense of

Architecture and Urban Planning Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

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Fig. 6. Types of urban sprawl of major Lithuanian cities

Conclusions

The current extensive urban growth of major cities in the Baltic States is often discussed and analysed as the legacy of urban development of the Western cities [17, 43]. Due to globalisation effect, local urban differences are slowly disappearing and our cities and especially suburbs are becoming much alike. However, urban sprawl processes of cities in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Baltic States as well, are slightly different than in the rest of Europe [5]. The development of Baltic cities in recent decades can not be studied apart from their historical evolution and current demographic tendencies. As a result, we must talk about “the Baltic Case” of urban sprawl and study it as an exclusive process of the development of Baltic cities, which is, possibly, acquiring a distinctive spatial character. The frequently mentioned factors responsible for the excessive urban growth of Baltic cities are increasing living standards, land restitution, the desire for home ownership, active real estate market and mortgage policies. This set of factors is yet complemented with a significant lack of coordination between authorities of major cities and suburban municipalities in urban planning processes [27, 37, 49, 50], causing severe economic, social and environmental problems [15]. Currently the most visible trend in the growth of major cities in the Baltic States is the fragmented development of peri-urban areas just outside the existing urban fabric. Usually these new developments are irrelative to essential topics of contemporary city development, such as planning of transport infrastructure and public services, protection of agricultural and natural landscapes. Expansion of low-density residential areas into suburban locations is highly criticised by urban scholars due to the lack of a special aesthetic expression and environmental quality [15, 17, 27, 37]. In addition, the extensive development of residential areas on the outskirts of Baltic cities is mostly driven by private and commercial interests and not based on any demographic presumptions [49]. Consequently, the urban development of major Baltic cities generally assumes the characteristics of a phenomenon called “sprawl without growth” [52], which defines

Fig. 7. Urban sprawl around Vilnius. Source: Vilnius city municipality, 2011 [51]

the extensive urban sprawling in the context of rapid demographic and economic decline. In most cases, the Baltic cities have inherited an urban structure, which is typical of cities in post-Soviet countries. Urban fabric of post-Soviet cities is characterised by the structure of three rings: a compact central part with the old town, an extensive middle part dominated by large housing estates and recently emerged suburban periphery [34, 44]. The current form of Baltic cities is mainly influenced by commercialisation of the central part and, in particular, intense suburban development [15], which, as attempted to be shown in the article, was enabled by local authorities or at least proceeded uncontrolled, because urban planning was understood as a simple survey of needs of land owners and real estate developers, and not as a process of multidimensional decision making with long-term consequences. Just as the urban sprawl of the Baltic cities is planned, so it can also be controlled. Certainly, the negative demographic trend is one of the most important factors, which should be considered while defining urban development patterns of the Baltic States

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Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

in the 21st century. The three types of urban sprawl, identified in the article, suggest some basic opportunities for sustainable development of the major Baltic cities in the future. For example, the sprawling of capital cities, which also experience the economic growth and stable or increasing population level, should be developed in close cooperation with neighbouring urban and suburban municipalities. The main purpose of this planning coordination is to stabilise the inflows and outflows of population and to establish measures of sustainable urban growth. In this case, more attention should be devoted to the interests of the dominant city and its role in the urban region. In the case of other major cities, which experience population losses and intense suburban growth, special attention should be addressed to stabilise the economic and demographic situation of declining urban core. This can be achieved by establishing specific measures to promote the attractiveness of the city’s image and improve the living conditions in the central city. Thus, the surplus of suburban growth should be guided to a few locations of suburban municipalities, mainly to the smaller towns or rural settlements, which could become the secondary centres of urban region. This could reduce the imbalance between the central city and its periphery. In the case of Baltic cities, which are affected by significant population decline both in the central city and suburban municipalities, there is a need to develop more radical planning tools, for example, to employ specific measures, which can enable the “smart shrinkage” of these urban regions and ensure that they will remain relatively robust in the context of negative economic and demographic trends. There is a possibility that a variety of cases of urban sprawl in the Baltic States, as in other post-Soviet countries, will remain. Therefore, the conceptual modelling of urban sprawl processes in the Baltic cities can become meaningless. Major changes in the urban planning systems can make a difference. For example, the expansion of settlements can be severely restricted because of the negative demographic trends. However, such decisions may be useless, because this can interfere with development processes of major cities and countries, which are currently experiencing some economic difficulties. It is likely that the urban planning system in the Baltic States will continue to be liberal, and the patterns of urban development will sustain more or less spontaneous nature. However, more emphasis will be attributed to measures that should help to make development of the Baltic cities more sustainable in socio-economic, environmental and aesthetic sense. Therefore, the patterns of urbanisation in the metropolitan areas of major cities will become important objectives of urban and regional planning and policies that intend to sustain a more compact urban form of post-Soviet cities [32]. In conclusion, it can be surely stated that the current development of the Baltic cities is mainly influenced by private needs of property owners and commercial interests of real estate developers, rather than long-term priorities of the society. This has led to a great need to discuss the evolution of the Baltic cities, and especially the causes and consequences of the recent extensive growth. As shown in the article, urban scholars in the Baltic States are greatly concerned with priorities and principles of contemporary urban development, but these debates and their results so far do not induce practical actions.

