Cathy in Vilnius

Leaving Vilnius

2009-08-01T13:00:00.000-04:00

I am leaving Vilnius in less than a week, so this will be my last blog post. I really enjoyed exploring the city, taking Lithuanian language classes, attending cultural events and festivals, and eating Lithuanian food. Most days now it is sunny and cool out; the gardens are in full bloom and the city is covered in green. After a long winter, the city seems so much more alive, and tourists are out in full force enjoying the many Capital of Culture events. Summer is a great time to be here in Vilnius and the most difficult time to leave.

Overall, my Fulbright project was a success. I published two articles about Vilnius and a third article will be published this winter. Additionally, I completed a detailed report on the city focusing on sixteen of its neighborhoods. The report compiles a year's worth of knowledge from exploring neighborhoods, interviewing experts, attending conferences, and talking with Lithuanian friends. The outlook for Vilnius is promising, but development progress has been delayed by the looming economic crisis and muddled in some cases by politics. However, there are a number of very passionate people within the planning, architecture and development fields that are determined to make Vilnius an even better city, and the future looks bright.

Wrapping up this blog, I thought it would be nice to share a collage of photographs from different areas of town and various events during the year, some of my favorite memories. Thanks for following along; I hope you all enjoyed my blog and learned something new about Lithuania!

Vilnius Cathedral

Winter sidewalk

Salomeja Neris Secondary School, Old Town, Vilnius

Fall sidewalk

A. Vivulskio g. plaza / short cut

Neris River, Vilnius

Druskininkai, Lithuania

My courtyard in winter

Karoliniškės

Basanavičiaus g., Naujamiestis, Vilnius

Collectors Market, Tauro Hill, Vilnius

View from Tauro Hill

Sierakauskio g., Naujamiestis, Vilnius

Savanorių pr., Vilnius

New business district, Naujamiestis

Wood house, Žvėrynas, Vilnius

Residential mews, Pašilaičiai, VIlnius

Pašilaičiai balconies

New apartments, Fabijonškės, Vilnius

The Sports Palace, Vilnius

Renovated Soviet-era apartments, Žirmūnai, Vilnius

Šeškinė pedestrian path, Vilnius

New apartments, Antakalnis, Vilnius

Antakalnio g., Vilnius

Gedimino pr., Vilnius

Capital Day Festival, Gedimino pr., Vilnius

Lithuanian language classroom at Vilnius University

Vilnius Television Tower and monument

View from Gediminas' castle tower

Kaunas Central Post Office

Europas Parkas

Trakai Castle

Užupis bridge with wedding locks

A. Vivulskio g., Naujamiestis, Vilinus

Užgavėnės festival

Winter walk through the forest with friends

The Philharmonic

Town Hall Square

Song Festival

2009-07-07T03:54:00.011-04:00

Yesterday, the Song Festival (Dainų šventė) took place at the song stage in Vingis Park. While festival events have taken place over the entire weekend in Vilnius, this was the big event. Singing was a peaceful protest against the Soviets during the occupation, and song represents the survival of the Lithuanian culture during over fifty years of occupation. The festival was all about singing and peace; there were even iconic white birds used on stage and displayed at the entrance of the park.

"Lithuanian Song Celebration exalts the creative self-expression of the human being, creative potency of artists, vitality of national culture, love to the native land and the solidarity."
(www.dainusvente.lt)

On Kudirkos g. at Tauro Hill

Monday's events began with a parade from Cathedral Square at the bottom of Gediminas' Hill, where the medieval castle tower still stands today, and continued up Kudirkos g. along Tauro Hill where I got a great view of groups from all cities across the country marching to Vingis Park.

Traditional costumes

Group from Druskininkai with baskets of mushrooms
Vilnius Capital of Culture 2009 logo

King Mindaugas

There were tons of traditional costumes...

and lots of crowns of flowers.

All of the groups headed to Vingis Park's song stage for hours of singing and celebrating.

Vingis Park entrance

The park was recently renovated in preparation for the concert (repainted song stage, graded and reseeded lawn, new benches, repaved pedestrian paths), and it looked great.

This year, the song festival was particularly important, taking place on the anniversary of Grand Duke Mindaugas' coronation in 1253 and in the 1,000th year since the first mention of Lithuania.
A new sculpture was unveiled in Vingis Park to commemorate the milestone for Lithuania.

Millennium Tree of Unity

Inscribed in the lower circular portion of the monument are the names of important Lithuanians from grand dukes Mindaugas and Gediminas to Romas Kalanta (1953-1972) and Vytautas Kernagis (1951-2008).
Here are some clips from the all the singing:

Čiurlionis & Varnelis

2009-06-22T09:00:00.005-04:00

M. K. Čiurlionis (1875-1911) . Sonata of the Stars. 1908.

This week I visited the National Gallery of Art to see the M.K. Čiurlionis exhibit: Dialogues of Colour and Sound. Find out more about the artist and composer here. The National Gallery is located on the right bank of the Neris river in the new downtown area, just above the future site of Zaha Hadid's Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum.
From 2005-2009 the building, originally constructed in 1980, underwent extensive renovations.
They added two administration buildings to the rear along Constitution Avenue that are actually tilted, and I can't say that I understand very well how the rooms inside would work given the angle and narrowness. It is similar to all new architecture in Vilnius as its functional space seems confusing, and from a distance the building is quite shocking. In the older main building, there are some really interesting interior spaces.
The exhibit was organized into several themes like the city, harmony with nature, night stars and music. There was a section of musical scores and small ink drawings displayed. The ink drawings highlighted the melody of a particular traditional Lithuanian folk song and were decoratively framed in a Nouveau style. There was also a listening section where you could select a Čiurlionis music file and it would play through headphones while an image of the score scrolled down a large flat-screen television.

Many of the Čiurlionis works were on loan from the National Čiurlionis Museum in Kaunas, which I visited last October. They have a really nice display of works there, and also have a newer wing with a concert hall where Čiurlionis' pieces are played.
It was a pleasure to see the works again. They are sort of juvenile and mystical, and I enjoyed seeing other artists' works, followers of the same artistic principles including the very popular E. Munch.

M. K. Čiurlionis . Ramybė

M. K. Čiurlionis . Rex.

M. K. Čiurlionis. Pasaulio sutvėrimas. 1905-1906

I also visited the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum, located on Didzioji g. on Town Hall Square. Varnelis, a modernist painter who spent most of his life in the US, returned to Lithuania after the restoration of independence. He gifted his entire collection of Lithuanian treasures and his own paintings to Lithuania in exchange for a life estate in a gorgeous building in the Old Town where he currently lives.

Susan, a Fulbrgiht scholar, and I had a private tour through the museum tour given by a local art historian. The tour began in the main foyer with displays of historic maps of Vilnius and Lithuania.

There were also some really nice family trees, all showing royal roots of course.

Most rooms also displayed the artist's collection of antique furniture.

Here are some of Varnelis' shaped canvases.The tour included the artist's studio, which he still uses today. The studio level was added on to the roof of the original structure, and you can see the gable of the neighboring house in the wall, quite Gothic!

Varnelis also collected some nice modern furniture.

The library collection of art books was phenomenal. Not only were there tons of art books and historic maps to browse, but there was also an extensive collection of books about Lithuania.
As my time in Vilnius nears an end, I am trying to get out and see more museums as well as enjoy all the Capital of Culture events. There is so much going on in the city nowadays, and the weather is perfect. The long days are also a treat; it stays light out until around 10:30pm!

Getting Published

2009-05-25T12:28:00.016-04:00

This May, I had two articles published: one in a Lithuanian conference journal and the other in an American planning magazine.

At the beginning of May, I presented an article, "The Potential of New Urbanism in Vilnius" at the 2009 K. Šešelgio Readings conference held at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. The conference featured a range of urban planning and design topics including the trends of sacred building construction in Lithuania, Klaipėda sea port development, creating multifunctional neighborhood centers, examining city edge patterns, and learning from 'dead' architecture projects.

A Latvian architect, Arne Riekstins, presented his article about the "Parametric Approach in Designing Large Scale Urban Architectural Objects". Arne's presentation dynamically described new methods in design that produce buildings like Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao.

As a second place winner, I received a book called Zervynu Kaimas detailing historic wood houses with photographs, sketches, and floor plans. It's a lovely book published in 1974 by K. Šešelgio, the namesake of the conference.

Equally exciting is the publication of my article on Vilnius, "Lithuania's Capital City Goes Modern," featured in the May 2009 issue of Urban Land Magazine.

Urban Land Magazine is distributed to over 40,000 members internationally. I hope that my article will spark interest in Vilnius among planners, developers, and maybe even potential tourists.

Jewish Vilna

2009-05-09T04:57:00.000-04:00

Vilnius, or Vilna, was the center of Jewish thought, the Jerusalem of the North. It was said that "if one wants to do business, one has to go to Lodz, but if one wants to gain wisdom - one goes to Vilnius."

Dating back to 1388, Vytautas the Great invited Jews to settle in Lithuania. Exhibiting tolerance for different peoples' religious practices and origins was Vytautas' way of squelching the moral claims the Teutonic Knights held against pagan Lithuania in their attempts to convert Lithuania to Christianity. Jewish people from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania are known as Litvaks.

Lithuanian Jews experienced a somewhat free way of life with the ability to practice religion openly. Up until 1593, when they were permitted to own land, Jewish families could only rent homes. By the beginning of the 17th century, a Jewish quarter was formed in the Old Town in Vilnius, but there were restrictions. For example, homes along Vokieciu street were forbidden to have any windows facing the street. The block became an informal enclosed, defensive wall where Jewish life proceeded freely within.

Vilnius Census
1750: Jewish population 2,500
1789: Jewish population 5,000
1897: Jewish population 64,000
1923: Jewish population 55,000
1939: Jewish population 60,000
1940: Jewish population 80,000

This is the last Jewish synagogue left in Vilnius. Before World War II, Vilnius had 110 synagogues and 10 yeshivas.

The Choral Synagogue

Former location of the Great Synagogue

Eyliohu ben Shloyme-Zalmen (1720-1797), known as the Gaon of Vilna, lived in the blue building below. The Gaon is most famous for his extensive writings about the Babylonian Talmud, a book of Jewish laws, ethics, customs and history dating back to 200 c.e.

In 1939, the Soviet Union returned Vilnius to Lithuania (Vilnius was annexed to Poland in 1918), and in 1940 Lithuania was annexed to the Soviet Union. Polish Jews fled to Lithuania in hopes for a better life, creating a total national Jewish population of a half million. But the Soviets instituted a Russification banning all non-Russian languages and cultures to complete the unification of the Soviet states. In 1941, Nazis invaded Lithuania, implementing the annihilation of all Jews in Lithuania; ninety percent were killed.

Despite losing almost all of its population, the Litvak community managed to withstand annihilation from the Nazis and Russification from the Soviets. In the late 1980s, during perestroika and glasnost, Litvaks were ready to take advantage of the cultural openness and regenerate their traditions.

In 1990, when Lithuania declared independence, the Republic of Lithuania mandated equal rights for all minorities including Jews, and laws were passed abolishing discrimination and supporting the reestablishment of Jewish cultural life. Jewish schools and the Jewish State Museum were opened in addition to the Center for Judaic studies at Vilnius University and the Judaic section at Martynas M. Mazhvydas National Library. The Centre for Stateless Cultures housed at Vilnius University studies the heritage of Lithuanian national communities: Lithuanian Tartars, Karaites, Roma, Litvaks, etc.

Today, however, Lithuania is considered one of the most intolerant states in the EU. The Capital of Culture events kicked off at the Sports Palace, a soviet building constructed on a desecrated Jewish cemetery. This is also the location where new apartment buildings were permitted for construction. Antisemitism runs high in Lithuania and other former-Soviet countries. In August 2008, the Vilnius Jewish community center was vandalized: swastikas were spray-painted on the building. It is partially an issue rooted in Nazi-ism. It was the Nazis who liberated Lithuania from the Soviets in 1941, even though they were handed back to the Soviets in 1944. And Lithuanian Jews were more likely to side with the Soviets over the Nazis, were likely to kill them.

