Do you know Latvia is a land of forests and traditional architecture? Let’s study Latvian architecture to understand its long cultural and ancient history.
There are excellent architectural masterpieces in Riga, Latvia’s capital. They span many different periods and teach us a lot about the people who lived there in the past. Learn Latvian with Ling App to understand more about the traditional values of Latvian architecture.
Latvian Architecture – Traditional Values
Traditional principles seen in the architecture of a Latvian farmhouse include self-reliance and respect for personal space. Because of the abundant woodlands, Latvians favored wooden buildings. Until foreigners introduced masonry, all structures, including medieval castles, were wood.
Latvian Architecture – Architecture And Art Nouveau Of Riga
Riga Old Town
The Latvian capital Riga was a part of the Hanseatic League. It inspired Northern, Western, and Central Europe with appealing architectural styles from the 13th to the 16th centuries.
Riga has many folk museums that enhance the beauty of this city. These old buildings are worth visiting because of their many years-old stored traditions. The development agency of Latvia keeps such buildings preserved by ensuring that they’re well maintained, and it’s impossible to carry out building work on them without special permits that are almost impossible to get.
St. Peter’s Church – Latvian Architecture With Unique Architectural Details
St Peter’s Church, which symbolizes both Riga’s medieval heritage and its persistence, connects Town Hall Square from behind. During World War II, the church was badly damaged, so what you see now is the result of a ten-year repair project.
New Town Riga & Pārdaugava – Latvian Architecture New Buildings
Riga’s New Town is a bit of a misnomer. By any stretch of the imagination, it isn’t new. However, in comparison to the historic architecture of Old Town Riga, New Town feels extremely modern.
Art Nouveau Architecture In Riga
Riga is on the banks of the Daugava River and is a major surprise for architecture fans. The ancient soul of Latvia’s time-honored capital of long-gone European powers and alliances.
The primary motivation for leaving Riga’s Old Town bubble is Jugendstil, often known as Art Nouveau. New Town Riga also has one of Europe’s best collections of Art Nouveau buildings for architecture lovers.
Begin your journey on Alberta iela (Albert Street), an infinite line of magnificent Art Nouveau façades designed by some of Eastern Europe’s most prominent architects. These famous architects include Mikhail Eisenstein and many more.
National Romantic Art Nouveau – Latvian Architecture
The 19th-century Latvian National Awakening era began the creation of a distinct Latvian identity, both politically and culturally. Although the National Romantic style in ancient times is an architectural style in its own right, it is now known as a form of Art Nouveau.
Perpendicular Art Nouveau
Perpendicular Art Nouveau, which became popular in Riga around 1906, highlighted a building’s vertical lines, abandoned romanticism, and integrated any adornment on the façade with the architectural firm of the structure.
Wooden Architecture
You will quickly come across another popular architectural style in Riga: wooden buildings. Some well-preserved examples of Latvian wooden architecture include Riga’s most interesting street art along gritty Miera iela (Peace Street.)
Latvian Architecture In The Neo-Classical Style
The 19th century saw an end to excess and a return to the classics. The streets of the new industrial centers have a border of Neo-classical townhouses. Meanwhile, neo-classical forms (palaces) in Meotne and Durbe give a breath of fresh air.
Modernism In The Mould Of The Soviet Union
When Latvia fell to the Soviets it signaled a big change in the country’s architectural style. The Soviet architecture was all about function over form; the point of architecture was to help people, not for buildings to look beautiful. Unfortunately what the planners couldn’t envisage was that making buildings ugly was having negative mental effects on the inhabitants of the city.
After the fall of communism in 1990, there was a concerted effort to push Latvia back in the direction of an architectural style that took into account how a building looked
Today’s Architecture In Latvia
Today’s Latvian architecture aspires to revive the country’s traditional past while also embracing postmodernism. Distinguished local architects, such as Ms. Zaiga Gaile, are dedicated to preserving and restoring 19th-century Latvian wooden architecture.
The famous Castle of Light – the new National Library of Latvia building by Latvian-American architect Mr. Gunrs Birkerts – is the pinnacle of modern Latvian architecture.
It is buildings like this that are driving tourists to Riga and Latvia more generally. In 2018 there were 2 million visitors, which is a massive amount if you consider the population is also 2 million.
Make Some Time To Learn the Latvian Language
Are you aware that the Simya Solution’s Ling App can teach you a new language for free? Ling App is a platform that assists people in learning Latvian and 60+ other language. The Ling App makes language learning fun and easy. You can take lessons according to your schedule.
Learning Latvian is as easy as playing a game with Ling App. It is just that good. Ling App employs linguistic research to assist you in becoming proficient in a short period. You can also initiate a dialogue with one of the intelligent chatbots.
After learning Latvia from Ling App, you can communicate in Latvian easily. Thanks to a range of small games and interactive learning approaches, learning is easier. Download Ling App and read more articles “Latvian transportation vocabulary” and “Latvian sentence structure“
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