Vilnius 1900-2013. A Guide to the City's Architecture

With the reestablishment of independence in 1990, and with the consequent changes that took place in the economy and in society, Vilnius experienced yet another wave of urbanisation. Private houses were built again, filling the city to the limits, and a spectacular steel and glass city centre took shape on the right bank of the River Neris.

A Guide to the City’s Architecture

At the dawn of the 20th century, the elegant Central European Sezession style was still in vogue. Arch­ itecture later progressed to the stripped-down interwar Modernism of the 1920s and 1930s, and after the Second World War it ventured into the controversial Soviet-imposed Neoclassicism. After ‘totalitarian’ architecture was officially discredited in the mid-1950s, postwar Modernism flourished, particularly in the new residential districts that were built to house the city’s growing population. At the end of the Soviet period, Late Modernism saw a large number of public buildings appear around the city centre.

Vilnius 1900–2013

Vilnius’ architecture of the 20th and early 21st centuries ranges from the Modern Style to High-Tech, and reflects all the architectural trends and political shifts that swept across the city during this period.

VILNIUS

1900 –2013 A Guide to the City’s Architecture

The Modern Style 1900–1918 The Interwar Period 1918–1940 The Soviet Years 1940–1990 Late Modernism and Postmodernism Circa 1970–2000 After the Restoration of Independence 1990–2013

UDK 72(474.5)(091) Vi-177

editors Julija Reklaitė Rūta Leitanaitė Editorial board Audrius Ambrasas Darius Osteika Rūta Leitanaitė Julija Reklaitė

The publication of this book has been supported by the Culture Support Fund of the Republic of Lithuania

This book has been published in cooperation with Books from Lithuania

Authors Marija Drėmaitė Tomas Grunskis Rūta Leitanaitė Nijolė Lukšionytė Diana Kontrimaitė Algimantas Mačiulis Vaidas Petrulis Julija Reklaitė Jurgita Rimkevičienė Indrė Ruseckaitė Jūratė Tutlytė Aida Štelbienė Renata Vaičekonytė-Kepežinskienė Translators Gabrielė Gailiūtė Rūta Leitanaitė Language editor Joseph Everatt Designer Kontis Šatūnas

ISBN 978-609-95484-0-1

© VšĮ Architektūros fondas, 2013 © VšĮ Actus musicus, 2013

Foreword

When we think about Vilnius architecture today, the image that springs to mind is usually that of a city with a long historical architectural heritage: an iconic Baroque city north of the Alps, with one of the largest surviving old towns in Europe, included on the Unesco World He­ ritage List. In fact, Vilnius is not only an important historical city on a crossroads between East and West Europe. It is also a city with an ambition to be important to the Baltic region, a cultural centre for Central and Eastern Europe, a European Capital of Culture in a state that celebrated its first 1,000 years in 2009. It is a city in which the intermingling of history and various cultures is obvious, but which is also attractive because of its recent history, its multifaceted and multilayered architecture, and its dynamic vibes of old and new.

This book attempts to show what Vilnius has to offer: a variety of charming modern or Sezession architectural details sprinkled across the Old Town and the New Town; a brief foray into the Modernism of the 1920s and 1930s, notable for the names of the architects and designers of the time, and their clear stylistic expression; the controversial but impressive mark of Soviet times, a unique experience in the European context, and a very valuable but little-protected part of the heritage; a brief but bright stage in Postmodernism; and pearls of Late Modernism.

Today Vilnius’ architecture is an intriguing code of information about the dynamic processes taking place all over the country: architectural experiments with new materials and aesthetic ideas since the restoration of independence, the construction boom at the beginning

of the new millennium with the growing economy, and the search for an identity as a quality city environment.

This is all covered in the 113 years (1900 to 2013) outlined in this edition.

Vilnius 1990–2013. A Guide to the City’s Architecture is a full catalogue of information, systematically presenting the development of the most prominent 20th and 21st-century architectural objects in the city, with lots of previously unpublished facts and data and visual material. It is a guide to the old and the new, to unknown or maybe undiscovered Vilnius, intended for anyone who is interested in the architecture and the culture of the city. This is the second edition, with many new illustrations, new sections on Soviet-period apartment blocks and Postmodernism in the capital, and a basically rewritten chapter about the period since the restoration of independence.

It is based on Vilnius 1900–2005. A Guide to Modern Architecture. The editors of the first edition were Darius ­Osteika and Jūratė Tutlytė, the authors were Marija Drėmaitė, Nijolė Lukšionytė, Vaidas Petrulis, Jurgita Rimkevičienė and Jūratė Tutlytė, the co-authors were Tomas Grunskis, Diana Kontrimaitė, Renata Vaičekonytė-Kepežinskienė and Aida Štelbienė, and the photographer was Raimondas Urbakavičius. Thank you to all those who helped and contributed to the new edition: the photographers and authors, the architects for their generosity with their material, Mindaugas Pakalnis for the maps of the city, the collectors and designers of graphic materials Milda Grabauskaitė and Marijus Navickas, and especially to ­Sandra Šlepikaitė and Rūta Valiūnaitė.

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The style of architecture, known as the Modern Style, Art Nouveau or Sezession, marks an important point in the history of art, which happened at the turn of the 20th century. It rejected past styles, and proclaimed the aim of individual creativity and unique expression. The Modern Style in Vilnius was not at all as radical as it was in Vienna or Brussels, and it has not left as many buildings as in Riga, Lviv or Krakow. However, a trip down the streets of the Old Town and the Naujamiestis (the New Town, built in the 19th and 20th centuries) will reveal about 40 interesting examples of the style, and at least twice as many isolated pieces and decorational details. Some of the interiors of turn-of-the-century buildings, including shops and cafes, have not survived.

The Modern Style appeared in Vilnius with a slight delay, around 1900, and lasted until the First World War. The style

came via St Petersburg, Warsaw and Krakow. Researchers usually identify two phases in the Modern Style: early, characterised by fluid shapes and botanical decoration, and late, characterised by rationality and geometric stylisation. In Vilnius, these phases are illustrated clearly by the architects’ own houses: Anton Filipowicz-Dubowik’s villa (A12) and Wacław Michniewicz’s town house (A20). Even in a single architect’s work, we can trace changes, like Mikhail Prozorov’s early work, with curved lines and floral decoration, and his later work, with strict divisions of the facades. In Vilnius’ Modern Style buildings (especially the public ones), the forms of the new style often mingle with motifs of Classical, Baroque and wooden architecture. It is possible to trace a connection with Belgian, Austrian and Nordic Art Nouveau (the style was popular in Scandinavian cities and in St Petersburg), but not direct imitation.

The Modern Style 1900–1918

The Modern Style in Vilnius was quite unlike that in Klaipėda, where the buildings took their lead from German Jugendstil.

A trend for bright ethnographic decoration, like the National Romanticism of Riga, did not appear in the multinational environment of Vilnius. However, the modern interpretation of Baroque motifs was quite popular, and lasted even after the First World War. Modifications of the Polish ‘little manor style’ and the ‘Zakopane style’ also appeared.

As the Modern Style spread in Vilnius, more varied materials and constructions were used (metal trusses, iron and concrete, decorative tiles, polished stone, cast iron, textured plaster, and wide glass windows). Buildings were planned more rationally and conveniently, with higher volumes, and were made more compact. Private architects’ offices appeared, and later, after the war, their numbers grew. The old architecture of the city

became an object of interest (the artist J. Kamarauskas captured the city in his sketches). The Modern Style in Vilnius is represented by the architects Wacław Michniewicz, August Klein, Mikhail Prozorov, Anton Filipowicz-Dubowik, Eduardas Rouba, Bołesław Stankiewicz, Aleksandr Antonowicz and ­Antanas Vivulskis. Almost all the Modern Style buildings were commissioned by private individuals, and just a few were commissioned by the city and local communities; only the State Bank of Russia was funded by the state.

The Modern Style began a quest for new forms, and inspired the aim towards individuality, which was later developed in various forms by all trends of 20th-century architecture.