In 2008, the US Congress urged Lithuania to end the prosecution of anti-Nazi Jewish partisans. Prominent Jewish community historians and leaders in Vilnius were being indicted for war crimes (for their anti-Nazi or "pro-Soviet" resistance). On May 18, 2008, a statement was made by the Conference of the Lithuanian Jewish Community addressing antisemitism and xenophobia in Lithuania and concerns over the restitution of Jewish community property and the prosecution of Jewish partisans.

Five Years in the EU

2009-05-01T12:00:00.004-04:00

Today is International Labor Day, but more importantly, today marks the 5th anniversary of Lithuania's membership in the European Union. According to last autumn's "Eurobarometer", 69 percent of Lithuanians are happy with EU membership. The relationship has helped the economy grow quickly, but Lithuania has not yet satisfied the requirements set by the EU to adopt the Euro. Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius estimates the switch sometime in 2010.

Lithuania has been hit hard by the current global economic crisis. The unemployment rate is at 10% in a country just over 3.5 million people. During this difficult time, it is comforting to have the protections and support of the EU.

Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors just signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of an electricity bridge from Sweden as a solution to the closure of the Ignalina Power Plant, a nuclear plant that provides a majority of power to Lithuania. This project will create a common Baltic electricity market and eliminate dependence on Russian energy. The EU has earmarked 175 million euros for the planned power link.

The Lithuanian GDP shrank by 12.6% in the first quarter of 2009 as compared to 2008. Lithuania has projected a 10.5% yearly decline in GDP, but on a quarter-to-quarter basis the decline was 9.5%. According to the BBC, Lithuania's Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius hopes that next year we show a much lower GDP decrease or even stability in GDP. Lithuania is forecasting that the GDP will not improve until 2011.

Lithuania is cutting public spending as the economy contracts, but the next step is to request a loan from the IMF in June. Latvia was approved for IMF loans in December but doesn't anticipate distribution until June, 2009. According to the Financial Times, the Fund "has suspended lending to Latvia until it sees more progress in cutting public spending" and "Latvia is racing to prepare more cuts to keep its $9.9 billion stabilisation plan on track ... [as] the budget deficit threatens to overshoot the target of 5 % of gross domestic product agreed with the IMF."

Regardless of the economic struggles around the world, it is shocking to think that Lithuania became part of the EU only five years ago. Vilnius is such a westernized city that one would think it had always been part of western Europe.

Architects of Air

2009-04-26T07:12:00.004-04:00

As part of the European Capital of Culture, British artist and Architects-of-Air creator Alan Parkinson has installed several exhibits in Vilnius. Below are photos from the Amococo exhibit at the White Bridge on the future location of Zaha Hadid's Guggenheim-Hermitage Museum.

Domes illuminate the inside of the pods creating kaleidoscope-like ceiling patterns.Ambient music, recorded by Lithuanian musicians, played throughout the installation. In some nodes, groups of people sat around talking, taking pictures, passing the time.

While the sculpture was not at all attractive on the outside and cluttered the river bank, the interior spaces were quite interesting and the installation was very popular.

Kiev, Ukraine

2009-04-16T10:06:00.012-04:00

In late March, I took a trip to Kiev, Ukraine. I was so delightfully surprised with the city, which had tons of nice public spaces, beautiful architecture and great mass transit. The weather was sunny and warm, the people were very cheerful and friendly. I was very lucky to have a local friend lead me to all the great spots around the city.

Lenin Square

This boulevard park dedicated to Lenin has a dramatic tree-lined pedestrian promenade with lots of benches. The only drawback is that it extends for a very long block, is surrounded by knee-height metal railings (to prevent jaywalking), and is only accessible via underground pedestrian tunnel.

Pedestrian tunnel / Metro access

Admittedly, I am against pedestrian tunnels, and Kiev has one at almost every intersection. Disconnecting pedestrian and automobile traffic prioritizes the automobile. I prefer that cars always be on the lookout for people. The elimination of their interaction allows cars to travel at higher speeds and makes for noisy sidewalks and more intimidated pedestrians. Pedestrian tunnels can be interesting informal spaces for small shops and informal markets, but inevitably they smell like urine, appear unclean, dark and dangerous, and become gathering places for drunks and vagrants. Did I mention you can drink alcohol on the streets in Kiev?

Metro Station

The 3-line metro system is really convenient and the metro stations are all quite impressive. Similar to the system in Saint Petersburg, the stations in Kiev are architectural palaces for the people.

Traveling further down the line into the suburbs, the stations are less deep and more modern. Apparently, Americans were not the only ones freaked out during the Cold War; the Soviets built the metro stations to double as nuclear bomb shelters. The stations were built extremely far underground and equipped with meter-thick metal bomb shelter doors.

Monument to the Brotherhood of Nations

The weather was great most of the weekend and everyone was out soaking up the sun. At the Brotherhood of Nations monument, people relaxed on the steps drinking beer with friends. The overlook area was very crowded and reminded me a bit of the Plaza Mayor in Madrid. People of all ages were walking around, dressed to impress.

Park Overlook

When I first though of visiting Kiev, I had no idea how big it was; over 4 million residents. And I really got the sense of the scale of the city when walking down the main boulevard and soaking up the architecture; the scale of Soviet-era buildings is impressive!

Khreshchatyk Street

On weekends on the 6-lane Khreshchatyk street becomes pedestrian-only. It is one of the most impressive streets because it features monumental Soviet-era architecture along with popular city landmarks like Independence Plaza, the Monument to Independence and the city's central market. Independence Plaza is known as the location of the 2004 Orange Revolution, where protests led to a runoff election between Yanukovich and now-President Yushchenko (whose presidential campaign color was orange). I was a bit surprised that this prominent plaza is littered with massive rooftop advertising.

Independence Plaza

There are numerous churches and monasteries in Kiev. Built in the 18th-century, St. Andrew's church sits on a hill with views of the Dniper River.

St. Andrew's Church

The area around St. Andrews has an outdoor market. One street features only paintings, and the main street (below) has lots of great kitschy souvenirs.

St. Andrew's Rise

Along the Dniper River, Mariinsky Park is a lovely place on a sunny afternoon. From Khreshchatyk Park, where the Brotherhood of Nations monument stands, you can connect directly to paths of Mariinsky Park. There are many intimately landscaped areas to sit and soak up the sun and enjoy a bit of nature in the city. Most people stroll through the paths chatting with friends, or sit on a bench sipping a beer. It is the epitome of leisure!

Mariinsky Park

Park amphitheater

On a pedestrian bridge connecting the two parks, couples inscribe their names on a lock, lock it onto the bridge, and toss the key below. I think this must be a Soviet tradition because I have seen this same tradition in Riga and Vilnius.

Bridge locks

St. Michael's Monastery complex dates back to the 11th-century and is still in use today. However, the bright blue church was destroyed by the Soviets in 1934, so what exists today is the 1990s reconstruction. While walking around, taking pictures, there were church services underway and monks walking around in their long black robes.

Saint Michael's Monastery complex

St. Sofia's Monastery complex also dates back to the 11th-century and was the original religious and cultural center of the Rus. I imagine this made it even harder for the Russian-Soviets when Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.

St. Sofia's Monastery complex

Babi Yar is the site where over 30,000 people were shot and dumped into a ravine on September 29th and 30th, 1941. It is estimated that another 200,000 Ukrainians were later killed or buried alive in this location. There is a park in between the ravine and the first monument of Babi Yar erected by the Soviets.

Babi Yar
Jewish Memorial

Soviet Memorial

Memorial for children killed at Babi Yar

On the way to the airport, I stopped by the Chernobyl Museum, recounting the April 26, 1986 nuclear reactor meltdown (near the Belarus border). Looking at the map of the contaminated areas was so disturbing. More contaminated areas are in Belarus, and some areas with elevated radiation levels, where winds had carried radioactive materials, extended almost to Vilnius! There were a number of towns where people (over 45,000 in Pripyat alone) had to leave their homes immediately and never return. Over the weeks after the explosion, over 100,000 people were evacuated from the 30-km radius around the reactor. Check out more on Chernobyl here.

Ukrainians certainly have a hard history with the Holocaust, the Famine, the Chernobyl accident, and the current loss of hope in the Orange Revolution's ability to overcome deep rooted corruption. But in spite of a morosely depressing national history, Ukrainians are cheerful and warm, and Kiev is a magical city to visit. I hope to return again someday soon!

Naujamiestis (The New Town)

2009-03-20T13:03:00.000-04:00

About a month ago I moved to Naujamiestis, partly for budget reasons and partly to have a less touristy lifestyle. The Old Town is wonderful, but mostly inhabited by foreigners willing to pay higher rents. The shops cater to deeper wallets and the grocery stores are small with little selection.

J. Basanaviciaus Street

My new neighborhood is absolutely wonderful. Within a 15 minute walk I can reach the architecture school for classes, Vilnius University for Lithuanian lessons, a huge grocery store, my gym, a specialty foods store, the new movie theater, another hyper market, a kebab shop, dry cleaners, bars, Chinese restaurants, post offices, banks, the train station, several bus stops where I can catch major routes to just about anywhere.... and the list goes on.

Vingis Cinema

Maxima superstore

The streets in my neighborhood have nice wide sidewalks, a grid pattern of not-so-long blocks, various architectural styles mostly at zero lot lines (right on the sidewalk), ground floor retail, mostly good street lighting, and the occasional kiosk for drinks, snacks or bus tickets.

Gothic Revival mixed use building

Pedestrian connection to A. Vivulskio street

Some areas of the new town have seen some recent new construction occur in the interior courtyards such as this new apartment building:

Train Station

It's very popular to give flowers to friends, colleagues, and family members on birthdays, after performances, the first day of school, and any other special occasion. Here is the 24-hour flower market, open seven days a week:

There are also some lower density areas to the western edge of the New Town near one of the largest city parks, Vingis Park. The buildings are set back further from the sidewalks and there are some nice street trees and small front yard gardens:
On Saturday mornings, year-round, residents bring their wares to the top of Tauro Hill park. It is a great place to find knitted socks, antique furniture, old WWII artifacts (pins, hats, shells), stamps, woven textiles, old jewelry, pots and just about anything else you can imagine. On a clear sunny day, locals gather here and just hang out on the lawn soaking up the sun and the gorgeous view of the city.
It is a dynamic neighborhood with young, old, Lithuanian, Russian and everything in between. I wonder why new development projects in Vilnius don't mimic these vibrant old neighborhoods, which are great examples of what works.

I have to assume that it is as simple as a break from the past and a look to the future of a young, independent, Lithuanian capital city that doesn't want anyone (especially government) telling them what to do/build and how. What could be more anti-Soviet, anti-communist, than 1970s American development patterns embodied by the shopping mall? There are three or four new shopping malls, all built with large street-front surface parking lots. But Vilnius is feeling the impact of the global financial crisis, even as another large shopping mall nears completion.

I often wonder how Americans could learn from the dynamic historic neighborhoods in Vilnius. But creating neighborhoods like Naujamiestis in the U.S. would require two major cultural shifts; Americans would have to trade their cars for public transportation and live in small apartments. Lithuanians on average (in rural and urban areas) live in approximately 24 square meters per person (300 sq. ft.). I can't imagine a young American family of three being happy with a 900 sq. ft. apartment. But this would allow for increased density, lower infrastructure costs and more efficient distribution of transit access. Maybe with the financial crisis and the growing concern for reducing energy consumption, the trend will move more towards smaller homes, a focus on public transportation and a more efficient lifestyle overall. Unfortunately, I have little faith that the American market forces will be strong enough to demand this of the private and public sectors.