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Architecture and Urban Planning Matas Cirtautas, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Urban Sprawl of Major Cities in the Baltic States

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Matas Cirtautas (Klaipėda, Lithuania, 1984). B. arch (VGTU, 2006), MSc.Arch (VGTU, 2008). PHD STUDENT at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (since 2008). PhD research thesis: Characteristics of Morphostructure Transformations of Suburban Settlements. Scientific advisor: Prof., Dr. Zigmas Jonas Daunora (2008–2011); Assist. Prof., Dr. Eugenijus Kęstutis Staniūnas (since 2011). He is a co-author of various research projects, participant of several scientific conferences and the author of two scientific papers. Current research interests: urban/ suburban sprawl, transformations of peri-urban areas, morphostructure of suburban settlements.

Contact Data

Matas Cirtautas Phone: +370 61215536 E-mail: archimatas@yahoo.com

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.010 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Exploring Flexibility in Urban Planning Formulation of China

Zhenmin Xu, Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center, Yawei Zhang, Wuhan University Abstract. Flexibility was once seen in planning literature as a negative feature, whereas today it is perceived by urban planners as a positive asset to cope with the challenges of growing complexity, opportunism and diversity in cities. There is an increasing awareness that urban planning cannot define and control the whole future with the great probability in the development of modern urban economy. The traditional rigid urban planning paradigm cannot meet the need of the urban construction. The flexibility will become the developing direction of urban planning at the new stage. It is the ability of a system to adapt or respond to changes in the environment. The flexible theory of urban planning suggests that planning should be a dynamic and harmonious thought. This article will introduce some planning practices of China and explore how urban planning can deal with uncertainties and unexpected developments in a fruitful way.

B. Flexibility in urbanism The concept of flexibility in urban planning is defined as the compatibility and adaptability of planning thought and planning system to the randomness market. There should be much more flexibility and uncertainty in many aspects during the process of planning formulation such as urban development strategies, land planning, population forecast and so on in order to maintain the overall stability of urban development [2]. In Western European countries, flexibility theory is widely applied to various fields of planning. It has been proved that flexible planning has strong adaptability and guidance of the development of the city and the rational allocation and use of resources in the environment of market economy. The concept of flexibility in urbanism includes the following. Firstly, it reflects the concept of dynamics, which can make urban planning adapt to various changes in uncertain contexts. Secondly, it reflects the concept of coordination. One of the important features of urban planning is diversity and complexity. There are interactions and influence between various factors. Therefore, it is an important task of urban planning to coordinate the relationship of all kinds of factors. Thirdly, it refers to the diversity, which includes all types of stakeholders, planning goals, methodologies and so on. The city should be planned by means of formulating multiple goals and using diverse methods, as well as involving several stakeholders.

Keywords: flexibility, uncertainty, planning and controlling method, urban planning.

In a rapidly globalising world, global connections become more close and swift with the development of science and technology, especially with the rapid development of the technology of communication and transportation. In terms of network and mobility, the process of globalisation causes comprehensive effects and changes in resources, environment, culture and other aspects. The interaction of different countries or cities becomes complex and profound. All these changes make the future full of uncertainty, and the cities will face more uncertainty and irrationality. At present, China and other developing countries are undergoing the period of rapid urbanisation. Certainty and rigidity theory and the method of urban planning cannot be adapted to the reality. Therefore, it is very important to recognise the uncertainty in the process of urban development and explore the adaptable and flexible theory and method to solve the dynamic problem of urban planning.

