Art Nouveau architecture in Riga

A good example of Riga's Art Nouveau architecture in its combination of rationality and decoration is this 1902 building on Smilšu iela 2 by Konstantīns Pēkšēns.[1]

The Art Nouveau architecture in Riga makes up roughly one third of all the buildings in the centre of Riga, making Latvia's capital the city with the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture anywhere in the world. Built during a period of rapid economic growth, most of Riga's Art Nouveau buildings date from between 1904 and 1914. The style is most commonly represented in multi-storey apartment buildings. Stylistic influences derived not least from present-day Austria, Finland and Germany, while the establishment of a faculty of architecture in Riga in 1869 was instrumental in providing a local cadre of architects. This included, but was not limited to, some of the first formally trained ethnic Latvian architects. As elsewhere, the Art Nouveau movement in Riga was driven by a desire to express greater individuality, local attachment and a more rational kind of architecture than that which had dominated during the 19th century. Stylistically, the Art Nouveau architecture of Riga can be further divided into four different stages: Eclectic, Perpendicular, National Romantic; and Neo-Classical.[2]

  1. ^ Krastins 2006, p. 400.
  2. ^ Ojārs Spārītis, Jānis Krastin̦š Architecture of Riga, Eight Hundred Years: Mirroring European Culture Publisher: Nacionalais Apgads (2005) 179 pages ISBN 9984262219 ISBN 978-9984262215