Architectural History Class

2009-03-09T08:58:00.001-04:00

I've been attending a Lithuanian Architectural History class at the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (VGTU) taught by Professor Jūratė Jurevičienė. The class is offered in Lithuanian and also in English for a group of foreign students. Occasionally, both groups get together to take a tour of local historic architecture, of which there is a lot! Here is a brief overview of some of the historic sites we visited.

THE TOWN HALL

The head archaeologist gave a tour of the Town Hall building in the Old Town where his research has revealed different eras of building construction. Here is a plan of the cellar:

The cellar rooms show evidence of late-14th century construction.
The original building entrance was on the south side, taking advantage of sunlight (today it is on the north side).
We all went through this small corridor to see the original heating system, an opening in the brickwork behind a large fireplace that we were told circulated warm air from the cellar fireplace throughout many rooms in the building.
Today, the building stands prominently facing a large square to the north.
We were also given a brief tour of the attic, which shows massive beams and evidence of a previously lower pitched roof.
Many of the halls from the last renovation still remain. The mayor's office reveals some Baroque-era frescoes.

The Town Hall Square used to be filled with Gothic residential buildings, which were torn down and whose materials were used to renovate the Town Hall in the mid-18th century. The original building had an interior courtyard and leased retail shops. The 1750s-renovation included the addition of a clock tower, which collapsed and was never rebuilt. A second renovation in the late 18th century gave the building its Classical style.

CHURCH OF SAINT NICHOLAS

This is one of the oldest churches in Vilnius, dating back to the mid-14th century, with many of the original Gothic features still visible. Here you can see a Baroque-era window with the outline of the original Gothic window above. Also, notice the darker bricks and the irregular patterned brickwork.
The exterior features heavy buttresses. This is our group heading to the next site.

THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE

Vilnius had one of the largest populations of Jewish residents before World War II (around 60,000) and was known as the Jerusalem of the North. During the war, people were executed, deported to Siberian work camps, or sent to concentration camps. The Great Synagogue was bombed in 1944 and later Soviets demolished the remains and built a school in its place.

This area is one of two districts where the persecuted group was isolated at the beginning of WWII. The Synagogue was surrounded by residential buildings whose windows were boarded up and painted over to further isolate this group from the rest of the city. Most of the original buildings surrounding the Synagogue were demolished. This is a view down Žydų Street showing (on the left) a building constructed before 1939 that survived the war.
There were many Jewish synagogues (over a hundred) and cemeteries that were destroyed over the years by various occupiers. There is so much Jewish history in Vilnius that I will create another post later to cover more details.

EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

On this site, the original church was constructed in 1555 by Grand Duke Nicholas Radziwill the Black. The church was rebuilt in 1662 and again in the 1740s. It was abandoned in 1944 and renovated in 1993. The top part of the belfry was constructed in 1872. The church is located in a charming courtyard surrounded by residences once occupied by Evangelical Lutherans and is accessed from Vokiečių Street.

NEAR SAVICIAUS STREET

Through the courtyard of Savičiaus 11, you can access one of the narrowest streets in the Old Town. It's quite charming!

While the street once connected through to Savičiaus, a new apartment was constructed on the intersection connecting two neighboring buildings.

Recent investigations, removing the baroque-era plaster, revealed this original Gothic era cornice, typical of street-front elevations.

Many of the Gothic Old Town buildings were covered in plaster during the Baroque-era. It was thought to demonstrate your wealth and ability to update your building to be more stylish. Those who did not cover their buildings in plaster were thought to be poor. After more than 50 years covered in plaster, brickwork becomes significantly softer and deteriorated as it absorbs elements of the plaster. Many of the Old Town buildings are still covered in plaster for this reason, but small openings in the plaster have been made on many buildings throughout the Old Town to reveal the Gothic period, which was an economically prosperous period for independent Lithuania.
This trend raises questions about the preservation of historic buildings, whose vulnerable bricks are being exposed to the elements in order to promote a particular interpretation of a specific period in history. However, it is not immediately clear to tourists in Vilnius why this is done. I wonder if the benefits of the interpretation of the Gothic era balanced against the potential building damage (water infiltration) will eventually eliminate this potentially hazardous trend!

THE CHURCH OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE HOLY VIRGIN MARY
AND THE FRANCISCAN MONASTARY

Our group was lucky to catch the head preservationist for this Franciscan church and monastary of the Gothic period with many later Baroque-style additions. The French army used the church as a granary in 1812. In 1864, the church was closed and held an archive until the 1930s when it was returned to the Franciscan monks. But in the Soviet time, it was closed again and only recently reopened for renovation work. The church is believed to be the earliest Catholic site in Lithuania.

Chapel entrance to monastery

Burial grounds dating back to the late-13th century have been discovered on the site, a portion of which is used by VGTU for teacher parking. I suppose in a city with so much history to preserve some things get left behind! Although I cannot say whether or not the yards will be returned to gardens when the full restoration of the church and monastery are complete.

Icy Baroque

2009-02-28T04:44:00.002-05:00

Ice sculptures of Baroque churches in Vilnius filled Town Hall Square for the last week as part of the Capital of Culture events of 2009.

Icy Baroque in Town Hall Square

Click on the links below to see the original church:

Saint Casimir's Church

Holy Trinity Church

Saint John's Church

Church of Saint Peter & Paul

Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Žiema, žiema, bėk iš kiemo

2009-02-25T03:45:00.001-05:00

This is the phrase people chant at the annual Užgavėnės (Shrove Tuesday) celebrations. It means "Winter, winter, get out of the yard" and aims to do just that, send winter away and welcome the spring.

Entrance to Rumšiškės Museum

Straw sculpture at museum entrance

I attended a celebration in Rumšiškės, a town between Kaunas and Vilnius where the ethnography and anthropology museum is located, on Sunday and again on Tuesday at the Teacher's House in the Old Town.

Here is a the description of the holiday:
Užgavėnės begins on the night before Ash Wednesday, when an effigy of winter (named Morė) is burned. A major element of the holiday, meant to symbolize the defeat of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, is a staged battle between Lašininis (personifying winter), and Kanapinis (personifying spring). Devils, witches, goats, the grim reaper, gypsies, and other joyful and frightening characters appear in costume during the celebrations. The participants and masqueraders dance and eat the traditional dish of the holiday - pancakes (blyneliai), a symbol of the returning sun. (Sounds quite Pagan, don't you think?)
There were several folk singing groups that performed traditional songs. And after the bonfire was lit, many people joined hands and danced in circles around the fire.

But when Kanapinis and Lašininis began their duel around the fire, we all stood and watched Lašininis accept defeat!

Here is the effigy of winter, Morė.

Morė Burning

The festivals were quite fun, but I don't think winter is ready to leave just yet!

Lithuanian Independence Day

2009-02-16T07:48:00.006-05:00

February 16th is Lithuanian Independence Day commemorating the day in 1918 when the Lithuanian Council declared Lithuania a sovereign state. While the declaration indicated Vilnius as the capital city of Lithuania, it became a Polish city and the Lithuanian administration was forced to move to Kaunas (the temporary capital).

Flags out on my block.

There were many events throughout the day, regardless of the never ending snow! (it's been snowing here for days!). At the President's House, there was a ceremony where the Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian flags were raised, each while their national anthems were played. You can listen to the National Anthem here.

Big crowd at the President's House in Old Town.

The military band marches around the President's house.

There were other ceremonies all over the city, but none very well publicized. It was difficult to know where and when. We heard the band playing and headed over to this square to find another event.

In the evening, there were bonfires lit along Gediminas Avenue and concerts in Town Hall square.

Saint Petersburg

2009-02-13T14:44:00.004-05:00

For those of you who aren't familiar with the story, Peter I ("The Great") wanted to connect Russia to the west and create links to the Baltic Sea. Construction of the city (mostly on swamplands) began in the early 1700s and it became the new capital of Russia (from 1703-1918).

I took the night train (13 hours in a sleeper cabin) arriving early Friday morning in time to beat the line to the Hermitage Museum.

The train sleeper cabin.

The Winter Palace.

This is the Jordan staircase where guests would enter the Winter Palace.
Here is the Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood. It was constructed on the site where the carriage of Alexander II was attacked and the Tsar's resulting injuries led to his death.

The interior is all mosaics; quite impressive.

The canals running through the city are so charming!

There were many buildings overwhelmed by signage; this one was particularly bad and a little amusing.

This is Saint Isaac's Cathedral, one of the largest domed buildings in the world. It was designed in 1818 in memory of Peter I whose birthday was on Saint Isaac's Day, but the building was not completed until 1858.

While there are so many gorgeous buildings in Saint Petersburg, the streets are covered in soot and with a layer of snow it is pretty muddy. The debauchery is evident on a Sunday morning just looking at the canals filled with empty bottles (you can drink on the street- and most do).

This is the Singer Sewing Building.

This is another Art Nouveau building where an indoor market operated on the first floor amongst amazing Nouveau display cases.

There are some very nice boulevards with central pedestrian promenades.
The main boulevard is Nevsky Prospect. While the finest shops line this street and the sidewalks are almost always full of people, it isn't the most pleasant place because the four lanes (in each direction) of busy traffic make it very noisy and car exhaust fumes waft down the street.
In general, I was surprised to see such a large problem with traffic in most areas. It is not delays in particular, but the noise and pollution along main roads.
In many areas there are underground pedestrian tunnels to cross busy streets. Here you can see pedestrians crossing over the green light because the wait times for pedestrians can sometimes be quite long.
This is looking across the Neva River towards the Kunstkamera museum.

This nice roundabout is lined with identical buildings curving along the traffic circle. There is not, however, any apparent route for pedestrians to access the central green.

On Saturday night, I enjoyed a wonderful performance of Bizet's Carmen at the Mariinsky Theater.
This is one of the city's five train stations, the Moscow Station.

There is a modern addition in the rear of the station with a huge indoor plaza lined with shops and the train route map displayed on the wall.
Most of the buildings are in desperate need of cleaning as the years of car pollutions have covered them in a layer of gray film. But I suppose that adds to the character of the debaucherous city!
The last day the weather was rainy and we opted for a metro station tour on the red line. I wish I would have been able to take photos, but it is strictly forbidden.
The stations were palaces for the people, a very Soviet notion that the most expensive materials and best designs should be reserved for public spaces: etched glass columns, extravagant lighting fixtures, marble monuments to Pushkin, and marble colonnades. Check out this link to see some photos!

Here is a link to my favorite station, Mayakovskaya. It is decorated with simple red tile and features "horizontal lift" doors appearing like elevator doors to access arriving trains. The base of the vaulted ceiling features deco style metal light shades.

Here is a monument to Puskin, a famous Russian poet, in a lovely park in front of the Mikhailovsky Palace.
On my last day, there was a gorgeous sunset that filled the sky with shades of pink and purple. Here is the Admiralty, which is under renovation (see scaffolding) and houses the Russian military naval college. The plan of the city is such that several major streets have terminating views of the building's iconic golden spire.

The trip to Saint Petersburg was overall quite enjoyable. It was definitely difficult to navigate through the city without being able to read/speak Russian. I hope to return in the summer when the days are longer and will definitely catch another opera performance or maybe see a ballet at the Mariinsky Theater.

Riga, Latvia

2009-01-21T05:28:00.016-05:00

Last weekend I took the bus to Riga, the capital city of Latvia, which was once the third largest port of the Soviet Union. It was a short 3.5 hour ride through the snowy countryside.

The city has around 700,000 people, but the metropolitan area is over a million. A challenge the city faces is suburban sprawl. Many residents live in the county and work in the city, creating an enormous burden on the city's budget, while the county gets tax income but relies on city infrastructure and service for its residents. Additionally, the streets are overburdened with traffic. Connectivity through the city is lacking and the city aims to increase the number of bridges crossing the Daugava River. A topic not discussed publicly to date is a fee for cars entering the city center and old town, similar to the program London launched to reduce car traffic. New development is occurring, but with one major disadvantage from Vilnius; the city is prohibited from participating in public/private partnerships. The incentives the city can offer only include relaxed building regulations for height, lot coverage, etc. in special districts.