II. Necessity of Flexibility in Urbanism

A. Uncertainty of urban development The process of urban development is very comprehensive and contradictory. We can hardly confirm the historical development path of the city exactly even though it has some regularity to a certain extent. As mentioned before, the urban development is dynamic and changing. Uncertainty is the main reason for using flexibility in urbanism. It contains both external and internal factors [3]. External factors refer to the complexity and changes in the urban development. The changes influence the way that people make use of the environment and the wishes they have about the physical environment. The way an area can satisfy needs of transportation, social safety, the creation of identity, economic development, the communication of culture, and so on influence the success and position of an area. Technological, economic and social changes of globalisation not only pose new demands to the current physical environment, but also demonstrate the probable influence of changes yet to come. Internal factors refer to the planning activity itself that is uncertainty during the process of planning formulation because of the lack of information, different subjective wishes of urbanists, limitations of technology etc. First of all, an important feature of urban planning is that it is work to forecast the future. This means that one can design on the basis of

I. Concept of Flexibility

A. Flexibility in general Flexibility is a concept that has a broad general meaning and has different applications and meanings in different disciplines. It comes from the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;elasticityâ&#x20AC;? in physics. It refers to the variability that objects have around their inherent benchmark, under the premise of maintaining the essential characteristics. In economics, flexibility refers to the reaction sensitivity of some economic variables when the related variables change [1]. The general meaning of flexibility is sometimes described as the ability to bend and the ability to change and adapt to different circumstances. It is described not only as quality but also as the quality of an activity.

Architecture and Urban Planning Zhenmin Xu, Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center, Yawei Zhang, Wuhan University. Exploring Flexibility in Urban Planning Formulation of China

knowledge, experience and assumptions about the future, but it is often uncertain how things will work out exactly. On the other hand, urban planning is a broad and multi-disciplinary field. In this context, the professional has to be able to work as a generalist, but also often has to specialise in a narrow field. It shows that the role and the task of urbanists are not static. They are always very flexible depending on different circumstances. This means that it is always uncertain for urbanists on what projects they will exactly work in the future and what role they will have to play. B. Diverse and dynamic planning goals The goal system of urban planning is a series of subjective prediction or wishes of urban development, which belong to different parties, such as government, urban planners, developers, and other stakeholders involved. This determines that the planning goals must be diverse and should provide a variety of choices for multiple parties. Furthermore, the planning goals are always determined according to the planner’s own values and criteria and the external environment at that time. As the planning process progresses, values and the evaluation criteria will improve continuously. The original goals will be revised and the new ones will be produced. Therefore, any goal hardly becomes a final ultimate goal of urban development and urban planning. This requires that planning formulation is flexible to adapt to the constant changes. C. Problems of traditional urban planning It indicates in the traditional urban planning theory that people can predict the future accurately with enough information and create a complete planning model and then, also can propose appropriate planning countermeasures. Thus, traditional urban planning has a high degree of rigidity. Various elements of urban planning are static and lack suitability responding to the environmental changes. In the past years, a lot of urban practices showed some problems, for example, breakthrough of some urban development quotas, deviation of urban functions between planning and reality, and so on. It was common to modify the urban planning frequently in the past years. All these problems show that the static planning weakens the guiding role of urban planning and it is not suitable for the high-speed development of contemporary cities in China. Therefore, it is necessary to adopt a more flexible method to solve the problems of contemporary cities.

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Fig. 1. Urban planning system of China

system, but it cannot directly guide the acts of urban construction. The content of master plan is complicate, and sometimes too specific and detailed to guide the lower level of planning and urban construction. Thus, it is recommended refining the urban planning formulation system. Some scholars put forward that master plan can be divided into two parts, i.e., strategic development planning and land-use planning in order to separate the macro-strategic problems from specific engineering content. Formulating the planning according to the different focus of different content, it is possible to combine rigidity and flexibility of planning effectively. Nowadays, some cities of China have proposed the “conceptual planning”, “strategic planning” and so on. C. Exploring new methodology As mentioned before, planning is full of uncertainty during the urban development, so the main task of planning is to find, evaluate and solve the problems of uncertainty. We should explore targeted approaches to enhance flexibility at different stages of urban planning. There have been many research documents related to the uncertainty and methodology in the world. For example, Christensen (1985) proposed the matrix method in response to the uncertainty during the planning process [5]. Friend (2001) proposed a strategic approach to resolve the uncertainty in the planning process [6]. Mastop (1997), Faludi (1997), Needham and Zwanikken (1997) conducted thorough research on performance theory [7]. D. Multi-target proposals They involve two levels of meanings. The first one refers to the development and distribution of multiple objectives embodied in the planning program. The second one implies the elaboration of different programmes according to different planning goals in order to provide a variety of options to multiple parties involved, such as the government, investors and other stakeholders.