Nijolė Lukšionytė

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Commercial and Cultural Buildings

The most important buildings of the Imperial Russian administration and education in Vilnius were constructed in the second half of the 19th century. The early 20th century was the time for commercial and cultural buildings. The aesthetics of the Modern Style influenced the architecture of banks and commercial premises. Plans for theatres were devised in the early 20th century, their architecture is a mix of modern and other styles (Baroque, Renaissance, Classicism). Various social groups built unusual buildings. However, unlike houses, the forms of pure modernity are seldom seen in the public buildings. They often mingle with Baroque, there were even attempts to apply them to wooden architecture. An example could be the

12

now disappeared artisans’ pavilion in the Bernardine Gardens (K. Koroyedov, 1902), which was later adapted as a summer theatre. Modern metal truss constructions were used in buildings, for ceilings over large spaces, like the Vilnius Electricity Plant (engineer W. Malinowski, 1901–1903; the constructions are not extant) and the Market Hall (A2). Two unexpectedly early examples of reinforced concrete construction are the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by the architect and sculptor Antanas Vivulskis (not extant, see C22), and the Three Crosses Monument (A10).

Nijolė Lukšionytė

M. Prozorov 1900, renovated 1910

Surrounded by historic facades, this building stood out by its rationality and laconic appearance, anticipating modernity. Decorative features of the new style were added later, on the inside and the outside of the building, when it was renovated in 1910: the operations hall of the Azov-Don Commercial Bank on the first floor along Didžioji Street, and one of the first elevators in Vilnius was installed. The trading house of Leiba and Rebeka Zalkind was famous throughout the Northwest Region for its size and luxury.

The outside of the large five-storey building was rather modern, but the inside had to be fitted into an old setting.

By adding height, an inner courtyard was formed, and the facade on Didžioji Street was made concave, thus making the composition more expressive.

After the Second World War, the building housed the Maskva cinema, and in the mid-1960s the Vilnius Model House. During the renovations at that time, the Sezession interiors were destroyed, and the outside of the building also suffered. Only one staircase with a caisson-decorated reinforced concrete ceiling and wrought-iron railings remains. The former trading house represents the beginning of the modern trend in Vilnius’ architecture.

(today commercial premises) Rūdninkų St 2 / Didžioji St 33 (VLN8)

a1

Zalkind’s Trading House

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a12

Anton Filipowicz-Dubowik’s villa M. Valančiaus St 3 (VLN1)

The villa of Anton Filipowicz-Dubowik, on a small street on Tauras Hill, is the city’s most prominent expression of the Sezessionist floral trend. The villa was built by its owner, a construction technician by training.

The building has complicated forms, and the volume is split by the asymmetrical connection of the parts. The spacious, comfortably planned owner’s apartment took up the whole of the ground floor. There were smaller apartments in the basement and the mezzanine (they may have been intended for the family’s needs or to be rented out). The new aesthetics are reflected in the dynamic, stepped form of the villa, the windows (shaped like horseshoes or flowers), the curves in the facade and the fence by the street, and the lush floral decoration.

Filipowicz-Dubowik did not keep to the Sezession style, but used everything he found charming and attractive in it. Botanical motifs were combined with reminiscences of Baroque, which were first seen as symbols of Vilnius

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A. Filipowicz-Dubowik 1903

and the national identity at the beginning of the 20th century. The main pediment is decorated with a relief of the Filipowicz family’s coat of arms, called Pobóg.

The interior is made more unique by its stoves made of glazed tiles, decorated with motifs of nasturtiums, sunflowers, seashells and a woman’s head, echoing the relief on the facade.

Ground floor plan

Vytauto St 16/3 (VLN1)

S. Wolonsiewicz 1907

a13

Anna Dobrocheyeva’s villa in Žvėrynas

This villa stands out among the wooden houses of Žvėrynas with its dynamic Sezession elements. It was built for Anna Dobrocheyeva, the wife of a titular councillor.

The whole house was occupied by a single family; there was a stable, a coach house, an ice house and a well. This symmetrical building with a single storey and a mezzanine floor resembles a traditional suburban home. The facade is made more unusual by the rounded veranda and balcony. The spaces over the windows are decorated with reliefs of botanical motifs.

Main facade

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a19

Wooden villa in Antakalnis M.K. Paco St 5 (VLN3)

This villa is in the Zakopane style, which in Poland meant folksy Neoromanticism. Even though its architect, Stanis­ ław Witkiewicz, was a Samogitian nobleman, the style was not particularly popular in Lithuania. The villa stands like a mountain chalet on a steep slope. Its base is of massive roughly cut stone, the walls are wooden, and the roof is tiled. At the front of the villa is a two-storey avantcorps, topped by a wide cornice and a triangular pediment decorated with typical Zakopane motifs of a sun and small blind arches. The avant-corps has both straight and arched windows. The other parts of the building are single-storey, and covered with separate roofs.

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Early 20th century

A. Klein, W. Michniewicz 1913

This house belonged to the architect Michniewicz, and was probably conceived together with Klein, the main designer of the colony. Its size and appearance differed from the other buildings in the colony. The ground floor was intended for Michniewicz’s personal architectural practice, and the living space was on the two upper floors. The staircases are by the diagonal walls, and their windows give a dynamic rhythm to the outside. The cubic building, with a cut-out corner, pentagonal tower with a dome, and a wide parapet on the roof, is especially expressive. Quality finishing materials of various textures and colours serve as decoration: the basement is covered in blocks of cut and polished stone, the walls in yellow brick, and the frieze in blue glazed tiles. The deep cornice is supported by decorative metal brackets. The ascetic forms of the building resemble the purist architecture of Joseph M. Olbrich. Michniewicz did not

live in the house for long; by 1913 it was already owned

by Helena Umiastowska.

The Lukiškės colony, J. Tumo-Vaižganto St 4/1 (VLN1)

a20

Wacław Michniewicz’s house and study

First floor plan

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a27

Israel Bunimovich’s house

J. Basanavičiaus St 19 (VLN2, 7)

F. Smorgonsky 1910

The architect Fyodor Smorgonsky constructed three buildings one after the other on a plot belonging to the merchant Israel Bunimovich. The desire to accommodate the maximum number of apartments possible was usual for mass construction at that time. However, the facade of the building is decorated with interesting panels in various shapes and graphic floral and zoomorphic decorations.

facade on J. Basanavičiaus Street

44

K. Kalinausko St 16 (VLN2, 7)

M. Prozorov 1911

a28

Vilnius Society for Apartment Decoration

This building was constructed at the initiative of the Vilnius Society for Apartment Decoration, and was immediately sold to Sofia von Beningsen, the owner of the Italia Hotel.

In 1912, an avant-corps was constructed in the back yard as a separate section next to the corps de logis. The light reaches the staircase deep inside the building through a large pyramid-shaped skylight (they were very popular in the early 20th century). Each floor has two apartments.

The facade is asymmetrical, and made more dynamic by the deep-set loggias. In this building, Prozorov interpreted the style of Art Nouveau.

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When Vilnius became a Polish provincial city, its economic, social and cultural life failed to keep up with events in the capital. The main cultural centre was the university (called Stephen Bathory University), which reopened in 1919. It contained a theatre, a literary group, and a circle of fine artists. This was the time of the artists Jan Bułhak, Vytautas Kairiūkštis, Juozapas Kamarauskas and Ludomir Sleńdziński. The Faculty of Art opened at the university with departments of Architectural Projects, Construction and Folk Architecture, in which the architects Julij Kłos and Ludwik Sokołowski worked. However, due to the lack of staff, architectural studies were discontinued in 1929, and Vilnius lost the chance to develop its own school of Modernist architecture. Local architects were usually graduates of the St Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineering

(M. Trojan, M. Cholem, J. Borowski), or of the polytechnical institutes in Warsaw (A. Forkiewicz, V. Jacevičius) or Lviv (B. Lepieša, J. Zdanavičius). They established their own businesses and architectural offices.

The 1920s was a time of little construction. New buildings in Vilnius, as in all of Poland and Lithuania, were predominantly retrospectivist (Neoclassical and sometimes Neobaroque forms were mostly used). The end of the decade witnessed the first signs of Modernism, but their further development was impeded by the economic depression in Europe. From the mid-1930s, as the city’s economy recovered, rationalism prevailed in architecture (no more elaborate decoration, all shapes geometric, aiming for functionality and economical features).