Riga has a ton of gorgeous historic buildings and because it was part of the Hanseatic trading league the city has some very intricate historic elevations reminiscent of some buildings in Tallinn. I took over 200 photos over the weekend, but here are just a few for you to enjoy!

View of the canal running through the central district.
View of the old town from the Vandu bridge over the Daugava River
Vandu bridge looking west from the edge of the old townNice elevations in the old townWinding street with view of St. Peter's Church Steeple
The Riga Cathedral in the town hall square.
Plans for the organ repairs, pipes in background
The "three brothers" complex of three medieval buildings
New construction in the historic old townOld town castle tower from original fortification wall
New shopping mall and movie theater adjacent to old town district.
Imanta - Soviet-era residential district with new construction
Imanta Cultural Center
Ends of concrete panel apartment buildings wrapped in corrugated metal.Across the Daugava near the Vandu bridge
Central Market buildings
Science Academy building near the central market
Police station across from the Science Academy
Port with passenger cruise ship parked along the Daugava River
The tram running through the new town
Nice, simple buildings near the Art Nouveau architectural districtArt Nouveau architecture district
New gym north of the city's center where planners are guiding new development. Most new buildings have street-front parking and make little to no accommodations for visitors on foot.
New sports arena
New construction along the Daugava river at the edge of the old town
Some nice wood houses can still be found in the Nouveau architectural district
The Freedom monument at the edge of the old town

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. It was quite cold for walking around, but I hope to return again in the spring when everything is in bloom.

January 13, 1991 - Defenders of Freedom Day

2009-01-13T07:15:00.008-05:00

Today is the anniversary of the death of 14 Lithuanians, who died protecting Lithuanian independence.

Lithuania declared independence in March 1990, but on January 10, 1991 Soviet troops arrived to reinstate Soviet rule in Lithuania. In the next days, Lithuanians would broadcast to as many locations around the world as possible to inform people of the military force being used to try to deny Lithuanian independence (overtaking government buildings, police departments, train stations). To stop the broadcasts, Soviet troops sought control of the Vilnius TV tower. A human barricade was set up around the tower to protect it. Fourteen unarmed civilians were shot or run over by tanks, but Soviets eventually retreated. Here is a link to the full story.

Last night I went to a performance by the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and the Šiauliai State Chamber Choir at St. John's Church (on the campus of Vilnius University) in the Old Town to commemorate the victims of January 13th.

The Victims of January 13, 1991

Loreta Asanavičiūtė (b. 1967) - seamstress
Virginijus Druskis (b. 1969) - Kaunas University of Technology student
Darius Gerbutavičius (b. 1973) - vocational school student
Rolandas Jankauskas (b. 1969) - student
Rimantas Juknevičius (b. 1966) - Kaunas University of Technology student
Alvydas Kanapinskas (b. 1952) - biochemical factory worker
Algimantas Petras Kavoliukas (b. 1939) - butcher
Vytautas Koncevičius (b. 1941) - store clerk
Vidas Maciulevičius (b. 1966) - locksmith
Titas Masiulis (b. 1962) - Kaunas resident
Alvydas Matulka (b. 1955) - Rokiškis resident
Apolinaras Juozas Povilaitis (b. 1937) - metalworker
Ignas Šimulionis (b. 1973) - high school student
Vytautas Vaitkus (b. 1943) - plumber

As you can see, a couple of the victims were just teenagers! Today the TV tower is a national symbol of Lithuanian independence. Similar events also took place in Tallinn, Estonia and Riga, Latvia as a result of failed Soviets attempts to regain control of the Baltic nations.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-04T06:21:00.004-05:00

The New Year's Eve celebration in Vilnius kicked off the European Capital of Culture festivities. Beginning at the Soviet-era Sports Palace just before 11pm, thousands of people gathered (in 17F weather) along the riverfront to watch the performance and light show projected on the building.

Here is a daytime picture of the building. You can see how the curved surface provided a good area for interesting video projections, and the glass windows at the center were illuminated to reveal performers inside. The performance was a hip-hop inspired rendition of The Nutcracker.

At 11:30pm we headed down the street to Cathedral Square to make sure we would get a good view of the light show and fireworks. There were so many people that the crowd moved along the street without any effort from their feet, just shoulder to shoulder pushing forward. We managed to plant ourselves in a great location near the Christmas Tree for what proved to be an amazing light show with music and fireworks.

At one point, the Cathedral and Tower were trimmed with bright red flares; it looked as if the buildings were on fire! Regardless of the cloudy night the high-powered spotlights filled the sky. There were all sorts of themes represented by the lights and fireworks such as the Lithuanian and EU flags (you can read more here). Afterward, along with many other groups of celebrators, we popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted the New Year in the square.

Kūčios and Kalėdos

2008-12-28T08:03:00.001-05:00

Kūčios is the traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve dinner. A group of expats all gathered at my flat to celebrate. The traditional meal includes 12 dishes, one for each month (or apostle depending on who you ask). None of the dishes can have meat or dairy, but I did not follow the tradition strictly. After all, what is Christmas Eve without specialty cheeses to snack on? As you can see, we enjoyed salted herring with oil and onions, potato salad with artichoke hearts, sauteed mushrooms with garlic, cabbage salad and apple pie. All the dishes were served cold, as the Lithuanians do it. Maybe next year I'll make all 12 dishes (without meat or dairy).

On Christmas Day (Kalėdos), we walked through the city to see the Christmas trees in Town Hall Square and Cathedral Square. Many families were out doing the same thing, admiring the city's holiday decorations and taking family pictures. We stopped into the Cathedral to take a look and the mass had just started, the organ was playing and the pews were packed and aisles full of people standing shoulder to shoulder. As we continued walking down Gedimino Avenue, we passed a larger than life menorah set up in front of the Independence monument.

The best part of the day was seeing the lighting of the Vilnius TV tower, which stands 326.5 meters tall (feet) between the Karoliniškės and Lazdynai Soviet-era neighborhoods. This is where 14 unarmed Lithuanians lost their lives when Soviet troops tried to regain control of the tower on June 13, 1991. It is a national symbol of independence and a wonderful place for fireworks. The fireworks display was phenomenal, the most impressive I have ever seen in my life!

Trip to Tallinn

2008-12-14T06:09:00.017-05:00

Last weekend Aimee (another Fulbright student) and I went to Tallinn to look around the city and visit the Christmas Market set up in the Town Hall square.

We also met up with Tallinn Fulbright students Vaike Haas and Bryan Christian. Vaike is working with the city to develop multicultural recreational areas as part of the master planning process and starring in a documentary film about dressmaking. Bryan is earning a masters degree from the music academy in Tallinn and completing doctoral applications for the fall. (From left to right) Aimee Rindoks, Bryan Christian, Cathy Brown, Vaike Haas

Below is the charming tower of the original Town Hall, which is now a museum. Unfortunately the museum is closed in November and December so we were unable to look inside.
The scale of the Tallinn Old Town, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, felt larger than Vilnius' Old Town district. Many of the buildings were taller and blocks seemed to have more varying roof lines in comparison to Vilnius. The slightly hilly terrain also created some unique vistas.
Below is the Three Sisters Hotel, housed within a row of three merchant buildings dating back to 1326. These are the most famous and well preserved historic merchant buildings in Tallinn, but there are also others in the Old Town where you can see the original levers for pulling up goods to upper-story storage areas from delivery carts below.

An impressive part of the Old Town is the existence of over 40 original towers along the medieval wall. Beyond the Chinese restaurant lanterns is the historic wall.
The best part of the trip (aside from the hostel-priced deal Aimee got at auction on a 5-star hotel in the center of the Old Town) was meeting with local architects Mark Fink and his partner Heli. Mark moved to Tallinn 5 years ago from Miami, but grew up in Alabama. He and Heli run a small, busy architectural firm in Tallinn where Heli works on detailed plans and Mark does residential design. The two graciously offered to give Aimee and me an informative afternoon tour through the city. And with the weather below freezing, we were pleased to ride around all day and look at interesting architecture and neighborhoods in the warmth of the car!

The city is constructing a new city plaza where the Old Town and the New Town meet. During excavation (see below), contractors uncovered several historic walls (covered by tarps in photo below). It seems the underground parking garage will move forward, but plans were modified to retain the walls thereby losing a handful of parking spaces. I do hope that the city at least provides some display of information detailing the original function of the walls so that parking lot users or passersby can understand their significance. Otherwise it seems to defeat the purpose of keeping them at all.

Below is a neighborhood called Lasnamäe, the largest populated Soviet-era residential district in Tallinn. To the left is an older building and to the right a newly constructed building. I know pictures out of the car window aren't the best, but the idea is that the new buildings really aren't all that different from the old ones from the perspective of style and massing. Similarly to Vilnius, it seems that the garden of high-rise residential buildings is growing homogeneously denser, regardless of common perceptions that the Soviet-era residential model was flawed.

Here is a newly constructed gym in a Soviet-era residential district. Including variety in uses, i.e. non-residential, should be a priority in these areas. We peeked inside to find a busy gym with a large indoor track and separate areas for programing such as group dance lessons.

Many of the renovations include insulation only on the building ends, obviously cheaper than refacing the entire building. The painting solution shows large blocks of blue and green squares floating on the building's end. I would definitely want to be an end unit resident in this case and wonder if the interior apartment owners had to contribute to this building improvement without a direct benefit to the insulation of their home.

As it began to get dark (around 3pm), we popped into the Kumu Estonian Art Museum cafe for some coffee. This new museum building was designed by a young Finnish architect (Pekka Vapaavuori) and is the main branch of the Art Museum of Estonia.
The interior is just as impressive as the exterior. The development boom, which has not slowed with the global financial crisis, provided ample opportunities for young architects to win competitions for prominent buildings in redeveloping Baltic cities.

Our tour included a stop at the National Song Festival grounds. If you haven't seen The Singing Revolution yet, it is a film to see. It documents the non-violent movement in Estonia that used folk singing as a national symbol of resistance to eventually overthrow Soviet occupiers. In the foreground is a bronze statue of Gustav Ernesaks, the composer of the unofficial Estonian national anthem during Soviet occupation.

Near the song festival grounds, we visited some new suburban communities with some nice garage-front townhomes and single family houses, all quite modern and homogeneous.

The New Town district in the center of town has some very imaginative buildings. Many new buildings feature mostly glass exteriors and during these winter months, where the sun is at a 15 degree angle from the horizon at noon and daylight lasts only 7 hours at most, it is no wonder why these light infusing exteriors are so popular! I must say, though, that at first I was quite confused by the popularity of glass buildings because of their their reduced energy efficiency in comparison to brick, for example. But having lived in the region now for more than 3 months, I am a believer in the priority of light!
I probably would trade in my historic Old Town apartment with its 28" thick exterior walls, 22" deep window sills and central location, for a more modern building with large glass windows to let in every beam of possible light during the winter. At noon, with the lights off in my apartment, there is barely enough light entering the two 5'x4' living room windows to sit down and read comfortably. I suppose the reward for the long dark winter will come in the summertime with it's white nights, although I still prefer the idea of living in a more light-filled apartment.

On our last day, Mark met up with us again to walk through a newly developed area between the port and the Old Town called Roterman Plaza. The city wants to eventually create a walkable area between the Old Town and the water, this area being the first step. Through an architectural competition several young architects realized a quite sculptural vision of buildings with intimate plazas and courtyards. A few historic warehouse buildings were preserved, but additional floors were added to increase rentable square meters as well as connect historic elevations to new modern ones.

