Soviet architecture in Lithuania

There are still many soviet-style public buildings left in Lithuania, and it is a common misconception that many of these are ugly. As a concrete enthusiast, I must point out that this impression is incorrect. The main reason why so many buildings appear to be bad looking is that they have not been maintained properly. In many cases, they have simply been neglected. Concrete exteriors deteriorate quickly, and soon become eyesores if not routinely maintained. Nevertheless, if maintained, they can look great even if the building is old. A city like for instance Prague holds many examples of this.




One monumental building already fallen victim to modern day craziness. The shopping center Merkurijus in Kaunas rather recently was sacrificed upon the altar of modern day revisionism. I can`wait to see what the replacement will be.

There are no structural reasons for tearing down these buildings, since the concrete they are made of in fact hardens with time for many years. Some say such buildings are at their strongest after about 50 years. Nevertheless, such buildings seem not to be very appreciated by Lithuanians, so many of them will live dangerously in the years to come.

 



It looks terrible, and I suspect it is also not from the soviet era, but the structure is strong. And it is not finished. Who knows what an architect could have made of it. An older one, that is.

As long as people nowadays have the sense to replace older buildings with new ones that are both functional and esthetical, it is not really a tragedy. Even if the building could have stood for a couple of hundred years more. Replacing the old with something new does however not always work out well, as this example shows.

 



No, the picture is not photo shopped. There is actually such a building, and it is a monument to either corruption or to the need for building regulations.



There were after all quite a lot of buildings and monuments erected in Lithuania during the soviet era, and many of them were quite unique for that particular time. Even though they might look outdated at present, I still think it would be a wise choice to keep them. After all, how decorative is present day architecture? Not to mention, how original is it? Commercial buildings and even many official buildings increasingly look the same all over Europe.

 

Some kind of yacht club buildings in Trakai. In my mind, just as important to protect as the Trakai castle itself. After all, that place was also a dump until it was refurbished.