THE INTERWAR PERIOD 1918–1940

The bureaucrats of the Vilnius municipality were appointed from Warsaw. The technical department was run by the architects Stefan Narębski, Romuald Gutt, and others. A lot was done to restore Vilnius’ squares, a lot of attention was paid to the conservation of architectural monuments, and old architecture was researched. Even though Vilnius did not change during the interwar period, a prospective plan for the city was developed in 1939 (when the capital was returned to Lithuania, this was used as the basis for a general plan). The construction of government, educational, military and residential buildings was important work. Architectural competitions were held for important public buildings, and won by Polish Modernist architects (J. Żórawski, Z. Puget, S. Gałęzowski, J. Pańkowski, S. Murczyński, J. Sołtan). Objects built in Vilnius according to their plans reflect the work of the new Polish school of architecture.

Its beginning was strongly influenced by the Praesens group of Warsaw designers and architects, which pursued Bauhaus ideas of Functionalism and Constructivism, especially the work of the designer and architect Le Corbusier.

The retrospectivist buildings that were constructed in Vilnius during the interwar period seem to fade into the background of the city’s historic styles, and examples of Modernism clearly emphasise the unique qualities of the period. Along with political power, most ideas came from Poland, so the materials and the architectural details used for the buildings define a unique type of Modernist architecture in terms of Lithuanian cities that is found only in interwar Vilnius.

Jurgita Rimkevičienė

59

b10

The Jabłkowski House of Trade (today a department store) Gedimino Ave 18 (VLN2)

At the beginning of the 20th century, a modern house of trade was commissioned by the brothers Władysław and Adam Zawadski. Its construction began in 1914, to a design by the architect Kazymierz Krzyżanowski, but it was only finished after the war, between 1919 and 1923, according to a design by the famous Warsaw architects Karel Jankowski and Franciszek Lilpop. The Jabłkowski House of Trade and the Institute of the Highest Guild of Merchants moved into it.

The building stands at a crossing of three streets, and dominates its surroundings. The iron concrete shell makes the architecture simple. The vertical supports of the shell on the outside walls even resemble lesenes with the wide windows of the first, second and third floors between them. The upper floor resembles an attic, and conceals

K. Krzyżanowski, K. Jankowski, F. Lilpop 1914, 1923

a flat roof. The ground floor has arched display windows.

The corners of the building are rounded, and the volume resembles a cube. The centre is emphasised by pilasters and a portal of Classical proportions, above which is a shell-shaped niche with figures of two naked cherubs.

The keystones of the arches above the display windows are decorated with haut-reliefs of masks.

The trading units are arranged around a central courtyard covered with a double glass pyramid-shaped skylight. The attraction of the courtyard is the front staircase and the dynamic diagonal parapet. The completion of the construction followed the structure of the building as it was conceived in the 1914 plan, only the forms of the exterior and the interior were made stricter and more rational. The style of this building is interwar Modernism with traces of retrospectivism. During its renovation in 1965, a second double staircase was built, and the lift next to the main staircase was removed.

first floor plan, 1914

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Individual Architecture of a Multinational City

The style of houses for one, two and three families in the interwar period reflected the general trends in architecture in Vilnius at the time. In the 1920s, the prevalent mood was retrospectivist, influenced by the Modern Style, and the end of the decade already saw signs of Modernism.

In the mid-1930s, Rationalism became prevalent. This architectural trend features simple forms, and the quest for functionality and economic qualities matched the spirit and the requirements of the times.

Most private houses in the new architecture were built around Tauro Hill, M.K. Čiurlionio Street, and nearby. A few sprang up in the city centre, Žvėrynas and Antakalnis districts. The only area of homes with Functionalist forms of architecture is in Antakalnis (B30) Jurgita Rimkevičienė

74

I. Smorgonski 1939

b11

Janusz Zosztawt and Irena Herholdowa’s house A. MickeviÄ?iaus St 17 (VLN1)

The forms of this house are laconic and geometric, the roof is flat, and the facade is asymmetrical, aiming at Modernism. In order to balance the volume of the staircase, the other side of the facade features a corner balcony.

The narrow, tall and solid glass window of the staircase stands out. The architect’s aim to provide the building with a Functionalist look can be felt. Possibly due to the lack of technical capabilities and the required materials, the architecture is rather reservedly Functionalist. However, the aim was geometric harmony, and a new form of creation. This is one of the most mature and Rationalist houses conceived by the architect Smorgonski. facades

75

b30

Antakalnis terraced houses

T. KosciuĹĄkos, OlandĹł, M. DobuĹžinskio St (VLN3) The 25 two-storey terraced houses in Antakalnis demonstrate ingenious variations in Functionalist forms. The sections of the building are grouped in twos, in mirror-like symmetry, and rhythmically put in short rows. Their rectangular volumes, protruding horizontally, and/or vertically, form a stair-shaped and dynamic line of flat roofs and facades. The street facade and the plan of each section are asymmetrical. Only the most necessary architectural ingredients were used: rectangles, windows divided into small squares, small flat roofs above the entrances, and semi-circular railings on the steps. Some of the houses also have corner windows and balconies. The two semidetached houses at the end of the quarter have a stairshaped volume and a butterfly-shaped plan. The buildings form an intimate courtyard space with open terraces. The architecture of some of the houses was changed during the interwar period, and the whole complex was renovated in 1985. Without decoration, aiming for simple and

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F. Wojciechowski (?)

Circa 1930

economic forms, this became a stylistically uniform and mature example of Functionalist architecture in the interwar period in Vilnius. The complex was probably based on a design by Polish Modernist architects. Its construction was funded with public money.

Layout plan

first floor plan of the corner house

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During the Soviet period (1940–1990), the development of architecture in Vilnius reflected the changes in politics, the economy and the social situation. As Lithuania became a Soviet republic, private property became public, the free economy was centralised and planned, democratic processes in architecture were bureaucratised, and artistic expression was subjected to the purposes of the Communist Party. Standardised mass construction, and large-scale planning and development, changed the cityscape visibly.

During the Second World War, Vilnius was very badly damaged, and so the first years after the war (the 1940s) saw mostly reconstruction work. Lithuania lost a large number of educated architects through emigration and deportations. Postwar Vilnius had few architects left, because of the mass repatriation of Poles. Therefore, professionals were invited from Russia, mainly from Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and Moscow. In the first years after the war, these architects were the main

promoters of the styles of Socialist Realism and retrospectivist Neoclassicism. The buildings in the pompous and monumental Neoclassical style that appeared during those years, as symbols of socialist culture, today represent the totalitarian regime of Joseph Stalin.

The later ‘thaw’ under Nikita Khrushchev is reflected in architecture in the Soviet government decree ‘Regarding the Relinquishment of Excess in Construction and Architecture’ of 1955. It decried Neoclassical decoration, and promoted a new form of industrialisation. A factory producing reinforced concrete opened in Vilnius in 1958. It encouraged the use of prefabricated reinforced concrete, metal and glass in construction, and at the same time it popularised International Modernism. The construction of residential buildings was industrialised especially quickly: as early as 1959, the first prefabricated concrete apartment buildings were erected, and from 1964 they were built according to standardised plans adapted to

The Soviet Years 1940 –1990

the local conditions. Large new residential and industrial areas appeared on the outskirts of Vilnius. This helped to preserve the historical uniqueness of the city centre. In 1959, a plan for developing the Old Town was approved. It stated that the Old Town was to be protected as a single urban complex.

Among the largely inexpressive mass-constructed residential buildings, variously styled public objects stand out. As in other Lithuanian cities, specifically functional types of building representing socialist culture were conceived in Vilnius.

Until 1985, more than 50 factories, about 70 schools of various sorts, more than 100 kindergartens, 13 cinemas, cultural centres and clubs, large hospital complexes, libraries, sports arenas, funeral parlours, concert halls, museums and other buildings were constructed. However, the construction of religious buildings was completely halted, and many existing ones were put to other uses. The cathedral became an art gallery and concert hall. Communist ideology was represented in the main spaces in the city centre by monuments to famous Soviet figures: Vladimir Lenin, Ivan Chernyakhovsky and Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas.