The red brick building was constructed with handmade bricks, whose mold was destroyed after the building was completed to avoid any reproductions of the form.
This new building is faced with a rusted metal material. The rich earth tones are quite nice and connect well with the area's historic industrial use.

The idea of adaptive reuse of historic buildings must be more flexible in the U.S. To the left you can see the large glass pods added to the top of this plain warehouse building. I like how the glass contrasts with the original building and find it interesting how there is almost no conversation between the two! Because the materials and forms are so different, the layperson would never confuse the old and new construction as they do in many additions in the US where the new construction is required to "fit in" with the old. I like the creative and sculptural quality of the addition.
And, finally, the original purpose of the trip to Tallinn was to get into the Christmas spirit. Below is a picture of the quaint market in Town Hall square. We drank hot spiced wine and browsed the booths for wool socks, scarfs, and mittens as well as Christmas ornaments and other festive handmade goods. The real spruce tree in the center of the market square was nicely decorated and quite festive with its lights turned on.

I am filled with Christmas spirit now and hope to return to Tallinn again to see more of this enchanting city!

Christmas in Cathedral Square

2008-12-04T17:08:00.004-05:00

The Christmas tree is up in Cathedral Square where over 20,000 people gathered to see the lights turn on. The Saturday evening event was quite impressive. Several bell players in fantastic costumes were hoisted up by a large crane with acrobats twirling down red sheets. Here is a link to a video of the event. And did I mention the fireworks?

The city is also covered with lights. There are tree shaped lights atop the acorn pedestrian lighting in parts of the Old Town and blue snowflake lights hanging over Pilies Street. Just before New Year's Eve, the famous TV Tower will be drenched in lights to resemble a tree. (Here is a picture of the tower in 2000.) It's all quite festive, and I am so excited to be here for the holidays!

The First Real Snow

2008-11-23T13:50:00.009-05:00

After today's snow storm, I have to retract my earlier post and mark today the "first real snow." I decided to enjoy the winter weather and walk to Žirmūnai to see the newer retail area.

Doesn't it look so American? Of course, by the time I arrived, I was thoroughly chilled from the snow and wind and ready to get inside.

I did hope to find something a little less car-oriented in its site plan. The weather probably does encourage a car-dependent environment because it would have been a far warmer way of getting there. Maybe an attempt to create a public space could have provided area residents with more of a social and physical neighborhood center.

Along the way I found this renovated apartment building. I really like how the entries are defined in orange. Many of these apartment buildings are so plain that you can't really tell which is the front and which is the back of the building.

And here is the building next door, a good indication of the before-renovation appearance.

And on my way home (as it got quite dark), I walked through the very dense neighborhood and saw some new, renovated and old buildings. Honestly, it is hard to tell which were renovated and which are new (not necessarily a good thing though). The idea of new construction fitting in with the existing community character may not be the best theory for Soviet-era residential districts. Where is the variety? And where are the street trees and pedestrian lighting?

I was pleased to find an underground parking garage. I think this is the best solution for keeping cars off the lawns. But with the kind of density in this area, there should be a priority on public transit. New Urbanists would argue against building the parking garages in the first place because it encourages driving over public transit. But, if you can take cars from the courtyards and green areas and put them underground then residents can reclaim outdoor recreational space. As you can see in this case, the courtyard remains a surface parking lot even though there is underground parking.

And then it was back to the Old Town, the charming, human-scale neighborhood with ground floor shops and cafes, interesting architecture and wonderful public squares. While I may be missing out on the real Lithuanian lifestyle in Žirmūnai, I feel lucky to be living in the Old Town!

First Snow

2008-11-21T07:31:00.003-05:00

Things are going well here in Vilnius. I am finalizing two articles about Vilnius: one for publication in a professional magazine and another for a conference. This week was the first snow of the season! It was quite pretty to see chunky snowflakes falling at dusk in the Town Hall Square. This picture is taken the next morning near Vilnius University, and as you can see the snow didn't stick around long.

Grocery stores are decorated for the holidays and already playing Christmas music. This is my favorite grocery store because they have a good selection of produce. The holiday lights really improve the big box architecture of the building. Take a look at that sky (I took this picture a around 4:30)!

Renovate the Housing, Renovate the City

2008-11-11T04:02:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I took a walk through Žirmūnai, a neighborhood just north of the old town across the Neris River. This is one of the most densely populated residential districts constructed in Soviet times. I was looking for renovated concrete panel apartment buildings and found quite a few examples.

You can see here, they are in the process of insulating the exterior.
Here you can see that some windows have been replaced, but not all. I really like the two-tone sage green exterior color with the white framed windows. It looks quite fresh in contrast to adjacent aged, weathered concrete buildings. The color of the photo doesn't do the building justice, but this time of year I can't expect anything but overcast, cloudy lighting.

This is the rear elevation facing the interior courtyard and car parking area.
Here is another renovated building with a different scheme. (I much prefer the above example over this one.)

I like the balconies be extended with new materials, shown in building under construction below. It helps to hide the monotony of the paneled elevation.

And there are also come new buildings constructed on former green spaces between buildings. It may not be pretty, but it breaks up the repetition.

The Soviet planned residential districts are quite peaceful in the courtyards between buildings. The pedestrian paths isolated from street traffic remind me of American college campuses, but with far less parking and landscaping and the occasional playground set or clothesline. From the perspective of defensible space, it is quite difficult to police these areas. Although I can't say that I have seen more than 5 police cars throughout the city since I arrived in August!
The fact is that while Moscow is tearing down blocks of apartment buildings, Vilnius is stuck with these buildings (and a lot of them!). There is a need for moderately priced apartments in the city. Many owners received their apartments via the restitution process during post-Soviet privatization, which makes it complicated to tear them down. Many residents live off an inadequate pension and cannot afford to contribute to renovation costs, nor to buy another apartment in the city if their building is demolished.

There is a city agency that assists residents to form home owners associations, come up with a feasible scope of work, find contractors, get financing and manage construction through a program called Renovate the Housing, Renovate the City. Renovation goals include:

- Improve the living environment and comfort of dwelling houses;

- Refresh the aesthetic view of the house and its environment;

- Reduce loss of heat through external walls, windows, roof and increase heating system efficiency;

- Reduce the absorption of moisture into external walls and prevent the wear of facades;

- Extend the duration of operation of the house and increase its market value;

- Provide suggestions for improvement of renovation of other large block construction houses after summarising the renovation results.

The Independent Republic of Užupis

2008-11-07T10:19:00.001-05:00

The Independent Republic of Užupis is a great little neighborhood on the east side. It is part of the Old Town and became quite popular when the previous mayor, a Užupis resident, was elected. A popular residential district for artists and musicians, an annual festival to honor the old Monmartre in Paris takes place in Užupis. The festival modo is free art = creative people = a creative community = a free world. You can have your passport stamped during the April1st festival in the Republic of Užupis, which was declared its independence in 1998, as well as exchange your money to official Užupis currency.

Užupis is bordered by the Vilnelė River that flows along Sereikiškių Park to the west. These pictures are all from September, so you can see what a lovely time of year it is to be in Vilnius. The leaves have all since changed to gorgeous colors and fallen off all the trees. I wish it could be September here all year long! (Lucy, this picture is for you!)

While the west side of Užupis is quite dense with mixed use buildings right on the sidewalk, the density progressively decreases the further you walk to the east. There are some really impressive homes on large lots.

And some impressive homes on smaller lots. While we might consider tearing this one down in Houston, it is actually not in bad shape compared to some others I have seen where I am not so sure anyone should even be living there! This building appears to have several apartments and was probably never a single-family home as many summer cottages were at least duplexes.

There are only a couple new developments in the area. This one actually fits in well with the density of neighboring lots. And I think the colorful architecture is quite cheerful. There are small offices and specialty retail shops on the ground floor. Rents in this building are quite high, though, with a small studio apartment renting for 1,600 litas (around $650). But, then again, it is Užupis!

Garage front town homes on gated drives are really quite popular here in suburban areas. I was surprised to see this so close to the center of town. The only other site plans like this I have seen were in the far suburbs. It seems it would have been better to continue the architecture along the street, but I gather the city doesn't really have all that much control over things like this. I have even heard that the politicos just approve whatever they want, much to the dismay of planning professionals.

Even further out from the center of town, in Užupis there is a contemporary apartment/condo building being completed. I think the faux mansard roof line in the front is humorous and a strange combination with the modern glass bay window.

The Bernardinų Cemetery is quite impressive and great spot on All Saints Day. At the edge of the cemetery there is a great view of the freeway and suburban shopping areas from the hillside. The freeway is really the dividing line from urban historic to uninspiring suburban patterns. These pictures are also from September, which is why it's so green! It was really pretty last week with all the leaves on the ground and a clear view of the night sky. There were candles on almost every grave and tons of flowers. It is one of those evenings here that I will probably always remember.

This is the bridge that takes you from the fortified boundary of the Old Town, across the Vilnelė River to Užupis. It is where you get your passport stamped on April Fool's Day. If you look closely, you can see all the padlocks. They are all inscribed with couples names and dates to celebrate relationship milestones. Quite a cute creative element and very apropos for the grand entrance to the artists' neighborhood. I saw a few locks on the railing of Mindaugas Bridge, the new bridge across the Neris River, as well so I gather the tradition is becoming more popular all over the city.

The Old Town (Senamiestis)

2008-11-02T09:20:00.004-05:00

In 1994, UNESCO honored Vilnius' Old Town district with the World Heritage Site title. It is one of the largest old town districts in Europe, featuring a variety of architectural style: Baroque, Gothic, and Classical. The main agency working to attract investment and facilitate renovation in the Old Town is the Old Town Renewal Agency. It's a non-profit organization funded by the city that administers a matching grant program for private renovations and leads educational excursions for schools. The city only allocates $120,000 USD to renovation and programming in the Old Town.

This is the President's House, adjacent to Vilnius University. The square area in front is popular for demonstrations. Coming out of class one afternoon, there was a demonstration of students protesting the new payment system to be approved by the university. While it is currently free, the university will likely adopt a system where each student pays according to their grades. If you do well you don't pay, but if you struggle then you have to pay. I think it's a good incentive to make use of the opportunity, but many students are against it.

The University complex has a ton of charming courtyards.
This is a courtyard (below) near the university, very Italianate in style which is fitting for the Italian restaurant there.

Here is the building where I take Lithuanian language courses. The classroom is on the top floor, in the roof, and faces another charming courtyard on the other side.

Several rooms, including the university's bookstore, feature elaborate frescoes like these.
The Old Town is the center of night life in the city with a ton of unique bars and clubs. It is the most popular district in town for entertainment and the most prestigious residential district with the highest rents in the city.

Here is the Artillery Bastion at the southwest of the Old Town, built in the 17th century to protect the Subačiaus street gate. As you can see, there is a restoration project underway there.

This is where the National Philharmonic plays (built in 1902).

Rotušės aikštė (Town Hall Square) is a main gathering spot just in front of the Town Hall. In the last couple months here I have seen fund raising events set up tents, kids singing on a temporary stage, outdoor movies and people just strolling through. On a sunny day, the benches on the periphery are full of people soaking it all in.
The photo above shows Town Hall and the triangular plaza in front. To the right of Town Hall is the Contemporary Arts Center (the white box in the distance). This contemporary building along Vokiečių Street is one of many more modern buildings constructed on that street during Soviet Times.

This is "The Gates of Dawn", at the southernmost section of the Old Town. It is a popular tourist destination.

Next to many of the tourist attractions are these plaques that describe the site in English and Lithuanian, and you can find many of these in the Old Town.

It is difficult to find areas in the Old Town that have not been restored. But here is one street on the southeast side that hasn't been fixed up, and it is similar to what I imagine the Old Town looked like in the early 1990s.
There are only a few portions of streets that are designated pedestrian-only. I think it is their narrow area between buildings that eliminates the potential for cars. But many other streets are informally taken over by pedestrians, who kindly make way for the occasional car. I must say, though, that on some streets cars whiz by so fast you wonder how they could even stop quickly enough to avoid pedestrians! Maybe it's the narrowness that accentuates the car's speed, but I sure have been startled by speeding cars on several occasions.