III. Direction of Improving Flexibility in Urban Planning

A. Introduction of urban planning formulation system of China The urban planning system of China is divided into two levels of master plan and detailed plan. Large and medium-sized cities can add the level of district plan on the basis of master plan according to the actual circumstances and the needs of the cities. Detailed plan can be divided into two types depending on the different missions, goals, and the depth requirements specified in the regulatory plan and site plan [4]. Master plan is the overall positioning and integrated deployment for urban development. Regulatory plan is the link between urban planning formulation and administration. It plays an important role in the process of urban administration. B. Improving and refining the urban planning system Master plan is the core of the urban planning formulation

IV. Methods of Flexibility at Different Planning Levels

When uncertainty is reduced, the possibility of changes is assessed and uncertainty is accepted, concrete methods and

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Zhenmin Xu, Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center, Yawei Zhang, Wuhan University. Exploring Flexibility in Urban Planning Formulation of China

concepts can be used to work with it. Some methods are becoming regular practice nowadays; others are not used very often. A. Master plan level Although the design and plan are the important instruments of urbanists, it becomes more and more accepted that they are not the complete instruments to manage all processes of the city development anymore. A development vision seems to be a more appropriate instrument to steer the gradual development of an area. It is a useful instrument for larger areas, where there is not one commissioner, but a group of organisations involved. The development vision provides not only a literal plan, but also a handbook and guidelines for the area. This approach acknowledges that urban development and management are not onetime events for a static city, but the on-going concern for a dynamic city, in which different opportunities, coalitions and needs emerge over time. This approach is also reflected in the way that the meaning of a master plan develops. Initially a master plan was considered to be a detailed overall design for an area, but now it gets a different interpretation. There has been some innovative research on the specific formulation method at the master plan level. For example, the forecast about a level of the urban population and urbanisation is not a stationary monodrome but a range with amplitude and flexibility. It can reflect the dynamic character of urbanism within the range. The planning period should also be flexible. Urban planning is a continuous dynamic process. Different periods of urban planning can only adapt to urban development requirements in a specific period of time and different economic and social contexts. It must focus on the organic combination of the short, medium and long-term planning. It even does not require a limited planning period especially when making urban development strategies and long-term outlook vision but makes the purpose of planning clear. At the same time, we should place emphasis on an immediate plan (period of 5 years) and make it a means of achieving the goals of master plan and use the rollingformulating method every year. B. Detailed plan level Regulatory planning is the important basis of urban planning administration and a means of achieving the goals of master plan. It guides a site plan and architectural design. Here the city of Wuhan will serve as an example. There are some good practices on how to improve flexibility in land use planning, transportation planning, controlling method, planning form, and so on [8]. The urban planners use the concept “flexible land” in land use planning. Planners design the “land skeleton” for land users and the users can determine the specific content according to their requirements. In other words, planners just arrange the ecological land, land for infrastructure and public facilities, whereas it should give more flexible choices to the market. In terms of road planning, planners provide the scope of the rigid roads and the elastic roads in regulatory planning. The main road structure is rigid while the urban administration department or land users can decide to modify the location, linear of some branches. Regarding the controlling method, planners use different controlling methods such as continuous line, dotted line, quotas and location according to different requirements. The continuous

line has the highest rigidity implying that nobody can change the location, border, area, building capacity and facilities. The dotted line has little flexibility, i.e., the boundary shape can be modified, but the location, area, building capacity is still rigid. Location controlling means the planning plot can be developed jointly with the adjacent plots under the presupposition of maintaining the public facilities. Quota controlling means that the whole capacity of each block is determined, while the capacity of any building should be determined by location conditions and urban design. Regarding the planning form, it is divided into two parts of planning documents in Wuhan that are the statutory document and guidance document. It provides the rigid content in the statutory document that includes the urban infrastructures and public facilities. The guidance document is about the flexible content, such as the height of building, architecture form and other requirements of urban design. C. Layer approach The layer principle means that there are some different approaches at different levels. For stakeholders especially it means that a project or area should organise responsibilities and choices at the appropriate levels. In that way choices are made by people for whom they are most relevant or who have the most knowledge or experience about the subject. This means that, for example, choices affecting the whole city are made at the municipal level. But if at the municipal level the decisions are made concerning the existing problems in a neighbourhood or, for example, the design of public space in a given area, choices become bureaucratic and the people involved are ignored. To be able to deal with problems and opportunities that emerge, the ability and responsibility to deal with them should be organised at the level that is most appropriate and effective. In that way, a change can be addressed effectively (flexibility), and a change does not become a problem. Conclusions

Flexibility is relevant for the field of urbanism because of the increasing acknowledgement and role of dynamics in our field and cities. Uncertainty in urbanism comes from the character and context of our profession, the future-oriented character of our work and the organisation of development processes. Differentiated user needs are present because of natural differentiation in individuals and organisations and increasingly because of a more individualistic culture. Understanding flexibility can lead to a different approach to projects or can result in the use of specific design approaches. In many aspects of the development process, flexibility plays an important role.