In the 1960s and 1980s, besides objects built according to standardised plans, more and more individually designed buildings were built in Vilnius. The first examples of Modernist architecture appeared, also representing a certain continuation of prewar Lithuanian Modernism. These Modernist public interiors, such as the Neringa (C17) and the (now gone) Tauro ragas (C50) cafes, and the Dainava restaurant (today a casino), feature a unique synthesis of modernity and folk creation in various branches of art. It was a time when a new generation of architects with their own individual style grew up in Vilnius, who worked very actively. They included Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas, Algimantas and Vytautas Nasvytis, Vytautas Brėdikis and Justinas Šeibokas.

Public architecture in Vilnius at the end of the 20th century was mainly Late Modernist, with more liberal forms and ideas, expressing a quest for liberation from depressing monotony, to revive the Lithuanian architectural tradition of prewar times, and to search for national forms of expression.

Jūratė Tutlytė

95

c11

Salomėja Nėris Middle School

Vilniaus St 32 / Dominikonų St 2 (VLN2, 8) The school comprises two architecturally different volumes. The first was built in 1952, according to a standard design in Socialist Realism by the architect N. Ginzberg of the Leningrad Institute of Engineering. In 1964, on the corner of Vilniaus and Dominikonų streets, a Modernist annex with classes and a sports hall was built. It marks a new direction in Soviet architecture, after Neoclassical decoration was condemned by the Communist Party

Ground floor plan

106

N. Ginzberg (1952), L. Kazarinsky (1964) 1952, 1964

in 1955 as an ‘excess’. The new architecture employed functionalist white cubic volumes, columns (pilotis), ribbon windows and reinforced concrete, as can be seen in the annex of the school. A monument to the poetess Salomėja Nėris was built next to the school (architect G. Baravykas, sculptor V. Vildžiūnas) on the 70th anniversary of her birth.

c12

Kauno St 5 (VLN8)

Standard design 1958

V. Furman 1961

c13

Railway Workers’ House of Culture

Besides other cultural buildings such as an opera house, a library and a main cinema, every large city in the Soviet Union also had a simpler centre representing the essence of Soviet culture, a railway workers’ house of culture, or simply DKŽ (from the Russian dom kultury zheleznodorozhnikov). These were usually buildings of a standard design developed in Moscow institutes, and classified according to several categories by the number of seats in the hall (200, 300, 500 or 1,000). One of these, with lavish Corinthian columns, was built in Vilnius near the railway station. It was well known for its dance nights. After independence, the building became a place for youth culture events. In 1994, when the pediment was decorated

by Mindaugas Navakas with an ironic sculpture of an iron hook, it acquired the name Geležinis kablys (or Iron Hook; the word for railway translates as ‘iron road’).

House of Political Education

(today the Lithuanian Medical Library) Kaštonų St 6 (VLN2) This is one of the most luxurious examples of Socialist Realism in Vilnius, looking back to Stalinist times. The very decorated central part, with a door and front stairs leading up to it, stands out in the volume of the building. Columns rise from the projecting ground floor with a balustrade, in the spirit of the Corinthian Order. The building is lavishly decorated with mouldings, but is not overly monumental, as would be expected of Socialist Realism, even though it was built in 1961, six years after the famous Communist Party decree ‘Regarding the Relinquishment of Excess in Construction and Architecture’, which changed the direction of architecture in the Soviet Union from ornamental Historicism to ascetic Modernism.

The building was begun in the 1950s, and was finished in the old Stalinist style.

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Postwar Modernism. From Standardised to National

The 1960s and 1970s marked a new beginning in Lithuanian architecture, and this included Vilnius. After ‘excess in architecture’ was relinquished, architectural forms came to reflect the logic of industrialisation. This paved the way for Functionalism and Modernism. According to the social programme of the Communist Party, standardised mass-construction became prevalent, and residential and public buildings were grouped into massive complexes. During the ‘thaw’, architecture saw not only traits of International Modernism, but also a certain revival of prewar Modernist ideas, and a search for a national identity. Besides uniform, standardised projects, a number of unusal public objects, built according to individual orders, were conceived (especially interiors of public buildings), in which unconditional Modernism intertwines with signs of folk art and the national identity.

Jūratė Tutlytė

110

E. BergaitÄ—-BurneikienÄ— 1959

c16

Elena and Juozas Burneika’s house and studio Mildos St 45 (VLN4)

One of the first bold Modernist buildings of the postwar period, built in the pine woods of Antakalnis, is of a particularly pure style. The two-storey building has a hewn granite basement, the upper floor is contrastingly plastered in white. The ground floor, with plenty of glass on the south side, opens on to a backyard with a slope and a swimming pool. The architect created her own house with obvious references to Le Corbusier: the house contains open connecting spaces, strips of window and minimalist interiors, and is in close proximity to nature. The house also contained the studio of the sculptor Juozas Burneika. During Soviet times, citizens had to get special permission to build a house larger than the regulation 60 square metres, so the area allocated to the studio was the deciding factor in getting permission.

Ground floor plan

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c35

Concert and Sports Hall Rinktinės St 1 (VLN2)

The Vilnius Concert and Sports Hall was built in order to extend the large sports complex around the Žalgiris Sports Arena. This piece of architecture is the only one of its kind in Lithuania, with a clear ambition to join the brutalist international architectural movement. The arch­itects were criticised for copying a similar building in Minsk. However, if we consider the worldwide trend for such arenas, it is obvious that they looked towards acclaimed Western examples for their inspiration. The City Construction Institute announced a tender for the Concert and Sports Hall as early as 1961. Three groups of architects participated, and Eduardas Chlomauskas’ and Zigmantas Liandzbergis’ concept, which came second, was chosen. The hall,

126

E. Chlomauskas, J. Kriukelis, Z. Liandzbergis 1971

with 6,000 seats, has an expressive and fluid silhouette.

The upper part of the grandstand bends upwards, and the reinforced concrete ceiling, a construction stretching out and hanging on a reinforced concrete frame (the engineer H. Karvelis received an award for it), is unusual.

The facade and the interior are covered in dolomite tiles, a typical finish for the time. The foyer is decorated with a wooden panel fixed into the wall by the artist R. Kavaliauskas. The west wing of the vestibule contained a luxurious cafe and bar, decorated in brown leatherette and mirrors, according to the best design tradition of Soviet times. The building also contained a closed buffet-bar, for friends and guests of the Communist Party. All the most

important sports events and concerts took place in the Sports Hall, and it also hosted the Second Convention of the Reform Movement of Lithuania.

dual-purpose hall plan

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1-464-LI series apartment buildings

Žirmūnai, Lazdynai, Karoliniškės, Viršuliškės (VLN9) At the Department of Standard Design of the Vilnius Institute of Urban Planning, a group under the architect B. Krūminis came up with the uniform 1-464-LI (LI meaning Lithuanian) series of panel buildings of five, nine and 12 storeys, which was produced at the Vilnius Construction Factory from 1963. Based on a standard length of the walls (3.2 metres), improved one to four-room apartments were conceived: the number of communicating rooms was reduced, the bathrooms were separated from the toilets, and loggias were installed instead of balconies. The SNIPs did not allow larger service areas, so the apartments were planned as compactly as possible: 6.5-square-metre

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B. Krūminis, A. Umbrasas, V. Sargelis, V. Zubrus 1966

kitchens, 17.1-square-metre living-rooms with loggias on the sunny side, and 13.9 and 12.9-square-metre bedrooms of harmonious proportions. The houses of this series became even more popular in Lazdynai: in 1967, not only ‘slabs’ were constructed, but also broken configurations of five-storey buildings (30, 60 and 90 apartments) and nine-storey buildings (72, 108 and 144 apartments), descending in terraces and matching the relief of the location. In other residential districts, the houses of this series varied in the decoration (mosaic tile) or the colour (brickcoloured plates, in Karoliniškės) of the loggias.

