Buildings of Performing Arts in Latvia’s Modern Movement

Abstract

After WWII, the Soviet Iron Curtain impeded sharing of knowledge between the Baltic socialist republics and other European states. It was necessary to find roundabout ways of introducing the innovative-minded global spirit, combined with the local architectural traditions and the actual possibilities established already in the 1920s and the 1930s.

The aim of the article is to recognize the cultural and historic significance of buildings of performing arts, i.e. concert halls, cinemas and theatres, and determine their role in the history of Latvian architecture. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to evaluate architectural qualities of performing arts buildings both in the context of stylistic trends of the epoch and in the broader geographical context. Uncertain understanding of the place of the Latvian cultural heritage on a European level prompted an in-depth analysis of buildings of performing arts in Latvia’s Modern Movement.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sace.1.2.2840