Architecture and Urban Planning Zhenmin Xu, Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center, Yawei Zhang, Wuhan University. Exploring Flexibility in Urban Planning Formulation of China

References 1. 2. 3.

4. 5.

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Yawei Zhang (Wuhan, China, 1976), Bachelor of Urban Planning (Wuhan University, 1999), Master of Urban Planning (Wuhan University, 2002), PhD candidate in Urban System Engineering (Wuhan University, 2008), visiting scholar (Technology University of Eindhoven, 2012), PHD research thesis is titled “Urban Spatial Pattern Oriented to LowCarbon Transport”. LECTURER at the School of Urban Design, Wuhan University (Wuhan, since 2005). Participant of various scientific conferences and the author of several scientific publications. • Li Jun, Zhang Yawei. Impact of Transit Faculties on Urban Public Space, Urban Planning, 2008. • Zhang Yawei, Li Jun. Typology Method in the Conservation and Renewal of Lilong Housing in Wuhan, Urban Design, 2006. • Li Jun, Zhang Yawei. Exploration of College Campus Planning Pattern in the New Period, Huazhong Architecture, 2004. Current and previous research interests: urban spatial form, sustainable urban development, relationship between travel behaviours and urban environment, urban form simulation. Awards: The Detailed Planning and Landscape Designing of the National Mine Park in Huangshi, awarded the third prize of “Outstanding Urban Planning and Designing in Hubei Province” (2007). The Planning of the Protection and of Renewal Historic Block in Chibi, awarded the Prize of Excellence “Outstanding Urban Planning and Designing in Hubei Province” (2009). Typology Method in the Conservation and Renewal of Lilong Housing in Wuhan, awarded the second prize of Outstanding Academic Thesis in Civil Engineering Academy of Hubei Province (2008). Impact of transit faculties on urban public space, awarded the first prize of Outstanding Academic Thesis in Civil Engineering Academy of Hubei Province (2010). The Frist Prize for “Deutschland and China” National Competition on Urban Design (2009).

Cheng Chong Zhen, Cai Yi Min. Research about Flexibility Theory. Academic Research, 2003, No. 1, p. 39–42. Xie Xiao Cheng. Study on the Flexible Paradigm of Urban Planning. Urban and Rural Construction, 1993, No. 7, p. 14–15. Sheng Ke Rong, Wang Hai. Study on the Flexible Paradigm of Urban Planning. Journal of Chongqing Jianzhu University, 2006, No. 1, Vol. 28, p. 4–7. Urban Planning-making Method (a legal document of China). Beijing: Ministry of Construction of the People’s Republic of China, 2008. Christensen, Karen S. Copying with Uncertainty in Planning. Journal of the American Planning Association, 1985, Vol. 51, Issue 1, p. 63–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01944368508976801 Friend, J. The Strategic Choice Approach. Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited: Problem Structuring Methods for Complexity, Uncertainty and Conflict (Jonathan Rosenhea and John Mingers, eds.). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2001. 366 p. Mastop, H., Faludi, A. Evaluation of Strategic Plans: the Performance Principle. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 1997, Vol. 24(6), p. 815–832; Needham, B., Zwanikken, T. and Faludi, A. Strategies for Improving the Performance of planning: Some Empirical Research. Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 1997, Vol. 24(6), p. 871–880. Hu Yi Dong, Song Zhong Ying, Shang Yu. Innovation on Regulatory Detailed Plan Framework System and Controlling Model-A Case Study of Wuhan. Urban Planning Forum, 2009, Issue z1, p. 79–84.

Zhenmin Xu (Wuhan, China, 1979), Bachelor of Architecture (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2003), Master of Urban Planning (Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 2005), visiting scholar (Technology University of Delft, 2011–2012). URBAN PLANNER in Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center (Wuhan, since 2006). Participant of various scientific conferences and the author of several scientific publications. • Zhenmin Xu. Research on Conservation System of Historic Cities and Towns. Proceedings on Urban Planning Annual Congress of China, 2006. • Zhenmin Xu, Beina Wang. Research on Diversified Land Banking Model of Urban Transformation in the Netherlands. Theoretical Study of Urban Construction, 2012. Current and previous research interests: urban design, evolution of urban spatial form, sustainable urban development, land use policy. Awards: Comprehensive Planning of Zhong Gong Wu Da Historical Area of Wuhan, awarded the third prize of “Outstanding Urban Planning and Designing Award” in China (2007). Urban Design of the Second Ring of Wuhan, awarded the third prize of “Outstanding Urban Planning and Designing Award” in China (2009). Waterfront Business District Planning of Wuchang, awarded the “Outstanding Urban Planning and Designing Award” in Wuhan (2009). Research on Relationship between Urban Planning and Land Marketing of Wuhan, awarded the third prize of “Outstanding Urban Planning Consulting Award” in Hubei Province (2010).

