Architectural Modernisation in Panevėžys During the 1930s: Exploring the Works of Civil Engineer Antanas Gargasas

Abstract

Summary In contemporary studies of Lithuanian interwar architecture, so far the greatest attention is paid to the analysis of the architectural development and modernization processes that took place in the city of Kaunas, the temporary capital of the country at the time. The work of architectural specialists who worked there is also analysed more. However, at the same time, little is known about the development of architecture created in the smaller cities of Lithuania at that time and its modernization. Thus, this article aims to more thoroughly reveal and analyse the processes of modernization of Panevėžys city architecture that took place in the 1930s, choosing the designs of Antanas Gargasas, who worked there as a municipal engineer in 1931–1940, as the research object. This is done in the article by analysing and presenting the majority of his designed public buildings and the most significant and typical residential buildings. The article, which was written based on archival material, the press of the research period and the contemporary studies of the interwar architecture, contains an assumption that the buildings designed by Antanas Gargasas had a significant influence on the processes of modernization of the Panevėžys architecture at that time and the spread of new stylistic trends in it. The article is supplemented by the drawings and photos of the buildings designed by the engineer.