Traffic in the Old Town is of particular concern to planners. There are only a few ways to get in and out of the Old Town and during rush hour there is a lot of congestion. Additionally, there are not enough parking spots for people driving into the Old Town. Public transportation goes around the Old Town, not through it. It is estimated that you will have a minimum 20-minute walk to the center of Old Town if you park on the outskirts. It is therefore less attractive for businesses to locate in the Old Town if their customers will primarily have to reach them by car. At one point, the Town Hall Square was to be redone with underground parking, but residents protested as it would have changed the feel of the square with an entrance to the garage at one side.

There are just a ton of charming streets like this one (below) throughout the Old Town.

Here is one of the many gorgeous churches in the Old Town. This baroque style church of Saint Casimir is located just next to Town Hall. It was completed in 1618 and modeled after the Jesuit's Il Gesu in Rome.
Today I went to a contemporary music concert at Saint Casimir's Church. It doesn't quite meet my expectation for contemporary classical because, as I was told, it was written to be sung in church. Here is a brief video:

And, of course, there is Cathedral Square, the most popular location in the Old Town. There are tons of celebrations that take place here year-round. The cathedral is located on the site of an ancient Pagan temple and was part of the Lower Castle fortification system (hence the adjacent tower). The Neoclassical cathedral was restored in 1801, changing it's Gothic-style appearance. In Soviet times, it served as a museum for a total of 36 years and was restored in 1989.

This is the Church of St Francis of Assisi, built in the 15th century by Bernadine monks. The late Gothic building was joined to the general defense wall in the 16th century. In the 17th century, the church was refurbished and elements of Baroque and Renaissance styles were included. In front you can see parts of the gate of St. Anne's Church, the most famous Gothic building in Lithuania.
So, I hope you all enjoyed seeing parts of the Old Town. It is really a gorgeous area, a pleasant place to live, and close to everything. Last night I walked to the Bernadine Cemetery after dark to see all the candles and flowers placed on the plots. It was All Saints Day and the cemeteries were full of people walking around, delivering flowers, cleaning up plots and lighting candles in memory of their loved ones. It was a great spectacle to see so many people in the cemeteries even after dark!

Kaunas - Lithuania's Temporary Capital

2008-10-22T12:03:00.011-04:00

Kaunas is just west of Vilnius, an hour and half by bus. During the 19 years that Vilnius was occupied by Poland, Kaunas was the Lithuanian capital city. It's prominence as a capital city can been seen in the development of many stately buildings and large museums. Kaunas, a city of 375,000 people, is located where the Nemunas and Neris rivers meet. The Kaunas Castle, located at the intersection of the two rivers, is the oldest building in the city (14th c.).

This is the Town Hall Square, where many wedding parties take photos (the two main floors serve as the Palace of Weddings). The building dates back to 1542 and is nicknamed "White Swan".

Walking into the Old Town on Vilnius Street is quite enjoyable. There are tons of little shops and cafes, varying roof lines and elevations, and the pedestrian-only street is complete with bike path, telephone booths, street trees and pedestrian lighting.

Laisvės Alėja ("Freedom Avenue") is just gorgeous with a central tree lined median complete with benches. The street was once open to traffic, but is now also pedestrian-only. You can almost walk all the way from the bus station in the New Town to the castle in the Old town on pedestrian-only streets.

Here you can see parts of the old town off the main street have not been renovated yet. With the recent decline in the real estate market, it may be a while before the Old Town is fully restored.

While Kaunas has not progressed as far ahead in post-Soviet renovation and restoration as Vilnius, the city is really charming and has some great street-scapes and wonderful Bauhaus-inspired buildings. It was this architectural style, a symbol of inter-war independence, that dominated building construction during the 1920s when Kaunas was the "temporary" capital.

This is the Kaunas Akropolis, sound familiar? The Vilniaus Prekyba Group is the largest retail developer in Lithuania. They are known for Akropolis malls, Maxima grocery stores and Ermitazas home improvement warehouses. They built the Kaunas Akropolis mall at the edge of the New Town along the river with the parking garage on the river side, over the street. Maybe it's not the best choice of site plan, but I do have to commend them on the large pedestrian walkway around the building, leading to the entrance. And the design is a bit more interesting than the Akropolis in Vilnius (not by much). I suppose it's easy to criticize shopping mall design, and this one is no exception. Why do we not expect more, with respect to design, from our malls and parking garages?

Most people still prefer the 'main street'-style shopping experience, and this mall developer chose to build the main street type shope inside! Some residents believe this is a recreation of a structure that was demolished to make way for the mall (I haven't fact-checked it yet). The mall competes directly with businesses on Laisvės Alėja. It is probably more apparent in the winter, but not so much during the summer when residents want to be outside as much as possible before the long winter. I can't help but think that while Lithuania is building indoor shopping malls with big parking lots, America is trying to adapt their failed mall sites to new uses. This would be just one example where Lithuania is following an American pattern that didn't work. But, as they get new indoor shopping malls, Kaunas and Vilnius are also focusing on redeveloping their historic retail centers. You might think these two are at odds!

There is a great view on Green Hill to the south of the Old Town across the Nemunas River, and we were just in time to see a huge rainbow! There is an incline trolley, but we got there just after the last trip and had to take the stairs up the 140 m hill. It was worth it!

M. K. Čiurlionis (1875-1911) is the most prominent Lithuanian artist. The National Museum of Art (below) was constructed by the Lithuanian government in 1936 to house the museum. The museum owns over 200 paintings, over 700 drawings, as well as manuscripts and photographs.
Here I am in the new contemporary wing of the museum constructed in 2001. It includes a small performance hall where you can listen to Čiurlionis' music.

The Nemunas River has a pedestrian path, which is bustling with people in the summertime according to my local friend Egle. There are some great views of the city and some natural scenes as well. It was a welcome quite walk to the other side of the city after a long day of soaking in the city.

Lithuania hopes to draw more business to the region by combining the regional draw of the two cities, a Vilnius-Kaunas "dipole". In 2004, the metropolitan region was responsible for almost 60% of the national GDP. This makes up 25% of the total GDP in all three Baltic nations (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). Kaunas and Vilnius have an agreement to work cooperatively for efficiency in improving transportation infrastructure, creating technology centers and implementing other socioeconomic programs made possible by EU structural funds. Vilnius will build on its strengths in tourism and business, and Kaunas on its industry and educational institutions.

There is plenty more to see in Kaunas. I couldn't see it all in one day and will definitely go back for more. Day trips are really easy with buses leaving Vilnius every hour from 7am-10pm for just 10 litas.

Grocery Shopping in Vilnius

2008-10-19T05:37:00.000-04:00

Since independence, there have been a ton of small, mid-sized and 'hyper' grocery stores popping up in every neighborhood in Vilnius. The main three chains are Iki, Rimi, and Maxima. In most neighborhoods the stores occupy ground floor retail spaces in apartment or office buildings, but some are newly constructed free-standing buildings.

This Hyper Rimi in Naujamiestis (New Town) is a major selling point for several new apartment buildings recently constructed in the area. There is plenty of parking in front of the building. Thankfully, the entire parcel is tucked behind older mid-rise buildings that continue the elevations along Basanavičiaus Street. While the grand drive entry does break up the pattern along the street, it is a far better solution to hide this monstrosity in the back rather than build it right on the boulevard.

One preservationist here said that Lithuanians come to Vilnius on vacation and take the bus, not to visit the old town, but to go shopping at Akropolis.

These indoor malls feature chain stores such as Mango, Jysk (discount Bed Bath & Beyond), Ermitazas (like Home Depot) as well as jewelry shops, shoe stores, and electronic retailers. There are restaurants as well, so you can stay and shop for the whole day. The Akropolis is accessible by bus, uncomfortable to access on foot (it is a loud and uncomfortable walk along the freeway), and there is plenty of parking available in the front parking lot along the street. Here are some photos from inside the HyperMaxima at Akropolis. You can see the wide selection in sausage alone. They sell everything from specialty breads and meats to clothes and shoes. And if you forget to bring your own grocery bag, they will charge you 1 litas for one of theirs. It isn't much when you convert it to USD, but for most people it is enough of a deterrent.

Outdoor markets are quite popular as well. I believe that locals shop at these markets regularly because the items are at a discount to corporate stores like Maxima. But those who live further away are likely to only shop there on the weekends. There are markets in the city like Kalvariju Market and Halės Market (Center Market), and some in the suburbs like Gariunai Market. These markets, which are open 7-days a week, tend to have the widest selection, best prices and are quite popular with the locals. It is helpful to not only speak Lithuanian at markets but also Russian.

Kalvariju Market in Žirmūnai.

Last weekend was my first time to Kalvariju Market and the produce selection was impressive and the pricing cheap. I will definitely visit this market more regularly now, but it is a 30 minute walk from my flat, so probably just on weekends.

Gariunai Market

I wanted to be discreet about taking photographs, so these pictures don't quite do this market justice. There are some permanent market stalls organized in 10 or more aisles. These approximately 10'x15' storage units provide a nicer presentation than the tables in the back lot set up behind vans and car trunks. The Gariunai Market website has some better pictures, click here.

This Flower Market in Naujamiestis is open 7 days a week, 24-hours a day. In Lithuania, it is customary to always give an odd number of flowers. Many students receive flowers on the first day of school. I think the whole town walked around with flowers on September 1st!

In some communities, I have seen older women selling breads, fruit, flowers, socks and other wares on the sidewalks. For many retirees, this is their primary means of income because pensions are not enough to make ends meet.

As is the old town tradition, there are still many small specialty shops throughout the city, such as meat shops, hosiery stores, bakeries and liquor stores. I don't know them well because I usually shop at the Maxima, which has a great selection. But, I plan to visit a few of these soon.

First Impressions of Soviet Block Housing

2008-10-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

I've walked around quite a few Soviet-planned residential areas in Vilnius. My first impression is what anyone might expect, that the building designs are plain and many apartment houses are in serious need of maintenance. Owners have replaced windows or enclosed balconies to gain a few extra square feet. While this creates an unappealing collage of window frame colors and styles on the exterior, I imagine the interior of the apartments are more appealing with these nice sun rooms.
Apartments in Lazdynai.

Design and maintenance issues aside, there are positive aspects to these planned communities. Vast areas of green space weave between buildings with playgrounds, gardens, and walking paths connecting through to other streets. The density allows for an efficient and frequent network of bus service within short walking distance from any apartment. It is easy to catch a bus anywhere in Lazdynai or Karoliniškės with minimal wait times. Social interaction between residents in such densely populated areas is frequent and outsiders walking through courtyard areas between buildings are noticed quickly. There are great tree-lined sidewalks on the periphery surrounding these residential complexes.

It may need some grooming by American standards, but it's still an inviting place to walk. And the proportions between the width of the sidewalks, building setbacks, and mid-rise heights work well.

These are mixed-use buildings with cafes, barbers, convenience stores, restaurants, and clothing stores on the ground floors. Residents can access all they need within a short walking distance, including community activity centers and schools.
School in Karoliniškės

Ground floor retail in Vilkpėdė.
Ground floor retail in Antakalnis.

Most Soviet apartment buildings in the New Town (Naujamiestis) front on the street with head-in parking lots on the side and rear. But with the new popularity of private car ownership, parking spaces are too few. It is not unlikely to see cars parked on the sidewalks or side yards adjacent to parking lots. Residential districts outside the city center feature buildings that are set back from and sometimes raised above the street. The focus is on the relationship to the pedestrian green areas more so than the automobile and the street. But given recent increases in private car ownership, which has doubled every year for the last three years, the relationship is strained. There is a lack of parking as private car ownership becomes financially feasible for more families.
Informal parking in Antakalnis.