Contact Data

Zhenmin Xu Wuhan Land Use and Urban Spatial Planning Research Center, China E-mail: xzm1212@126.com Yawei Zhang Wuhan University, China E-mail: 15327267210@163.com

doi: 10.7250/aup.2013.011 2013 / 7

Architecture and Urban Planning

Implementing Bioclimatic Design in Sustainable Architectural Practice Edgars Bondars, Riga Technical University However, due to a variety of interpretations of the notion, it failed to provide a sufficiently detailed picture of what exactly sustainable architecture should be. The 1990s marked a repaid increase of interest in environmental issues in various areas. In response to the change, the construction industry tried to modify production processes of building materials and some more amendments were made to the laws and regulations of many countries. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a theoretical basis was developed for the building, whose heat loss was so minimal that the heat generated by household electrical equipment and residents, as well as the solar heat gain received through the windows provided the required comfort level [2]. The concept of the buildings was called a ‘passive house’, and the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt under the guidance of Dr. Wolfgang Feist still today is engaged in its development and promotion. The amount of information available on the design of energy efficient buildings, especially passive buildings, is rapidly increasing in Latvia at the moment. The main focus, however, is on the result to be achieved in the design process that may be easily evaluated with a variety of tools, e.g., the BREEAM building assessment system, which is currently being adapted for Latvia and introduced by the agency Zaļās mājas (Green Houses) [3], or the passive house concept. Yet relatively less attention is devoted to the methodology of bioclimatic design and to the overall organisation of the architectural design process based on sustainable design principles.

Abstract. Today one of the topical issues in Latvia relates to the compliance of the architectural practice with the modern concept of sustainable development. Although the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century introduced positive ideas promoting energy efficient architecture in Latvia, the worldwide experience has shown that despite the importance of environmental ideas in designing, their introduction and implementation in practice often encounter problems. This article addresses a number of factors that should be taken into account introducing changes to the current practice of architectural design in line with the modern principles of sustainable development and bioclimatic design. Keywords: architectural practice, bioclimatic design, sustainability.

One of specific features of architect’s profession is the necessity to combine technical areas, social sciences and arts into one inseparable unit. The change in public attitudes towards environmental values has led to reassessment of criteria for evaluating the end result of an architectural design, while computer technology has significantly altered the design process. This sets new requirements to the architect’s professional qualification and training, giving to the concept of interdisciplinarity in the architect’s profession a much wider perspective than before. Currently, the architectural practice in Latvia mostly focuses on energy efficiency goals in construction and evaluation methodology of the achieved results, almost disregarding the fact that certain changes need to be introduced in design process itself. I. Relevance of Environmental Ideas in Modern Architectural Practice

II. Theory and Practice of Bioclimatic Design

The concept of bioclimatic architecture was first defined by the architect Victor Olgyay, when in 1963 he published the results of his studies in the book “Design with Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism” [4]. The essence of bioclimatic design is to create a favourable microclimate both inside the building and outdoors through the application of architectural techniques. The studies produced comprehensive theoretical information about designing of the human-friendly spatial environment in different climatic regions and a design method, which employed a bioclimatic chart and determined comfort zones. According to Olgyay, the design process of bioclimatic architecture is linear and consists of four successive stages (Figure 1). Later a number of other researchers undertook the further study of the bioclimatic design concept, among them B. Givoni in 1969 and S. Szokolay in 1986. The works produced by these authors shared a common feature as they all focused on the principles for determining comfort zones based on the average

Environmental issues became relevant in modern architecture around the middle of the 20th century when the public became increasingly aware of the adverse effects of technological innovations of the industrial era on the environment. In the 1960s, a new concept of bioclimatic design emerged involving the development of theoretical principles for ensuring favourable microclimatic conditions for human comfort by means of architectural and spatial elements. However, only the global energy crisis in 1973 became a crucial catalyst for introduction of changes in architectural design. Many countries introduced higher requirements to energy efficiency of buildings in their national laws and regulations. Separate attempts were made to design buildings where their internal microclimate would mainly depend on a proper spatial layout and appropriate use of building materials, not only on mechanical heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Since 1987 when the Brundtland Commission defined the strategy for sustainable development [1], the concept of ‘sustainable architecture’ has become increasingly popular representing the general inclination to integrate environmental values in architecture.