Type A: Architektų St 55, 59, 65, 67, 112 Type B: Architektų St 77, 79, 91, 184 (VLN9) As the standard of five, nine and 12-storey apartment buildings became usual in the mass construction of residential districts, the issue of making microdistricts more unique was not only solved by means of colour, finish or urban layout, but by architectural form as well. These were supposed to be tower blocks. It was a way to provide each microdistrict with unique identifying marks. The Lazdynai residential district was constructed between 1967 and 1973, with some spaces left for future architectural features for the district, tower blocks of reinforced concrete that were later called ‘monolithic’ blocks. Two types of tower blocks were designed and constructed here. The first group of five Type A tower blocks of more prominent architectural expression was arranged in the northwest of Lazdynai, between Architektų Street and Laisvės Avenue. The second group of four Type B tower blocks was erected in the northeast of Lazdynai, next to Architektų Street. Lazdynai’s monolithic tower blocks are important, not only as architectural features of the district, but also as landmarks of modern Vilnius in views of the city.

Č. Mazūras, constructor J. Rusteika Type A 1978, Type B 1982

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Tower blocks in Lazdynai

general scheme of the district

Standard floor plan

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We can observe trends in architecture in Vilnius, as in the rest of Lithuania, that are not particularly clearly expressed, which are related to the prevalent style of Modernism, but already contain new features emerging in the 1980s. In the absence of a general, declarative style, it is difficult to pinpoint the limits of Late Modernism and Postmodernism, which are only just observable in variously named details. This is a transition period, when Modernism was abandoned for the sake of the latest styles. Tired of the results of uniform details and unvarying architecture, looking for a new, individual and unique mode of expression, and aiming to distance themselves from the dry international style of architecture, towards the end of

the century Modernist architects gradually began working differently, with more fluidity, more humaneness, and more softness. This was when Vilnius’ architecture saw the emergence of trends of Late Modernism: Structuralism, Metabolism, Plasticism, and even expressions of the national identity were attempted in architecture.

Vilnius’ Late Modernism often leans towards Postmodernism.

At the beginning, the styles were very mixed and intermingled, and only later did more easily identifiable details emerge, recognisable in the careful work by some architects and groups.

The architecture of buildings and complexes of buildings became more complicated, individual buildings turned into

Late Modernism and Postmodernism Circa 1970–2000

complexes, and the scale of building shrank. It became more human, more detailed, and more decorated. This chapter describes some Modernist buildings that were constructed much later than they were conceived, with unusual features, but which are no less interesting, and still in their own way reflecting the epoch. Is it not remarkable that the annex of the National Martynas Mažvydas Library (D17), constructed in its majestic historical form 26 years later, was eventually built so close to a triumph of pure Lithuanian Modernism, the Neringa Hotel and Cafe (C17)?

These changes in architecture were influenced by transitions in the socio-political situation. The country’s aspirations to freedom were expressed in the architecture. The easier bureaucratic process for getting permission provided architects with more creative freedom. This coincided with the

beginning of the activities of a new generation of architects.

Young professionals raised by the postwar generation of Modernist architects tried to stand out, to work in their own way, and this meant rather prominent, even if late, Postmodernist features in the rare realisations of projects at the end of the century. Postmodernism, sometimes an ideologically ironic, literary style imitating historic styles, also demonstrates the new possibilities and materials that were in short supply in Lithuania at the beginning of independence. New products, colours and materials flooded the country. It was a transitional time, from Soviet oppression to the conditions of the freemarket economy, defined by the quest for a new expression and uniqueness, and various unexpected variations.

Julija Reklaitė

155

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Institute of Agricultural Economy and Calculations Centre

V.E. Čekanauskas 1979

V. Kudirkos St 18 (VLN1)

The composition of this building, with a broken plan and volume, matches the complicated narrow slope and the busy street, hiding the surrounding chaotic architecture.

The unusual volume of the building comprises a terrace of rectangular elements facing slightly away from the street. The larger wing on the upper part of the slope is softened by a rounded wall. The lower rectangular blocks are hidden under the protruding, semi-circular solid volumes of staircases. The aesthetics of the facade are achieved not only by the fluid shapes of the staircases, but also by the narrow strips of pairs of windows, dividing the nearly solid rectangles. In the functional interiors, adapted to the requirements of the work, the hall contains a 240-square-metre fresco Our Country, depicting the ethnographic regions of Lithuania and their agriculture, people, costumes and characters (by A. Banytė, N. Daškova, S. Veiverytė). The building is a good example

166

of how to deal with a complicated relief and an original play of fluid forms.

second floor plan

G. Baravykas, V. Vielius 1980

The museum is an important part of the right bank of the River Neris, and is supposed to define the recreational zone near the busy shopping centre. The main compositional idea of the building is the emphatically massive and solid cubes, rhythmically arranged on a pedestal on visually light glass partitions. By combining monumental solemnity with expressive dynamics, the architecture is emotionally appealing, which also served the purposes of propaganda. It was said that the ‘planes of the building resemble a flag fluttering in the distance’. The first plan for the Museum of the Revolution, which was eventually built in 1980, and codenamed ‘The Torch of Happiness’, was submitted in a competition in 1966. The inside structure is dominated by closed spaces. The building had a uniform exterior and internal finish: anodised aluminium, dolomite tiles and plaster. When the concept was fulfilled, it was recognised as one of the city’s best public buildings. In 1991, the building was transferred

to the Lithuanian Art Museum, and in 1993 the National Gallery of Art opened.

(today the National Gallery of Art) Konstitucijos Ave 22 (VLN1, 2)

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Museum of the Revolution

First floor plan

167

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Apartment building

(originally a hostel) Šv. Mikalojaus St 15 / Žemaitijos St 8A (VLN8) The three-storey apartment building on the corner of Šv. Mikalojaus and Žemaitijos streets was one of the first Postmodernist buildings in the city, conceived to connect the Old Town with the building of the Institute of Monument Restoration, which was then new (it is not extant). It was precisely the time at the beginning of perestroika when a generation of architects emerged who were influenced by International Postmodernism. The task of the young architects was clearly to insert harmoniously fashionable stylistic forms of the times into the Old Town. The exterior has many elements imitating historic styles of architecture, such as a glass oriel window, a niche beneath it, several small pediments above the cornice, and a rusticated basement. Internal stairs, with a complicated configuration, lead to the living area. The ground floor contains a cafe and offices, and the other floors were a hostel. The entrance to the hostel is an interesting solution: the open crossing on the corner of

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A. Trimonis, G. Čaikauskas, A. Ambrasas 1985

the house leads inside, and at the same time expands the space of the pavement. The shape and the size of the building, finished in white plaster, match perfectly the surrounding Old Town.

(today the Centre for the Cultural Heritage)

Ašmenos St 10 (VLN8) A. Trimonis, A. Ambrasas, G. Adlys 1990

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Institute of Monument Restoration laboratory wing This three-storey building was erected on the remains of old cellars on the corner of Ašmenos and Mėsinių streets.

The exterior does not aim for a uniform composition: various shapes and sizes of arches and windows are used, a rusticated basement and a bay window, a complicated pattern in the cornice, and other details. The typical Postmodernist details create an eclectic image. The interior is also predominantly Postmodernist in style. The vestibule features a decorative spring (possibly an altar). The spacious inner courtyard is lit by natural light through a large window and the bay windows. The interior spaces are connected by stairs in a complicated pattern, and all floors contain arcades and rounded columns.

cross-section

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The Lithuanian Dream. Private Housing A free-standing house located on its own private plot of land represents a common dream for many Lithuanians. After spending many years squeezed into tiny flats in uniform Soviet blocks, with little privacy or individuality, as soon as the economic situation changed and private property was reestablished, many citizens eagerly rushed to make the dream come true.

As the chances of having such a home in the middle of the capital are quite small, Vilnius burst its limits, proliferating with new suburbs. Scattered in precious natural surroundings, these new quarters represent not only the overwhelming demand, but also the city’s poor ability to control the process of growth.

The variety of individual houses built during the last two decades speaks volumes about the shifts in taste, values and lifestyle of society. Pompous castle-like residences, the legacy of the 1990s, were succeeded by tinier houses in different styles. The mosaic of styles embraces everything, from an American dream chalet to the prototype of a vernacular Lithuanian cottage, from prosaic rationality to bold experimentation, from the pretentious display of material wealth to elegant minimalism.