John Gladki, a planner from Toronto who spoke at the Urban Forum, suggested that these residential districts should sell off some of their green areas to developers to increase density and insert some variety. The revenue from the sale could then be used for building maintenance and improvements to the Soviet-era apartment buildings. This could also create more income diversity in these communities. The Official Plan indicates that building density in Lazdynai will be increased by ten percent. I stumbled upon this nice new building tucked behind a few older panel buildings. I do hope that the city is able to preserve some of the original open spaces between older buildings as they work towards higher densities.

Renovations can be quite successful and some building associations are able to rally their residents to fund some exterior improvements to attract apartment buyers and increase property values. Here in Vilkpėdė, this building shows a cheerful improvement to the drab concrete panels.

And I particularly like that the painting scheme does not try to hide the panel forms, but emphasizes the seams at the ends with a strong yellow tone, mix-matching the seams. It will always look like Soviet Block housing, so I don't think you can hide it! Now the building owners need to coordinate the replacement of balcony railings and windows.

Here in Naujamiestis is an apartment building on an infill site. I like the wood windows, coordinated on every floor, against the painted white concrete. Again, it is not hiding the building, but coordinating it in a successful way.

Some buildings feature some very impressive flower beds. I also really like the turquoise tile balconies. Even this little bit of color makes the building more appealing.

If the outside of a building is in bad shape, it doesn't mean the individual apartments aren't really nice. Here you can see a typical entry door. Many times residents can't agree on what to fix or to fix anything at all. The disagreement rests mostly on the basis that many residents are on pensions or fixed incomes and can't afford a special assessment for repairs, so the building stays as it is.

I really liked the color schemes in Karoliniškės: red accent walls with blue balconies. It shows what even a little faded color can do!

This building in Vilkpėdė has a nice decorative design above the central entryway, very mid-twentieth century. It could be nicer with coordinated windows, balconies and a nice color scheme. I am not proposing that painting block housing will solve Vilnius' problems, but these buildings aren't going anywhere because of the need for housing, and every little bit helps remove the stigma.

I couldn't talk about these residential districts without mentioning the green belts around them. Here are some photos from the park between Lazdynai and Karoliniškės. The name Pasakų parkas translates to 'fairy tale park', and there are some wonderful wood carvings along the trails. It's a gorgeous spot and the quickest way to get from one neighborhood to the other.

On a large scale, building improvement assistance exists. The World Bank has financing available to improve energy efficiency and insulation. There is funding assistance available from the city as well as a program 'Renovate the Housing - Renovate the City', which has produced good results with its support services for starting home owners associations, finding contractors, and budgeting for renovations. These buildings are being torn down in droves in other cities, but in Vilnius they are here to stay. I think Lithuanians are finding good solutions to improve the aesthetics and energy efficiency. Hopefully the negative stigma of this housing type will improve as well.

Europos Parkas: The Geographic Center of Europe

2008-10-13T04:59:00.017-04:00

I spent most of the day Sunday wandering around Europos Parkas, located at the geographic center of Europe (according to the French National Geographic Institute). If you ever come to Vilnius in early October, this is the place to go. The fall leaves make it particularly magical to walk through the forest and discover interesting sculptures created by artists from around the world. The following video can't quite capture how it feels to be there, but you can get an idea of how pretty it is with the leaves falling and how relaxing it is with the white noise from the wind.

Here are just a few photos from this gorgeous park.

This art installation LNK Infotree created by Lithuanian artist Gintaras Karosas represents the "absurdity of Soviet propaganda that for over half a century had been implanted in people’s minds with the help of senseless TV". It is in the Guinness Book of World as the largest sculpture of TV sets in the world, originally over 3000 TVs. However, only a small part of the installation is now displayed after visitors vandalized many of the TV sets.

These giant leaves turn in the wind (one of my favorite sculptures in the park)!

There were a ton of interesting mushrooms around as well. Lithuanians love mushrooms and even have a verb for collecting mushrooms, grybauti. You will sometimes see women returning from the forest in rain boots carrying baskets filled with all sorts of mushrooms. There are guidebooks in many bookstores highlighting hundreds of types, most importantly the ones not to pick or eat.

Europos Parkas is really a wonderful place and shows just how beautiful the Lithuanian forests really are (especially in fall)!

Sirenos - Hamlet

2008-10-10T02:42:00.007-04:00

Last night, I went to see a contemporary interpretation of Hamlet at the Arts Printing House in the Old Town. The performance is part of a theater festival called Sirenos holding it's second year of performances in Vilnius and offering many performances with English super titles. When viewers entered the theater, the actors were waiting expressionless through the mirrors. It was an intense performance with promos boasting nepatogus teatras or uncomfortable theater. It was quite physical, loud, at times uncomfortable, and very entertaining!

The Arts Printing House is an 1805 printing house for books. It was turned into a communist printing house in 1965 and was the main printing house in the city. In 2002, the City of Vilnius leased the building to a non-profit whose goals include fostering creativity and supporting performing arts. Project funding comes from the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture and Culture Fund of the Republic of Lithuania.

The Ten Commandments of the Arts Printing House are quite entertaining in themselves. Click here to take a look. If you are wondering what parkour is, it's freestyle walking or running...here is a link to an entertaining video. Consequently, the video features some prominent Vilnius locations such as Cathedral Square, Europa Center, Tauro Hill, and the National Museum.

Urban Forum II

2008-10-07T05:45:00.005-04:00

Last week the second annual Urban Forum was held at the LitExpo Conference Center in the Lazdynai neighborhood of Vilnius. The event is organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of the Environment and began as a platform for transparency and public outreach. It is also an opportunity for planners to see what is happening in other cities.

There were several international speakers detailing case studies in Toronto, Vienna and Copenhagen. Presentation topics covered green building, redevelopment of social (public) housing, cultural heritage preservation, public interest in planning process, and compact cities.

The President of the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association reported the results and conclusions from the first forum. Solutions included completing detailed plans to slow down city changes, amending the legal framework of plans, looking to examples in the EU & abroad, and increasing numbers of professionals and specialists in architecture, planning & engineering.

The second day of lectures focused on the quality of architecture. Architects from Zaha Hadid Architects and Bjarke Ingels Group presented their works, which include two new buildings in Vilnius (Guggenheim Hermitage Museum 2013 & Vilnius World Trade Center 2010).

A presentation by Raimund Abraham on contemporary architecture was quite interesting. Here is a clip which I cut off too early, so please note that I should have included his full last sentence "I am not a contemporary architect, I am a modern architect"

It was a very interesting lecture, particularly his sentiments on the roles of form and function which he said have an "irreconcilable confrontation. Form should celebrate use, not compromise it". He also believes that to do architecture all you need is paper and a pencil. It is not the construction that makes architecture so much as it is the design. He teaches primarily and has had only a few designs actually constructed. And I should mention also that he is a good friend of Jonas Mekas, a well known Lithuanian film maker who also lives in New York.

The last day of the conference I spent time walking around the booths featuring new developments in Lithuania including resort condo opportunities in Druskininkai, single family homes in Vilnius Rajones (the burbs), and condos in Vilnius and Kaunas. The single family developer mentioned that since the detailed plan for Vilnius Rajones has not been completed and approved there is a development freeze which is problematic for that company.

There were also booths featuring second home opportunities in Turkey, Bulgaria, Dubai and other international locations. In all, there were only around 30 booths and attendance did not seem high. I think the event needs to join forces with related efforts to try to draw a larger crowd. It could be helpful to include tourism exhibitors with deals on family vacations in Lithuania as well as abroad. There could be discounts on travel, entrance fees and tours for attendees. That might also encourage restaurants and hotels to join the exhibitor list. Just some thoughts...

At the end of the forum there were discussions programmed. Instead of having the presenters field questions from the crowd there was a sign up list where each person got three minutes to talk at the podium to the crowd full of government planners, private professionals, and a few (not many) ordinary citizens.
Here are some of the issues that came up:
- the national master plan was completed 6 year ago and small towns are in a state of chaos as they can't get their plans completed
- a quality control measure such as certification is needed for companies subcontracted to create master plans for cities and towns
- Lithuanian agencies scatter responsibilities illogically creating confusion about who is responsible for certain tasks
- need to increase educational opportunities for planners as many decision makers in planning are not qualified to make decisions
- all we do is talk and nothing ever gets fixed
- developers lack rights
- at the December 31, 2007 deadline there were only 22 of 60 plans completed
- we need to convince Vilnius that we need an underground metro system
- urban developers should be required to have a university degree
- planning is becoming more aggressive and less democratic
- its a problem that people who complain about value losses as a result of property regulations take the city to court for financial compensation
- documents discussed publicly take a different form when they are approved
- in Zverynas there is a maximum 50% lot coverage but developers are getting away with 100% lot coverage and we are losing our green spaces

I also thought you might be interested to see the pedestrian crossing below the street that takes you from the LitExpo side with bus stops headed west to the other side where buses take you back to the city center. From an American perspective one might look over their shoulders the whole walk through this tunnel, but Lithuanians don't seem to notice or care about the graffiti or smell. There's a different standard and it is the best way to cross the busy street.

Sunday Afternoon in the Park

2008-10-05T16:50:00.005-04:00

Today was a great day for walking around in Vilnius. Everyone was outside enjoying the gorgeous weather. The leaves are changing and I am lucky to see this new side of the city. Vingio Park is just west of the city, across the river from the Zverynas neighborhood. There are bike and rollerblade rentals, amusement rides, a cafe, and lots of trails and playgrounds. Here is a picture of the arena at the center of the park.

The park is the starting point for hot air balloon rides and I was lucky to watch the entire set up and take off.

I couldn't resist posting a few more photos of the walk home from the park. Enjoy!

Trakai

2008-09-28T06:03:00.008-04:00

An excursion to the island castle in Trakai is a must if you are in Vilnius; it's just a 30 minute bus ride. The castle is set in one of the oldest cities in Lithuania, dating back to the 12th century. During the reign of Grand Duke Gediminas, Trakai was once the capital city of Lithuania (for only a few years). The newer part of the city, founded by Grand Duke Kestutis in the mid-14th century, is laid out along only a couple winding roads down a long peninsula. Grand Duke Vytautas the Great, Kestutis' son, encouraged Karaites to move to Trakai and there are still around 250 Karaite people there today. It is unclear whether this group moved to Trakai willingly, as noted in some texts, or if they were prisoners of war taken back to serve as Vytautas' body guards. Once they settled in Trakai they were allowed to practice their religion openly.

The Trakai castle was bombarded by the Russians in the 17th century, but was rebuilt in 1950s by the Soviets. It is quite ironic that the Soviets rebuilt the castle as it represents Lithuania's past as a great military power. It is now a conference center and major tourist destination. While the reconstruction of the towers seems a bit fake, there is a distinction made between the original stone and the new brick walls. From a preservation perspective, one might argue that the ruins would have served a more appropriate historical attraction. The reconstruction, however, allows for significant programming to keep the buildings in use year round and hands the vision to the tourist in more attractive way. There are displays inside the castle with pictures showing the castle ruins before restoration and its design program. Without the restoration, there might not be the opportunity for historical and cultural exhibitions within the castle, which is a far more interesting a location than an accessory structure.

There are some wonderful wood houses on the peninsula where Karaite houses can be distinguished by their three windows facing the street. The Karaites are of Turkish decent and practice what they believe is the original form of Judaism.

Art In Unusual Places

2008-09-24T03:35:00.015-04:00

The weekend was full of interesting art installations around the city. On the way home, there was a huge fabric cow strewn across the street. A courtyard nearby had a 3-meters high sculpture of Tony Soprano.