Fig. 1. Bioclimatic design as a linear process (according to V. Olgyay [4, 11])

Architecture and Urban Planning Edgars Bondars, Riga Technical University. Implementing Bioclimatic Design in Sustainable Architectural Practice

monthly climate data (wind, humidity and temperature), using psychrometric charts as a methodological aid in designing [5, 6]. In 1971, C. Mahoney took a slightly different approach [7] proposing a design methodology that followed three stages of design elaboration (the idea-sketching phase, development of the design and detail drawings). The method was based on a successive climate analysis. There were altogether six charts, where the first four of them were intended for the input of climate data to make a comparison with the comfort zone, and the last two were used for reading the recommended design principles as regards the layout, orientation and shape of the building respecting the local climate conditions. These studies formed an important basis for development of climate-appropriate and environmentally-balanced architectural design. Unfortunately, the methodology so thoroughly developed in the theory defied successful implementation in practice. Linearity and mathematical precision of such a design method contradict designing as a creative process. Not always the creative design can be viewed as a linear process; also the methods used in design elaboration are very different â&#x20AC;&#x201C; sketching and modelling in a creative process and theoretical calculations of bioclimatic factors. Thus, as soon as personal computers were available in design industry, possible solutions to problems were sought in computer technology.

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Fig. 2. Integrated environment for architectural modelling, rendering and energy analysis [8]

Options to analyse insolation, energy consumption, wind direction and other environmental factors, once offered only in a separate application Ecotect (the software for architects initially designed by architect Dr. Andrew J. Marsh) are now being integrated into the latest versions of Autodesk Revit software (Figure 2). The company Graphisoft also follows the lead, including the function for simulation of energy and resource consumption of the building in the parametric modelling software ArchiCad that is purpose-built for architectural design. It allows architects to use the created spatial model of the building and climate data of the respective site available online to quickly determine energy consumption of the building. Currently, one of the most popular 3D modelling tools is Sketchup; and although it does not perform BIM, being easyto-use and freeware, it is convenient for creating 3D models of buildings. It also has the functions of free software EnergyPlus designed by the U.S. Department of Energy for architects, engineers and scientists, and available through OpenStudio plug-in. It allows performing computer simulations of energy consumption of buildings within the usual environment of digital architectural designing. Overall, the theoretical and technical aspects of the bioclimatic design methodology have changed sufficiently to allow for wider application of the bioclimatic strategy in designing. The use of BIM software in sustainable architectural design ensures uninterrupted design process, where the software acts like an assistant in decision making at any design stage, but does not always render the understanding of theoretical principles of bioclimatic design. Integration of bioclimatic factors into the creative design process requires the architect to have a thorough knowledge in climatology, biology and thermal physics, and the ability to adequately interpret this information in different climate zones, integrate it into software-generated solutions of different levels, and also understand the interaction between climatic and natural conditions and different spatial forms. It requires changes in the existing design practice according to the national building standards and continuous improvement of architectsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; knowledge.

III. Bioclimatic Factors in the Computerised Design Environment

The first attempts to use computer software in the design process were based on simplified calculations of thermotechnical parameters of a building, whereas in the mid-1970s, attempts were made to imitate the actual thermophysical processes in buildings. However, the development level and availability of computer technologies at that time did not facilitate wider application of the results of theoretical research in architectural design practice. Development of studies and computer software as methodological aids for practising designers began only around the mid-1990s, though they still were used as separate tools rather than an instrument fully integrated in the existing design environment. In the digital environment of architectural design, the transition from CAD (Computer Aided Design) to BIM (Building Information Modelling) started in the late 2010s and continues still today making it possible to apply bioclimatic design methods as part of the design process. Using the BIM concept, the design is mostly developed as a 3D model of the building where various parameters can be assigned to each element of the building, e.g., a material with specific physical characteristics can be selected. Spatial modelling, making of drawings and definition of physical parameters of the building take place simultaneously rendering unnecessary the use of different work methods for completion of different design tasks. It has allowed BIM to become a convenient platform forming an integrated environment of creative 3D designing and modelling of energy use of the building, where input and output of data take place in a format that is easy to use for architects. All largest design software developers are gradually integrating tools required for the creation of sustainable architecture into parametric modelling software intended for architects.