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The most noteworthy specimens of new private housing in Vilnius show a sensitive and respectful approach by the arch­ itect and the owner towards the surroundings, the natural and urban heritage, and search for a synthesis of vernacular, regional and contemporary architectural features.

It is no wonder that the most unique and inspiring private architecture has usually emerged in the smart residential quarters that are hidden in the tranquil woods of the outskirts.

Naturally, this is not affordable for everyone, and neither is it accessible: these micro-settlements are shielded from the eyes of strangers by fences and security gates.

On the other hand, the suburbs became a fertile ground for cloning standard projects. Since in most cases the priority of this architecture is rationality and a low price, the chances of finding original solutions, adapted to the personal needs of the owner, are low.

A commission to build attractive and sustainable private housing, adapted to the uniqueness of the owner and the site, is still more the exception than the rule.

Rūta Leitanaitė

Nugalėtojų St 21B–21G, 21K (VLN14)

R. Palekas, G. Čaikauskas, V. Venckūnienė, A. Palekienė R. Paleko ARCH studija 2002

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Residential quarter

A small residential quarter consisting of eight houses is located near the old settlement of Aukštagiris on the border of the city of Vilnius. The shapes and textures are a contemporary interpretation of a traditional settlement: the volumes with pitched-roofs are scattered irregularly along the street. The finish of mahogany clay brick and dark tiling are a reference to Scandinavian style. The different colours of the windows of each house and the single-floor wooden garages add a certain playfulness to the architecture. Each house, with approximately 150 square metres of space, is different, but employing a common scheme: the ground floor is for common spaces, and the first floor for individual rooms. The quarter is noteworthy for its purist architectural language, its rational planning, and its attention to the comfort of the residents.

Site plan

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Private house

(restoration/extension) D. PoĹĄkos St 61 (VLN1) The alterations to this former residence of an Orthodox priest are hailed as a remarkable example of skill in creating a harmonious relationship between traditional and contemporary architecture. The project reflects a responsibility towards the rich social and cultural context, and a respect for the heritage of wooden architecture.

G. NatkeviÄ?ius, R. Adomaitis (with R. Babrauskas) G. NatkeviÄ?ius ir partneriai 2006 The volume of the original wooden house, which is decorated with fine carvings, has been left intact and minutely restored. A contemporary layer adheres to the existing structure: the new part of the building, a cellar, is lit through lateral windows which are incorporated into the foundations.

cross-section

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Pūčkorių St 11

Located on a bend in the River Vilnelė in the Pūčkorių nature reserve, a small single-floor bungalow, built in Soviet times, had to be preserved as a piece of the cultural heritage. The design dealt with the problem of lack of space by offering an unusual solution: the existing house was covered with a glass cube. The transparent walls show not only the old building, but also the daily life of the inhabitants, who have to put up with the curious glances of visitors on the adjacent path.

According to the blueprint, the reflections on the glass were supposed to merge the external volume visually with the landscape, ceding the role of landmark to the old building. However, the massive, dark metal cage supporting the glass surfaces dwarfs the internalised house.

The strict, rigid form of the new volume is a foreign body in the natural landscape, and still provokes heated discussions about the image of contemporary architecture and its relationship with heritage-protected landscapes.

R. Adomaitis, G. Natkevičius (with R. Babrauskas, T. Kuleša) G. Natkevičius ir partneriai, 2006

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Private house

Ground floor plan

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Akropolis shopping and leisure centre Ozo St 25 (VLN12)

Probably the country’s most popular shopping and leisure centre, sometimes called ‘the Capital of Shopping and Leisure’, was built on Šeškinė hill, near the National Stadium, which is still under construction. As one of the first multi-functional centres of such a size was being planned, heated debates arose between the architects and society. The complex of 55,000 square metres accommodates restaurants, a skating rink, a cinema and shops. The simple shape of the two-floor rectangular volume is given an individual character by the impressive steel portico running along the facade, clad with

226

G. Jurevičius, U. Kunnap 2002

rusty and stainless steel and fine larch lags. The interior, which was devised in collaboration with the Estonian designer Uko Kunnap, is based on an idea of simulating the structure of a city: the grid of passageways is a metaphor for a city centre, distributed like a city’s streets. Besides the annex of 20,000 square metres that was built in 2004, a plan to erect one more annex 15 floors high was announced, causing a lively debate. Illegal construction work was started in a geomorphological reserve, threatening to interfere drastically with the green slopes of Šeškinė, a natural feature crucial to Vilnius’ visual identity.

An architectural competition was organised in 2005 as a tool to legalise and continue the construction process.

The history of this building reflects one of the harshest confrontations between society, the city government and

private business, and serves to illustrate the manipulation of urban development. Permission was finally granted to finish the already-built part of the new annex, which today reaches a height of six floors.

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Swedbank headquarters Konstitucijos Ave 20 (VLN2)

Due to the functional, visual and semantic importance of the location of the headquarters, the architects were obliged to search for unconventional, sensitive and integrated solutions. The building stands on Konstitucijos Avenue, at the junction of a green public space (the bank of the River Neris) and a dense and busy district. Besides the basic expectations of the client (rationality, functionality and a dignified image), the main aim was to fit the building harmoniously into the urban context and the system of the city’s public spaces.

As the adjacent buildings on the riverside have long and low stylobates, the Swedbank headquarters also consists of a base and an upper part. The irregular shape of the stylobate follows the natural lines of the relief. Meanwhile, the main volume, comprising two 14 and 16-floor rectangles, together with a horizontal four-floor volume laid along Konstitucijos Avenue, pay tribute to clean-cut geometry.

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A. Ambrasas, V. Adomonytė, T. Eidukevičius, D. Malinauskas Ambraso architektų biuras, 2009 An inner passageway traversing the building continues the path connecting the vicinities of St Raphael’s Church and the Green Bridge with the Šnipiškės area.

The upper part of the building is devoted to offices, while the stylobate is an open multi-functional public space, which was required by the municipality. Its curved roof, covered with wood and inlaid with islands of greenery, has become a lively public space.

First floor plan

cross-section

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Hotbeds of Culture. Public Buildings While landmarks have appeared in Lithuanian cities built by the private sector, the public sector has been much less active. This situation is tellingly epitomised by the fact that, since independence, Vilnius built its first new school (E69) only in 2011. The list of newly built cultural objects consists of only one building (financed by the state, not the city), the addition to the revamped National Gallery of Art (E58).

There are ambitions to build more iconic public buildings, in the hope that they will act as magnets for public life and catalysts for the city’s further development. But many such projects, including the millennium stadium and the Hermitage-Guggenheim Museum in Vilnius (Z. Hadid architects), still languish in drawers because of financial and political obstacles.

The city intends to develop the public infrastructure and spaces by obliging private investors to include public functions in their plans, be it a new public space, a small concert hall, or a workshop space for artists.

While private investment has frozen in recent years due to the global crisis, it has been offset by European funds

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supporting the establishment and development of science, business clusters, ‘culture incubators’, technology parks, and so on. Unfortunately, in many cases the quality of the urban and architectural solutions is a question of luck. Projects are commissioned according to the Law on Public Procurement, in many cases applying the criterion of giving priority to the lowest price.

The most effective way of obtaining quality solutions corresponding to public expectations and economic and functional requirements, and also having the prestige of being a landmark architectural object, is an architectural competition.

Successful projects contributing to the city, such as Balsiai school, the National Gallery of Art, the memorials to the victims of 13 January and Tuskulėnai, Vilnius fire station, and the embassies of Estonia and the Czech Republic, are all confirmation of this approach.

Rūta Leitanaitė

Žvejų St (VLN2)

A. Skiezgelas, M. Nagelė, A. Kavaliauskas, D. Spranaitis (engineer S. Kavaliauskas) 2008

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Kultflux Pavilion

The pavilion on the bank of the River Neris in the very centre of Vilnius is a platform for the Kultflux cultural initiative. The aim of the project, which was initiated by a team of young architects, researchers, sociologists and artists, is to re-ignite the public discussion about the potential of Vilnius’ public spaces, and to attract citizens to the abandoned riverside, which is today used only for jogging and walking dogs.

