Garuda

The article is focused on vernacular dwellings in different parts of Europe: Southern Italy and Lithuania that have their own traditions. The authors note that the attitude towards traditional vernacular architecture has largely changed due to ongoing research in this domain. Nevertheless, despite persistent continuity of traditional architecture, vernacular architecture was affected by the rise and development of modernist ideology that neglected the realm of tradition. The authors discussed some types of vernacular buildings and their relation to local landscape, especially focusing on the traditional vernacular dwelling of Kuršių Nerija (coastal region bordering with Curonian spit and the Baltic Sea). This region was originally an area of fishermen villages and though some of the settlements ceased to exist there are a number of vernacular houses that belong to architectural heritage. The issues of dwellings, authenticity, survival and protection as well as some ambiguous issues of sustainability of traditional dwellings were discussed. The authors concluded by suggesting that multiple assessment perspective should be employed while dealing with vernacular buildings suggesting that buildings of this type can perform functions extending the tourist consumption.

The article deals with the role of wooden architecture constructions in competitions that took place in the recent decade. Architecture competitions for which designs from wood were offered are discussed. This article is based on the research of three international competitions and three local competitions. Analysis of the wooden architecture helps to find important aspects and to see the changing value of it during the time. It should be noted that wooden constructions, owing to their properties, are increasingly noticeable and are acknowledged with awards. Competitions are the field where architects are free to express their visions, make innovative decisions, propose unexpected materials. Achievements show solutions that experts, property developers, and society are ready to accept. Given that this process takes place in architecture competitions, we can predict architectural trends in the near future.

The article is focused on the cultural phenomena of architectural iconism that has become globally widespread due to the continuous pressure of ongoing economic, ideological and cultural globalisation and the reigning interests of the web of building industry that appropriates architectural design for its own financial purposes as well as local political stakeholders who often seek to replicate the success of previous internationally renowned iconic buildings by aspiring to the status of worldclass cities. While discussing the global and local cultural contexts in which the so-called ‘Bilbao effect’ triggered the current pursuit of iconic buildings, the author of the article analyses the much publicized recent example of iconic architecture in Eastern Europe – the MO Modern Art Museum that was designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania in 2018 on the site of an abandoned and eventually demolished cinema in the vicinity of the historical Old Quarters. It is argued that despite of publicity and largely overcooked praises of international architectural media, the museum’s architectural design remains an example of ‘signatory architecture’ that largely ignores the aesthetics of its local urban environment and peculiarities of local historical and cultural context. It is suggested that that despite of claims of being contextual, in fact the building is not and on the contrary: it exhibits most of the aesthetics features that plaque iconic buildings in various localities on different continents.