The outskirts of Vilnius now feature a new landmark; a recently completed building of “Moller Auto”, the representative of the German VOLKSWAGEN (VW) Group, catches the driver’s eye upon entering the city from Savanorių Avenue. Situated on the strategic location near the first entrance crossroad in ŽemiejiPaneriai, the centre serves as the gateway to the city and is in harmony with other buildings of this kind. The final building turned out to be a monumental, slightly minimalistic object and a successful combination of corporative preferences and artwork. The building fully serves its function in representing the essential, i.e., the vehicles made by VW.
Constructed as a complex of two buildings in 1936, the building burnt to the ground during the years of World War II, and in 1950, it was rebuilt as a single three-storey administration building. Since the present building is on the crossroads on the major streets of Šiauliai, i.e., Vilniaus and Tilžės streets, it should provide shape to the block corner, whose determining detail is set to be the upcoming fourth floor of a higher capacity. The building’s architecture finely interprets its language, its rounded corner and horizontal segmentation.
The present object is of great significance to Šiauliai city centre at least for two reasons. It is located near the Lithuanian masterpiece of architecture, the Šiauliai Cathedral, and, secondly, it is a replica attempt of the interwar development, however, in strict compliance with modern architecture language. The tendency of recreating the interwar development line should not be associated with firm recreation of the architectural forms. It was neither the purpose nor could it have been, owing to the requirements for a new purpose and a single language of architecture.
Although there still are some abandoned buildings and many of its areas may be further improved, the realisation of Karolis Dineika wellness park project will clearly have a positive impact on the town improvement. Any town or city would benefit from such park, yet new hiking tracks for active and passive walks and procedures without parallel in Lithuania, will help Druskininkai, a wellness resort, provide more diversified services both for the guests and local residents.
In 2007, the Sonata of the Sun project, the complex of seven buildings at the very heart of Druskininkai, was made public and received favourable response. Its realisation, although having taken several years, has finally accelerated with the completion of the first note, “Mi” which has only few vacant apartments left, and the “Do”, the villa to be completed in the near future, will help meet the growing demand for apartments in the town centre. “Mi’ is a building for comfortable living and leisure; it features bright and cosy interior in the town centre, yet, typical to Druskininkai, it stands in the sanctuary of trees.
The architecture tender that was completed in July may be seen as an example of the new public procurement model: the public client looking for high architecture and urban quality purchases the project which offers the best solution rather than the best price. Upon signing the architecture planning and maintenance contract with the winning tenderer, a new tender for preparing the rest of the technical project will be held in autumn. The construction of the new LMTA campus is to begin next year. The first stage which will begin as the construction of the Faculty of Theatre and Film has already been granted a state donation.
The Paneriai Memorial stands on the site of mass massacre and graves of the victims of 1941 – 1944 executions, and most of those killed by the Nazis were Jews. Although the project of 4 PLIUS architects team designed for the contest did not receive the first prize, it did make a sharp impression. The project features the universally recognisable signs, texture, and lightning which help create the mood suitable for such memorials. Perhaps the most valuable in the project are the general plan solutions; seen as the full picture only from the bird eye view, together they make up a structure which in turn becomes the project’s mark valuable both in terms of aesthetic and functional point of view.
Although in Birštonas there are many sanatoria, SPA centres and parks, less attention has been so far drawn to active leisure, which has lead to the preparation of a new project of sport facilities on Kęstučio Street. The upcoming object was designed considering the number of town guests and citizens and their needs. Although it is still in its project state, the sports complex in Bir6tonai is expected to be completed in the near future. The town lacks this very purpose and the building’s architectural design seems to be very promising.
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