The rich programme of events in the pavilion, including concerts, discussions, exhibitions, cinema reviews, a market and even dances, have drawn artists and ordinary citizens to the riverside.

Designed and built by the initiators themselves, the pavilion has become a new informal public space, an experimental laboratory for cultural collaboration. At the same time, the development of Kultflux’s activities indicates shifts in the city’s culture policy. plan

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Vilnius University Library, Information and Communications Centre Saulėtekio Lane 5 (VLN14)

Vilnius University Library, one of the oldest and richest academic libraries in Eastern and Central Europe, is moving to new headquarters in Sunrise Valley, a campus of science and business.

The library is being built at the intersection of the main pedestrian path and the future access road, which also separates the densely built-up area from the woodland area. Its expressive and organic forms are the only means generating the strong emotional charge of the library, which is a cradle of spirituality and creativity, while the palette of colours and textures is minimised.

Although it is visible from the main axes, the library is oriented towards a wood, turning its back on the main plaza of the campus, which is located on the opposite side of the road. Three irregular-shaped volumes of three, four and five floors, covered with light stone, are connected by a glazed central base. A generous front plaza and amphitheatre, connected with the pedestrian path and a quiet yard, celebrate its cosy and intimate atmosphere.

Being an extraordinary landmark for the whole campus, the complex also reflects a shift in the notion of the library as an institution. As today’s computer-assisted lifestyle

R. Palekas, B. Puzonas, A. Palekienė, P. Išora, M. Šiupšinskas, M. Zemlickaitė, L. Sužiedelytė, A. Barzda, J. Garšvaitė, V. Bavarskis, R. Paleko ARCH studija, 2011 allows people to access information without leaving their homes, the new purpose of a library is to be a congenial space for meeting, communicating and creating.

The smallest volume of the library is occupied by the administrative unit, while the other two are reserved for the library’s users. All three are accessed from a glazed lobby facing the library’s forecourt, which doubles as a stage for events, performances, meetings and relaxation.

The ground floor, which acts as a central circulation space, also includes a conference hall, cafeteria, bookshop and periodicals reading-room with an open-air terrace.

The new premises of Vilnius University Library go against the conventional image of a library as a mysterious ‘ivory

cross-section

262

tower’, where users are expected to be silent guests. This building is an open, welcoming, inspirational house of ideas, dedicated to its users, the academic world and the wider public.

Ground floor plan

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E18

E69

Pa šil aiči ai

baltupi ai Fabi jonišk ė s

Jus tinišk ė s VLN13

Še šk inė VLN11

VLN12

šnipišk ė s

VLN5

k arolinišk ė s ž vėry n as E15

Vingis park VLN1

l a zdy n ai

N aujamie s tis

VLN9

VLN10

E64

C8

270

E41

VLN7

Val ak upiai

VLN14

žirmūn ai an tak alnis

VLN6

E7

belmontas VLN3

VLN4

užupis

VLN2

old Tow n

VLN8

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contents Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Notes on the Development of the City of Vilnius. . . . . . . 6 The Modern Style 1900–1918

11

Commercial and Cultural Buildings. . . . . . 12 a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 a6 a7

Zalkind’s Trading House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Market Hall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 State Bank of Russia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Charitable Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Peasants’ Land Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Bank and Trading House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Polish Theatre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

a8+e48 Merchants’ Club. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 a9 Trade pavilion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 a10 Three Crosses Monument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Houses and Villas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 a11 Tadeusz Dembowski’s house and surgery. . . . . 25 a12 Anton Filipowicz-Dubowik’s villa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 a13 Anna Dobrocheyeva’s villa in Žvėrynas. . . . . . . . 27 a14 Petras Vileišis’ mansion and ancillary buildings. . 28 a15 Ilya Bloch’s house and surgery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 a16 Albinas Nedzveckis’ villa in Žvėrynas . . . . . . . . . . 31 a17 Janina Wilczewska’s villa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 a18 Wacław Michniewicz’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 a19 Wooden villa in Antakalnis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 a20 Wacław Michniewicz’s house and study. . . . . . . 35 a21 Józef Montwiłł’s colony in Lukiškės. . . . . . . . . . . . 36 a22 Aleksandr Mushnikov’s villa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 a23 Anastasya Danilova’s villa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Modern Apartment Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 a24 Feliks Zawadski’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 a25 Konstantin Voronko’s House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 298

a26 Kazimierz Rutski’s house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 a27 Israel Bunimovich’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 a28 Vilnius Society for Apartment Decoration . . . . . 45 a29 Olga Goduntsova’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 a30 Wiktor Lukaszewicz’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 a31 Khaia Lea Kremer’s house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 a32 G. Berniker and G. Sinai’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 a33 Block of rented houses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 a34 Ksawery Zubowicz’s and Bołesław Stankiewicz’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 a35 Jan Slizienis’ house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 a36 Felicja Svolken’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 a37 The Germaizovs’ house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 a38 M.Z. Daion’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 a39 Sergiusz Łopaciński’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 a40 Julian Kogan’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 THE INTERWAR PERIOD 1918–1940

59

A Boom in Public Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 b6 b7 b8 b9 b10

Antakalnis Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Post Office Savings Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Polish Land Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Public Insurance Agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Trade and Manufacturing House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Credit Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Office building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Stephen Bathory University Hall of Residence. . 71 The Jabłkowski House of Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Individual Architecture of a Multinational City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 b11 Janusz Zosztawt and Irena Herholdowa’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 b12 Jan Sterło-Orlicki’s house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

b13 b14 b15 b16 b17 b18 b19

House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 V. and M. Lopašinskis’ house. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Konstantina Swołkien and Jan Zawisz’s villas . . 78 House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Stefan Golebiowski’s house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Witołd Źemojtel’s house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Anton Kiakszt’s villa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Interwar Trends in the Construction of Apartment Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 b20 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 b21 The M. Deul company apartment building. . . . 84 b22 Anna Hansenowa and Stanisław Bagiński’s apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 b23 Khaim and Sheina Beker’s and Helena Yaltsova’s apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 b24 Isaak and Rachel Oruch’s apartment building. . 87 b25 Stanisław and Bronisława Baneli’s apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 b26 Abram Strugacz’s apartment building. . . . . . . . . 88 b27 Owsiei Rupaits’ apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . 89 b28 David Strugacz’s apartment building. . . . . . . . . . 90 b29 Bank Employees’ House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 b30 Antakalnis terraced houses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 The Soviet Years 1940–1990

95

Stalinist Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 c1 House of Academics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 c2 Green Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 c3 Vilnius Railway Station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 c4 Žalgiris Sports Arena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 c5 Ministry of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 c6 Vilnius Pedagogical Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 c7 Pergalė cinema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 c8+e64 Vilnius Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

c9 Library of the Republic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 c10 National Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis School of the Arts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 c11 Salomėja Nėris Middle School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 c12 Railway Workers’ House of Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . 107 c13 House of Political Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 c14 Council of Ministers of the Lithuanian SSR. . . . 108 c15 Trade Union House of Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Postwar Modernism. From Standardised to National. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 c16 c17 c18 c19 c20

Elena and Juozas Burneika’s house and studio. . . 111 Neringa Hotel and Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Lietuva cinema. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Vingis Park open-air concert stage . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 The Composers’ Union building and terrace of houses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 c21 Vilnius Institute of Urban Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . 116 c22 Construction Workers’ House of Culture. . . . . . . 117 c23 Vilnius cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 c24 Supreme Court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 c25 Žirmūnai Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 c26 Bank of Lithuania annex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 c27 Institute for the Organisation of Land Exploitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 c28 Art Exhibiton House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 c29 New buildings of Vilnius University. . . . . . . . . . . 122 c30+E66 Vilnius Engineering and Construction Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 c31 Student hostels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 c32 Central Post Office extension. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 c33 National Planning Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 c34 Middle school. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 c35 Concert and Sports Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 c36 Flower shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 c37 University Hospital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 299

c38 c39 c40 c41

University Hospital and Clinic in Antakalnis. . . 130 Antakalnis Clinic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Vilnius Bus Station. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Calculations Centre of the Central Department of Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 c42 Draugystė Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 c43 Gintaras Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 c44+e49–e56 New city centre on the right bank of the Neris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 c45 Lietuva Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 c46 Central Department Store. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 c47 Turistas Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 c48 Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Library annex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 c49 Lazdynai Middle School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 c50 Tauro Ragas beer hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Residential Districts and Apartment Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 c51 c52 c53 c54 c55 c56 c57 c58 c59 c60