IV. Architectsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Awareness of Bioclimatic Design and Principles of Sustainability

Although many architects regard saving of energy as a serious matter, only few of them apply principles of energy efficiency in design practice [9, 92]. The reason why integration of 85

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Edgars Bondars, Riga Technical University. Implementing Bioclimatic Design in Sustainable Architectural Practice

principles of green thinking into design practice and education is so slow and inefficient [10, 12] can be related to the fact that ideas of sustainability are disassociated from the actual design process. It is much more difficult for architects to integrate new techniques of bioclimatic design in the established “traditional” design practices, since bioclimatic design is sooner seen as a supplement to the traditional design practice than a design philosophy [11, 3763]. Therefore, it is important to include aspects of bioclimatic design already in the early stages of architectural training. A comprehensive perception of bioclimatic and architectural 3D design should be developed as early as possible, when the young architect just starts developing his or her creative manner, style and understanding. Over the past decade, universities worldwide have been looking for ways how to better integrate environmental issues into architectural education. Regardless of the region, the conclusion of all studies is the same: the lack of correlation between the subjects taught on bioclimatic design and the training in architectural design is the main obstacle preventing integration of bioclimatic principles into design and perception. The main problem pertains to the inability of students to understand the role of bioclimatic factors in designing if they are unable to experiment using a specific design and quickly see the impact of their decisions on the energy balance of the designed building [12]. The energysaving issues should be integrated into the existing design-related subjects, since today environmental problems have become as essential in the design process as Vitruvius’ architectural values of firmitas, utilitas, venustas.

Olgyay, V. Design With Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973. 190 p. 5. Givoni, B. Man, Climate, and Architecture. London: Applied Science Publishers, 1981. 483 p. ISBN 0-85334-108-7 6. Szokolay, S. V. Climate analysis based on the psychrometric chart. International Journal of Ambient Energy, 1986, Vol. 7, Issue 4, p. 171–182. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01430750.1986.9675499 7. Koenigsberger, O. H., Mahoney, C., Evans, M. Climate and House Design. New York: United Nations, 1971. 93 p. 8. Autodesk Revit Products [online]. Autodesk [cited 19.06.2012]. http://usa. autodesk.com/revit/architectural-design-software/ 9. Wittmann, S. Architects’ Commitment Regarding Energy Efficient/ Ecological Architecture. Architectural Science Review, 1998, Vol. 41, Issue 2, p. 89–92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00038628.1998.9697414 10. Altomonte, S. Environmental Education for Sustainable Architecture. Review of European Studies, 2009, Vol. 1, Issue. 2, p. 12–21. 11. Maciel, A. A., Ford, B., Lamberts, R. Main Influences on the Design Philosophy and Knowledge Basis to Bioclimatic Integration into Architectural Design – The Example of Best Practises. Building and Environment, 2007, Vol. 42, p. 3762–3773. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2006.07.041 4.

12. Delbin, S., Gomes da Silva, V., Kowaltowski, D., Labaki, L. C. Implementing building energy simulation into the design process: a teaching experience in Brazil [online]. PLEA2006, 2006 [cited 11.05.2012]. http:// www.unige.ch/cuepe/html/plea2006/Vol2/PLEA2006_PAPER106.pdf. Edgars Bondars (Riga, 1983). B. Arch. (RTU, 2006), Dipl. Arch. (RTU, 2008), MSc. Arch. (RTU, 2009, “Energy-Efficiency Factors in Architecture”). Currently, he is a 4th year student of doctoral programme at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of Riga Technical University. The main focus of research refers to the principles of implementation of a sustainable development idea in architecture. ARCHITECT in the architectural design at RRES Ltd, Riga, Latvia (since 2006).

Conclusions

As regards education, significant measures are undertaken in Europe to improve training in sustainable architectural design. As regards methodology, development trends in the elaboration of methodological aspects of bioclimatic design show that the architectural 3D design based on bioclimatic principles is becoming increasingly convenient. The development of legislative framework and voluntary systems of building assessment in Latvia shows positive tendencies. Over the next years, more attention should be paid to architects’ understanding of the essence of sustainable design; also the significance of the integrity of ecological, aesthetic and technological aspects of design in architecture needs to be underlined. Surveys should be performed asking architects about the main obstacles to the promotion of sustainable design practice in Latvia in order to identify the main areas, where efforts should be concentrated to educate both professional architects and students.

Contact Data

Edgars Bondars Riga Technical University, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning Address: Āzenes iela 16, Riga LV-1048, Latvia Phone: +371 28632291 E-mail: edgars.bondars@rtu.lv

This work has been supported by the European Social Fund within the project «Support for the implementation of doctoral studies at Riga Technical University».

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