Riga – the pearl of Art Nouveau
Presently
Riga and especially Albert Street where almost all houses were designed by the
great architect Mikhail Eisenstein, deservedly call “the pearl of Art Nouveau” A huge number of tourists from the different
countries come to see these magnificent buildings.
Now it
seems strange, but Eisenstein's contemporaries strongly criticised him and even
called "the mad confectioner". The critic A. Vanags at the beginning
of the 20th century wrote: "It is a pity for all beautiful area. It is a
pity for the spent work and materials". In the 1930th years the architect
G. Pirang wrote: " Art Nouveau style held on not for long and didn't leave
in Riga of special traces. Only worthy regrets Albert Street completely fell
its victim".
We can't
agree with opinion of the architect Pirang, that the Art Nouveau style didn't
leave in Riga of special traces. In Riga there is the largest collection of Jugendstil
or Art Nouveau style in the world - more than 800 magnificent buildings. The
buildings designed in this style are included in the list world heritage of
UNESCO.
I offer
two-hour excursion during which we will get acquainted with versions of Art
Nouveau style and history of its development, we will see works of famous
architects Eisenstein, Pekshens, Laube and other, we will together immerse into the atmosphere
of that time that will help us to understand processes in society.
Duration of
the excursion approximately 2 hours.