The first area of panel buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Experimental apartment buildings. . . . . . . . . . . 143 First residential microdistrict of Žirmūnai. . . . . 144 Nine-storey panel building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 120V series apartment buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Lazdynai residential district. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146 1-464-LI series apartment buildings. . . . . . . . . . 148 Tower blocks in Lazdynai. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Tower blocks in Šeškinė. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Complexes of apartment buildings in Pašilaičiai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 c61 Apartment building of the Affairs Board of the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 c62 Cooperative house for the Lithuanian Communist Party nomenklatura . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

300

Late Modernism and Postmodernism Circa 1970–2000

155

Late Modernism. Breaking out of Monotony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 d1 d2 d3 d4 d5

National Opera and Ballet Theatre. . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Palace of Weddings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Funeral parlour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Communications complex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 Ministry of the Interior Culture and Sports House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162 d6 Ministry of Finance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 d7 Trade Union Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 d8 Presidium of the Supreme Council of the LSSR. . 165 d9 Institute of Agricultural Economy and Calculations Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 d10+e58 Museum of the Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 d11 Vilnius Academy of Art new building. . . . . . . . . 168 d12 National Drama Theatre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 d13 Central Committee of the Lithuanian Communist Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 d14 Maskva (Helios) cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 d15 Lėlė Theatre and State Youth Theatre. . . . . . . . . 171 d16 Lithuanian Union of Cooperatives. . . . . . . . . . . . 172 d17 National Library annex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 d18 Congress Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 d19 Šeškinė shopping centre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 d20+e39 Litexpo Exhibiton and Congress Centre . . 176 d21 Vilnius Television Tower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 Postmodernism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178 d22 State Car Inspectorate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 d23 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 d24 Institute of Monument Restoration laboratory wing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

d25 Church of Bd George Matulaitis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 d26 St Joseph’s Seminary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183 d27 Hermis Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184 d28 Centrum business complex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185 d29 Ministry of Defence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186 d30 Office building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 d31 Office and residential building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 d32 Seimas Hotel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 d33 Office building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 D34 Antakalnis Children’s Clinic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 After the Restoration of Independence 1990–2013 191 The Lithuanian Dream. Private Housing. . 192 e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 e6 e7 e8 e9 e10

Residential quarter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Private house . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

The Big Bang. Apartment Buildings. . . . . . . 202 e11 e12 E13 E14 E15 e16 e17 e18

Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Tymo residential block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Kriviai residential quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 Residential quarter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 Residential quarter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

e19 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 e20 Apartment building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Signs of the Times. Administrative and Commercial Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 E21 Stiliaus Fabrikas commercial and administrative building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 E22 SBA Baldai interior and furniture shop . . . . . . . 214 E23 Business centre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 e24 Holiday Inn hotel and office building . . . . . . . . 216 e25 Novotel Hotel and commercial premises. . . . . 217 e26 Office building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218 e27 BMS Megapolis shop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 E28 Marenta offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 E29 LNK television headquarters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 e30 Vilbra commercial and administrative building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222 e31 Domus Galerija interior design shop. . . . . . . . . . 223 e32 Forum Palace sports, leisure and business centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224 e33 Achema headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 e34 Akropolis shopping and leisure centre . . . . . . . 226 e35 Lesto headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228 e36 Baltic-American Clinic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 e37 Commercial building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230 e38 Helios City administrative and residential complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231 e39+D20 Pavilion at Litexpo Exhibition and Congress Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232 e40 Victoria office building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 e41 Logistics centre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234 e42 Commercial complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 e43 Vilniaus Vartai office and residential complex .236 e44 Karaliaus Mindaugo office and residential complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 e45 Administrative building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 301

e46 Prosecutor’s Office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239 e47 North Star office building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240 e48+A8 Pirklių Klubas office building . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 The New City Centre on the Right Bank of the River Neris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 e52 e54 e55 e56

Europa Square . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Vilnius City Municipality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Centre of Registers and Vilnius Business Port . 246 Swedbank headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Hotbeds of Culture. Public Buildings. . . . 250 e57 Kultflux Pavilion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 e58+d10 National Gallery of Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252 e59 The Columbarium at Tuskulėnai Peace Park. . . 254 e60 The 13 January Memorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 e61 Estonian Embassy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256 e62 Czech Embassy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

302

E63 Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania . . . . . . 258 e64+C8 Vilnius International Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 e65 SEB Arena sports complex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 e66 Headquarters of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 e67 Headquarters of the Sunrise Valley Science and Technology Park. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 e68 Vilnius University Library, Information and Communications Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 e69 Balsiai Secondary School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 e70 Fire Station and Rapid Response Centre. . . . . . 266 e71 Vilnius Gaon State Jewish Museum Tolerance Centre (improvements). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 e72 King Mindaugas Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Authors. Translators. Illustrations. Drawings. Sources. . 294

Based on the bilingual 2005 publication Vilnius 1900–2005. Naujosios architektūros Gidas. A Guide to Modern Architecture. The first edition was compiled

by Jūratė Tutlytė, written by Marija Drėmaitė, Nijolė Lukšionytė, Vaidas Petrulis, Jurgita Rimkevičienė and Jūratė Tutlytė, and edited by Darius Osteika and Jūratė Tutlytė, with co-authors Tomas Grunskis, Diana Kontrimaitė, Renata Vaičekonytė-Kepežinskienė and Aida Štelbienė, and photographs by Raimondas Urbakavičius.

303

Vilnius 1900–2013 A Guide to the City’s Architecture

Editors Julija Reklaitė, Rūta Leitanaitė Editorial board Audrius Ambrasas, Darius Osteika, Rūta Leitanaitė, Julija Reklaitė Authors Marija Drėmaitė, Tomas Grunskis, Rūta Leitanaitė, Nijolė Lukšionytė, Diana Kontrimaitė, Algimantas Mačiulis, Vaidas Petrulis, Julija Reklaitė, Jurgita Rimkevičienė, Indrė Ruseckaitė, Jūratė Tutlytė, Aida Štelbienė, Renata Vaičekonytė-Kepežinskienė Translators Gabrielė Gailiūtė Rūta Leitanaitė Language editor Joseph Everatt Designer Kontis Šatūnas

Print run 1,000 copies Prepared by VšĮ Architektūros fondas K. Kalinausko St 10/2-3, LT-03107 Vilnius arch@archfondas.lt www.archfondas.lt Published by VšĮ Actus musicus K. Kalinausko St 10/2-3, LT-03107 Vilnius books@actusmusicus.eu Printed by UAB BALTO print Utenos St 41A, LT-08217 Vilnius info@baltoprint.lt www.baltoprint.lt

With the reestablishment of independence in 1990, and with the consequent changes that took place in the economy and in society, Vilnius experienced yet another wave of urbanisation. Private houses were built again, filling the city to the limits, and a spectacular steel and glass city centre took shape on the right bank of the River Neris.

A Guide to the City’s Architecture

At the dawn of the 20th century, the elegant Central European Sezession style was still in vogue. Arch­ itecture later progressed to the stripped-down interwar Modernism of the 1920s and 1930s, and after the Second World War it ventured into the controversial Soviet-imposed Neoclassicism. After ‘totalitarian’ architecture was officially discredited in the mid-1950s, postwar Modernism flourished, particularly in the new residential districts that were built to house the city’s growing population. At the end of the Soviet period, Late Modernism saw a large number of public buildings appear around the city centre.

Vilnius 1900–2013

Vilnius’ architecture of the 20th and early 21st centuries ranges from the Modern Style to High-Tech, and reflects all the architectural trends and political shifts that swept across the city during this period.

VILNIUS

1900 –2013 A Guide to the City’s Architecture

The Modern Style 1900–1918 The Interwar Period 1918–1940 The Soviet Years 1940–1990 Late Modernism and Postmodernism Circa 1970–2000 After the Restoration of Independence 1990–2013