Construction, Culture, Forum, Lithuania
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Saturday, 20.04.2024, 18:06
Architects from all over the world invited to Vilnius to design National Concert Hall
The contest expires in June, and it is estimated that the
construction of the building should start in 2021. According to initial plans,
Vilnius city dwellers and city guests would be invited to the new hall in 2023
on the occasion of celebration of the 700th anniversary of Vilnius city.
“The national concert hall The Home of Nation is planned to be one of
the most important cultural objects in Vilnius. I invite and encourage
international, world-famous architectural teams to design a modern space in
Vilnius which would contain a hall suitable for symphony concerts, for
entertainment activities and leisure time activities. Architecture of the
building should become a new symbol of the city which would inspire and
liberate the city from a narrow viewpoint and would reflect modern times,"
- Vilnius city mayor Remigijus Šimašius
said.
Participants of the architectural competition will be asked to
design a building, two concert halls, spaces for lounge bars, a spacious lobby
with a view of a breath-taking scenery of the city, and premises for any other
cultural activities. The budget for design and construction works amounts to
EUR 52 mln. All object designing, construction and installation as well as
land plot management related costs are included in this amount.
“It is a unique idea and a perfect opportunity for architects from
all over the world to contribute to the creation of Vilnius history. It
requires great responsibility and it is also difficult to organise
international competitions of this type. However, as history shows this
particular method of organising an architectural design competition can lead to
success. In cooperation with the Lithuanian Union of Architects, UNESCO has
done everything it could to make conditions for such contests possible. I see
today as a historical day to Vilnius since the building is seeing the start of
its history. I regret only about one thing regarding this competition, namely,
that I cannot take part in this contest,” - Serban
Tiganas, General Secretary of the International Union of Architects, said.
Apart from modern style and western quality, the terms and conditions
of the competition state that the participating teams should understand the
significance of the location of the building and the historical context – the
former Trade Union building presently standing on the hill of Tauras as
initially suggested by Jonas Basanavičius actually had to be the Home of the
Nation.
“Ideas for architectural competition will be evaluated by an
international commission: architects and other professionals from Austria,
Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Lithuania. The winning idea should
reflect and convey an easily transformable public space designed for education
– changing expositions, meetings, creative workshops and other activities
related to the idea of a house of nation and the history of Lithuania,” - Rūta Leitanaitė, Chair of the Lithuanian Union
of Architects, said.
The architectural idea competition will be open for six months.
Architectural ideas and inquiries will be accepted until 25 June 2019. The
results should be announced in September with the subsequent exhibition of the
design projects for the general public. Construction works are to start in
2020–2022, and the first concert is to be held in the new space in 2023. In
accordance with the terms and conditions of the architectural idea competition
drawn up by the city municipality, the new building should accommodate up to
1,700 persons in the big hall and 500 persons in the small hall. The
architectural contest is organised in cooperation with the International Union
of Architects, the Lithuanian Union of Architects and the Ministry of Culture
of the Republic of Lithuania.