Abstract
The field of contemporary Lithuanian architecture is influenced by architects from different periods with different attitudes. This is manifested by increasing miscommunication between generations of architects and a crisis of values. Various tensions in the community of architects triggered the idea to look to the past and examine the self-awareness of professional architects in Soviet society. In this study, we delved into their understanding of the architect’s mission, role, status, and significance in society through their expectations, powers, impact, and perceived responsibility. This study is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 9prominent and influential architects who received their professional education in post-war Lithuania and were actively working in the Soviet period (1955–1990) and later. In general, Lithuanian architects managed to withstand Soviet doctrine and remained loyal to Western cultural values. The study’s findings reveal five components of the architect’s self-awareness, which define the dual scope of this field, where architects perform their direct professional tasks and where they express themselves as people of culture. The self-awareness crisis becomes prominent in the main axis of the architect’s choice of art creator vs. service provider, where Lithuanian modernists position themselves as artist–creator’, leading to frustration regarding the current reality.
Highlights
This study is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with 9prominent and influential architects who received their professional education in post-war Lithuania and were actively working in the Soviet period (1955–1990) and later
Architects were selected as the study participants according to three following criteria: they were architects who received their professional education in Lithuania in 1950–1970; prominent professionals, recognized by the professional or academic community, who held significant offices, designed exceptional objects; and they were accessible at the time of the interviews in 2015–2016
They worked in the following higher education institutions: Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA); Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI), which was transformed into Kaunas University of Technology (KTU); and the newly established Vilnius Civil Engineering Institute (VISI), which was later renamed as Vilnius
Summary
The Law on Architecture adopted in 2017 established criteria for the quality of architecture; in 2018, regional architectural councils were set up, the purpose and mission of which are to perform the role of the valuator of architecture quality in the fields of architecture, territory planning, and architectural and urban heritage Despite these efforts, various tensions are being felt within the community of architects, including increasing miscommunication between different generations, a crisis of values and lack of continuity of ideas, and confusion in the fields of and trends in architectural activities. Various tensions are being felt within the community of architects, including increasing miscommunication between different generations, a crisis of values and lack of continuity of ideas, and confusion in the fields of and trends in architectural activities In such a situation, the idea arose to look at the past and investigate the attitudes that shaped the specifics of Lithuanian architecture over the past decades and the self-awareness of professional architects in society during these periods
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