And there was a wonderful performance by the Chordos Quartet in the Vilinus train station. They played Steve Reich's piece on trains and a few other interesting electronic works. The most impressive was the evening event where traditional Lithuanian patterns were illuminated on the river banks by candles, live music projected through the city from speakers, fire throwers danced, and several candle-patterned boats floated down the Neris. Here are a couple of pictures of the boats being constructed that afternoon.

Art in Ususal Places is a great event to celebrate artistic culture of Vilnius residents as well as take foreigners around to new and hidden places in the city. Here are some other photos from the scavenger hunt. Enjoy!

Vilnius Planning

2008-09-21T04:21:00.022-04:00

Last week I met with the former municipal architect who, after more than 10 years working for the city, moved on to work for a private architecture and planning firm. He worked on the city's master plan with my project adviser and was a wealth of information about the progress of the city. Here are a few of the issues:

The Master Plan
Citizens do not have a desire to participate in the master planning process. About 80% of residents are not involved. Of the 13% of residents who are involved, only 15% are interested in the overall change of the city and the other 85% just have questions specific to their property and how changes could effect what they can do to their land.

Transportation
The city government is strongly focused on improving capacity on roads through the city. One of the major improvements funded by the city budget is the construction of two connections of freeways around the city to allow travelers from Minsk, for example, to travel around the city. Trucks and other transport vehicles traveling around Vilnius now have no other option but to travel through the center of town, adding to congestion. However, the routes of these freeway connections have been met with opposition from the residents of Karoliniškės, Lazdynai and Justiniškės, whose communities would be divided by the new road. The city has found no other alternative and the residents will have to cope. I am interested to find out what, if any, compensation these residents were offered for their sacrifice to the city.

There are also improvements such as widening existing arterial and collector roads. After independence officials may have missed the opportunity to focus on major improvements to public buses, trolleys, and minibuses. In each of the last three years, the city has seen the number of vehicles double. The car, once an unattainable commodity for most residents, has become a strong symbol of prestige and is now readily available and affordable to many Lithuanians.

There was a plan to build a 3-line light rail system through the city. Advisers came to Vilnius to complete a feasibility study on its construction and financing. My project advisers completed 150 presentations to communities over a period of 3 years, but when the new mayor was elected the project was stopped. Instead of a light rail, the mayor wants a subway and is pushing this more expensive option heavily. However, I am interested to find out what steps have been taken to evaluate its feasibility and time line. This will likely require heavy EU investments as the city cannot afford it.
Old Tram Plan

New Metro Plan

Comments on City Politics
City growth in the early- to mid-nineties came faster than citizens and government could anticipate. My impression is that the government here is quite young and has not been prepared to face many city challenges. There is a common perception that government is unfair and biased towards wealthy residents and businesses. For this reason I believe that residents who might otherwise participate in the democratic process of shaping the city plans are somewhat disenfranchised.

There are a number of plans for Vilnius in existence. The top tier is the master plan that is a general goals oriented plan. The financial counterpart is the strategic plan which dedicates funds to particular projects. While the intention was to coordinate the two documents so that the strategies worked to meet the goals, the mark was missed and there is not a clear connection. The ambiguity of the plans in concert with unclear development regulations creates problems for the city in their ability to enforce regulations on developers. In addition to these plans there are over 60 other plans being created that specifically address items such as gas stations, advertisements, supermarkets, schools and transportation.

Power Plant
A non-negotiable condition of entrance into the EU was closing unit 1 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant immediately and unit 2 by 2009. The plant is a similar model to the Chernobyl power plant. A plan exists to construct a new power plant to provide power not only to Lithuania, but also to Latvia, Estonia and Poland. However, the Lithuanian government is far behind schedule. A no-bid contract is currently under legal investigation, which is stalling the process. The new power plant is planned for completion in 2015-2018. There is concern not only for what will happen when 2009 rolls around and there is a power shortage with the Ignalina plant closing, but also a fear that the Lithuanian support of Georgia in the Russian conflict could create problems for their increasing dependence on Russian energy. Lithuania will have to renegotiate it's EU terms.

Second Annual Urban and Architectural Forum
The first week in October I will be attending a conference on Vilnius architecture and planning. International presenters will discuss topics related to the growth of the city of Vilnius. It will be a great opportunity to learn more about the major issues in the city. Topics will include urban politics, sustainable development, cultural heritage, transportation and contemporary architecture. The event is open to the public and, in addition to lectures on the city, it is an opportunity for citizens to get information on financing and home buying opportunities.

Žvėrynas

2008-09-13T11:42:00.019-04:00

During the past two weeks, I have spent time walking through as many neighborhoods as possible to get a feel for the different characters of the city. Here is just one of the neighborhoods I visited.

Žvėrynas is an old suburb of Vilnius just to the west of Centras across the Neris River. There are some of the best examples of historic Lithuanian cottages in this neighborhood and some interesting contemporary infill projects as well.

Here ares some of the infill projects. The buildings with retail on the ground floor and for-sale apartment flats on the upper floors are located on either of the main north-to-south streets Vytauto or Kęstučio. The east-to-west streets are all residential and the infill complies.

Here you can see on a more commercial street in the neighborhood, there are large new buildings next to a surviving old cottage. In order to survive financially, the owners are under a lot of pressure to sell their homes. But, the market here has softened and there is an oversupply of new apartment buildings.

There were a lot of these newer historic homes in the neighborhood as well, which are now split up into apartments. I imagine the neighborhood's convenient location next to Centras and just south of the mega mall 'Akropolis' make it a desirable location. I am interested to find out if these homes were subdivided during Soviet occupation to address housing needs.

I was quite surprised to stumble along this group of front-loaded garage town homes, which seem out of character with the neighorhood.

Žvėrynas is adjacent to Vingio Park, one of the city's largest parks. The city recently funded the construction of this pedestrian bridge, which includes a bike path that connects to major cycling routes through the city.

To the northeast, there is a great little pocket park. It doesn't look like much, but people don't seem to care about pristine landscaping. Most of the parks are lacking in the Houston or Baltimore sense of park maintenance. Perhaps because of the Lithuanian love of nature, the locals don't seem to mind at all and on a pleasant day the parks are full of people.

I was also impressed by the sidewalk widths and pavers along the commercial streets of Žvėrynas, and all over the city for that matter. If the Soviets gave Vilnius one thing, it's the great sidewalks. There are sidewalks like these on all the main roads extending to every corner of the city center and its suburban residential complexes.

Last Wednesday, I met with Dr. Jonas Jakaitis and Dr. Eugenijus Staniunas who are supporting my research on new development in Vilnius. They were very excited to tell me about various topics of interest in the planning world here. In particular, UNESCO recently visited to determine if the World Heritage designation of the old town of Vilnius should be revoked due to the encroachment of new development into the historic landscape. UNESCO was prompted to visit and evaluate this issue by a non-profit watchdog group that is quite unhappy with the loss of cultural resources in the Šnipiškės neighborhood. UNESCO did not end up revoking the World Heritage site title, but has placed the burden on city residents to decide. The issue has not yet been resolved. I am curious to find more information on this topic.

Another interesting issue is the control of development, which has proved challenging for the young city development agency. The developer of Akropolis, a major regional shopping mall, did not construct its facilities according to approved plans. This included building in an area they did not own and in a portion of a preservation area. While there may have been a concession given, like building a freeway bridge, the developer did not make changes to the building. I have a meeting next week with the City Architect and will undoubtedly learn more about the development climate here.

Šnipiškes

2008-09-09T08:03:00.012-04:00

Šnipiškes is the new downtown Vilnius. There is a great view from the castle tower. You can see what a contrast this modern section north of the Neris River makes with the Old Town and Centras areas to the south.

The Baltasis pedestrian bridge from Centras leads directly to the new Europa Center shopping mall. There are some great park areas on the banks of the river below with a skate park and volleyball courts.

Here is a view of the Europa Center, located just to the west of the new Vilnius Municipal headquarters.

The city has invested a lot in the streetscaping along major streets in Šnipiškes. The red pavers indicates a bike path, which is pretty extensively marked throughout Centras, Senamiestis and Šnipiškes.

There are still many dirt roads north of all the riverside development with old cottages. I gather that this area will have very few cottages left when the final plan is realized.

Many residents are without running water and the exterior of their homes patched with insulation. A few of the houses in the area did appear to be well cared for. I have heard that many homes may look poorly maintained from the outside, but it is no indication of the interior quality.

I do wonder where these residents will go when they are forced to make way for new high-rise developments. Will the residents be compensated for moving? As a housing type, similar cottages are greater in number and better maintained in another neighborhood called Žverynas.

This week I will meet with my contacts at VGTU and hope to learn more about Šnipiškes.

Arrival in Vilnius

2008-09-01T06:48:00.006-04:00

I arrived Saturday in Vilnius, and I am mostly settled in my apartment in Senamiestis (The Old Town). It is nicer than I expected and the location is great. The Maxima superstore in Naujamiestis (New Town) was a good place to find towls, sheets, and all the groceries I need, but there is also a Rimi a block from my flat for regular food shopping trips. The weather has been very welcoming: cool and sunny.

Yesterday I walked through Centras to the new Europa Center in Snipiskes. The horizon of this neighborhood north of the river is full of large cranes and modern high-rise buildings. After looking around the Europa Center, I walked east down Konstitucijos towards the Iki supermarket to see what their selection offered and to see another part of town. There are many new mid-rise apartment buildings in this area and to the south as you cross the bridge towards Uzupis (Beyond the River).

I set up a cell phone at Bite ("bee"). The rep at the store spoke English, but was politely amused by my attempts to communicate in Lithuanian. I asked about mobile internet for my laptop, which was too expensive, but found out that there are regulations restricting the installation of wires in the old town area where I live. I will hopefully have lines set up in a couple weeks, but it may be difficult to get a good internet connection. Time will tell.

This week I am visiting as many neighborhoods as I can to get a general idea of new development in those areas. I will post pictures as soon as I get an internet line at home.

Apartment in the Old Town

2008-08-24T14:35:00.005-04:00

After a long search, I secured an apartment in the old town. With only five more days in Baltimore, it's just in time! Its central location will be great for access to the surrounding neighborhoods. The apartment is on the second floor on a quiet street and just one block from a grocery store. I can't wait to see it in person!

Hermitage Guggenheim Vilnius Project

2008-07-20T12:49:00.009-04:00

Vilnius will see a huge boost in tourism with the Hermitage Guggenheim Museum coming in 2013. Architect Zaha Hadid is the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize (2004). Past prize winners include Philip Johnson, I.M. Pei, Frank O. Gehry, Rafael Moneo, and Renzo Piano.

Other entries from Daniel Libeskind and Massimiliano Fuksas can be found here.

Šaltibarščiai

2008-07-19T13:21:00.013-04:00

Today, I went over to my Lithuanian language teacher's home and we made Šaltibarščiai (Cold Beet Soup). It was quite good!

Šaltibarščiai
2 large cucumbers (seeded, shredded)
2 cans whole beets (drained, shredded)
lots of fresh dill (finely chopped)
2 quarts buttermilk
rice vinegar, salt, and pepper (to taste)
6-8 small red potatoes (boiled, one per serving)
6 hard boiled eggs (sliced)
3 scallions (chopped)
Mix in a bowl and chill (serves 10 or more)

Labai skanu!

Fulbright Orientation

2008-07-13T11:56:00.004-04:00

I just got back from Washington, D.C. where the Fulbright orientation sessions were held. It was a really interesting few days with round table discussions on our destination countries. The best part was talking with students and scholars who had just returned from Vilnius. They provided tips on the weather, housing, restaurants, discount cards, and the people. It was great to meet other Fulbright students and scholars. Their projects include writing an opera, teaching Tin Pan Alley song, examining the brain-drain of scientists, evaluating educational practices in higher education institutions, teaching the history of Jewish Socialist Movements in the Diaspora, and lecturing on the sociology of aging. Quite an interesting group of people, of which I am honored to be a part!