Art Nouveau architecture in Riga
Stylistic influences derived not least from present-day Austria, Finland and Germany, while the establishment of a faculty of architecture in Riga in 1869 was instrumental in providing a local cadre of architects.
As elsewhere, the Art Nouveau movement in Riga was driven by a desire to express greater individuality, local attachment and a more rational kind of architecture than that which had dominated during the 19th century.
[2] At the end of the 19th century, the old Hanseatic town and seaport of Riga was an important city in the Russian Empire which was enjoying a period of rapid economic, industrial and demographic development.
[5] The expanding city possessed urban coherence, as it developed along a grid pattern, following strict building regulations (which stated, for example, that no house could be taller than six storeys or 21.3 metres, 70 ft).
Local decorative arts companies produced items for both their regional market and the Russian Empire, reaching destinations such as Tallinn and Saint Petersburg.
Like Art Nouveau elsewhere, its development was driven by a desire to create an individualistic style less dependent on obvious historical references, a wish to express local traits and traditions, and a move towards a rational architecture based on an 'honest' use of materials and ornamentation which complements the structural layout of the building.
[20][21] Stylistically, the Art Nouveau architecture of Riga is can be divided into four main categories: Eclectic or Decorative; Perpendicular or Vertical; National Romantic and Neo-Classical.
Eclectic Art Nouveau still displays the rhythmic façades and opulent decoration, often directly inspired by historical styles, of earlier architecture.
[23][24] The centrally located multi-storey building on Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela (Krišjānis Valdemārs Street) number 37, designed by Eižens Laube and built in 1912, is a representative albeit somewhat late example of this phase in the development of Art Nouveau architecture of Riga.
This, together with political developments (especially the Revolution of 1905) led to a stronger desire to express a specifically Latvian identity also through art and architecture during the early 20th century.
Drawing on the language of Classical architecture which had been a prolific style in the Russian Empire during the 19th century (but not common in Riga), this rather monumental variant of Art Nouveau was used in several new bank buildings.
Purely Neo-Classical buildings from this time are still rare, however; often a classical basic layout was made to accommodate details and decorations that belonged firmly to the vocabulary of late Art Nouveau.
[28] The building is located in the former private home of Konstantīns Pēkšēns, a notable Latvian architect, and features modern digital exhibitions within the authentic interior of an Art Nouveau apartment.
