Relocating the Urban Center: Lessons of Vilnius
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- To examine how the relocation of Vilnius’ city center to the historic Šnipiškės suburb has impacted the area’s architectural and urban characters;
- To apply relevant architectural theories, including those of Kevin Lynch, Colin Rowe, Christopher Alexander, Nikos Salingaros, Henri Lefebvre, and Gilles Deleuze’s theory of assemblages, to analyze the changes in Šnipiškės;
- To identify the problems and challenges encountered in this process of urban transformation and derive insights that could serve as lessons for similar efforts in other post-Soviet and post-colonial contexts.
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. The Right Bank of the Neris River after the Second World War and Its Post-Soviet Urban Transformations
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- Soviet-era restructuring of the city’s street network;
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- projects for the fundamental redevelopment of the whole or parts of the territory, which were prepared during the occupation period (although a large part of them were not implemented, they significantly contributed to the general consolidation of the narrative of Šnipiškės as an unworthy, problematic and, as a consequence, alterable territory);
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- mono-functional planning and functional disaggregation of the territory;
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- the idea of the ‘Urban Hill’ and the implementation of a new city center that gave the beginning to the current Central Business District (hereinafter CBD).
3.2. The Architectural and Cultural Specificity of the Šnipiškės Area
3.2.1. Architectural Peculiarities of the Local Heritage
3.2.2. The Right Bank of the Neris River and the Developments in Its Approaches
3.2.3. The Outcomes of the (R)evolution of the Residential Zone
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Rural Wooden Houses | Urban Wooden Houses |
---|---|
Architectural character and features | |
Simple, low, single-story buildings with a rectangular ground plan and gabled roofs, usually without cladding and with minimal decoration. Compact structures built using interlocking timber techniques (or by sticking the logs into brick pylons thus avoiding the interlocking) with the simplest craftsmanship and have either no porches at all or only poor and inexpressive parts of them. Some have storage rooms or barns next to the living quarters. | Larger and more complex in volume and roof shape than rural wooden houses, sometimes two or three storys high, with spacious attics, larger window and door openings, more symmetrical construction. They usually had tiled roofs (many of which were rebuilt during the Soviet occupation) and plank cladding. They feature more elaborate decorative elements, such as ornate window frames, decorative window grids, shutters, and verandas, as well as sawn-board cornice decorations. |
Examples | |
The houses on Šilutės and Krokuvos streets can be seen as typical examples of such buildings. The house at 7 Fino Street is an example of simplified construction, by sticking the logs into brick pylons. A notable example is the house at 37 Krokuvos Street, which was built with the simplest craftsmanship by interlocking logs. | Notable examples on Giedraičių Street, such as the voluminous house at 10 Giedraičių Street with its unique gabled roof and spacious attic, and the house at 7 Giedraičių Street with a beautifully proportioned wooden veranda. The house at 15 Giedraičių Street, has an open unglazed porch of graceful proportions and a high steep roof, which visually has some associations with the so-called wooden architecture of Zakopane. |
Masonry houses with simpler architectural expression | Masonry houses with richer architectural expression |
Architectural character and features | |
Single-story structures, often with attics, unplastered facades, and minimal decoration. Some feature enclosed courtyards. | Typically, two or three storys high with more ornate, sometimes plastered facades. Decorative elements include half-columns, sophisticated cornices, and a distinctive rhythm of the openings and its casings. |
Examples | |
Buildings at 56 Lvivo Street, 5 Fino Street, 82 Kalvarju Street, and 48, 27, and 52 Giedraiciu Street, which are typically simple in design and construction. | Buildings at 56, 38, 26, and 18 Kalvarijų Street and at 46 Giedraičių Street, which are larger in volume and feature more elaborate architectural details. |
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Gabrėnienė, A.; Gabrėnas, A.; Samalavičius, A.L. Relocating the Urban Center: Lessons of Vilnius. Urban Sci. 2024, 8, 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030112
Gabrėnienė A, Gabrėnas A, Samalavičius AL. Relocating the Urban Center: Lessons of Vilnius. Urban Science. 2024; 8(3):112. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030112
Chicago/Turabian StyleGabrėnienė, Agnė, Arnoldas Gabrėnas, and Almantas Liudas Samalavičius. 2024. "Relocating the Urban Center: Lessons of Vilnius" Urban Science 8, no. 3: 112. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci8030112