Architektura radziecka w Wilnie: stale zmieniające się postrzeganie środowiska zbudowanego

Abstract

The domain of the building value is constantly changing. It depends on relevant political (entrenching occupation vs. re-establishment of statehood) and cultural (prevailing aesthetics, social models) transformations of the time, as well as changing values tolerated (totalitarianism) or cherished (democracy) by society. Many buildings, squares, and blocks that shape today’s Lithuanian urban environment and represent the country’s architectural image of the country were developed during the Soviet occupation from 1944 to 1990. Because of the diverse variety of objects and cases, Vilnius is a useful starting point for discussing the ever-changing perception of society on the built environment. The publication focuses on the relationships between designers and builders who functioned under the general tenets of the Soviet Union and the evolving cultural norms derived from new generations with their new ideas and perspectives. The issue of varying relationships between the communities/ society and architecture of the occupation period immediately after the implementation, during the 1990s national liberation, and at present, three decades after the restoration of independence and half a century since the implementation is discussed in the article. The research contains several different case studies, which relatively could be classified into four functional and typological groups: ideological landmarks in urban public spaces (former Lenin Square), the architecture of governmental institutions (Lithuanian Parliament, TV tower, and Road Inspection Headquarters), public buildings (Concert and Sports Palace and Wedding Palace) and mass-housing area (Lazdynai). Each case represents different aspects of interaction. The study of the mass housing neighborhood shows the dependency between the physical condition of the mass construction, the changing models of social behavior, and narratives of identity. Through analysis of public and governmental buildings, have been proven that a complex value connecting several different areas (e.g., artistic and historical) not only helps to protect a building from destruction (the Concert and Sports Palace) but also may become a basis for its sustainable use (transformation of the soviet administration building into the Seimas (Parliament) Palace of the independent state). On the contrary, despite a poor artistic value, a memorial value still maintained by alive witnesses (e.g., memories of killed Freedom defenders) may be sufficient to create a value narrative of the building (standard type TV Tower). An artistic value of architectural work may be strengthened by a historical event (Sports Palace) or sentimental personal experience by a group of individuals (Wedding Palace), but, on the other hand, it may be deteriorated by the historical circumstances of such building (e.g., if the building was constructed in a place of the former cemetery, or attempts by the soviets to neutralize the Church influence in society).