The first Riga Theatre building is a monument of Riga's classicist architecture and German culture with a 250-year history. The meaning and goals of its restoration are based on three prominent German cultural figures: Otto Hermann von Füttinghof-Schell (1722-1792), the project developer and patron; Christoph Haberland (1750-1803), the project architect and construction master; Richard Wagner (1813-1883), the composer, who, not yet famous and only 24 years old, worked as a conductor at the theatre for two years (1837-1839).
Foto : Ansis Starks
Foto : Ansis Starks
Foto : Ansis Starks
"The New Riga Theatre is much more than a building. It is a story about the history of our recent times. A metaphysical phenomenon in the cultural and intellectual space of Latvia for more than the past twenty years. A truly complex and intelligent project of the highest social significance and visibility has been implemented in the painfully long process of transformation," described the LAGB 2024 selection jury.
The house on Blaumaņa Street 19 has been purchased by an Italian citizen who wants to renovate a historic wooden house in the center of Riga, to create a beautiful courtyard garden with a historic Dutch linden tree in the center and a tea pavilion in the depths of the garden. The owner is represented by the company SIA EMB B19 Develop. The house is planned as a private residence for a large Italian family with four bedrooms on the attic floor. The two main floors will be used for family living, receiving guests and small home concerts. The basement floor will be used for utility and technical rooms. Frequent business trips to Latvia have made the owner fall in love with our country and Riga, as well as being involved in many international cultural projects. While in Riga on a business trip, the Italian lady noticed the beautiful wooden house on Blaumaņa Street with an inscription on the facade: for sale. An Italian citizen bought a house from a Kazakh investor together with a Construction Project for the reconstruction of the house developed by the architectural firm NRJA and coordinated in 2017. The project envisages a new seven-story residential building in the depths of the courtyard near the firewalls, an underground parking lot under the entire ground area, the demolition of the wooden house and the construction of a replica in its place and, of course, the felling of the Dutch linden tree. The house customer sees the unique value of Riga's wooden architectural heritage. There is nothing like it in Italy, and therefore a common goal has been set to restore the wooden house as a model, where the best conservation and restoration practice methods and experience, high-quality traditional materials and wood products of the best craftsmen have been used. The customer sees the courtyard with the old Dutch linden tree as equally valuable as the wooden house, and the goal is to create it as a romantic garden in the city center between the high walls of the firewalls. Although the garden is located on the north side of the house, it is sufficiently sunny and the high firewalls protect it from the winds. The biggest obstacle to the project is the construction of the city transformer substation in the yard near the firewall. The transformer substation is planned to be moved to the corner of the plot opposite the entrance. The dimensions of the building have been reduced in accordance with permissible technical requirements.
The residential house was built in the eighties of the 19th century, according to the project of architect Winkler, in wooden frame structures with wooden facade cladding. The small plot has been densely built up and, judging by the typology of the objects, the owners were engaged in salmon processing. The reconstruction project envisages preserving the residential building in its existing outline and shape.
Vienstāva koka dzīvojamā ēka Rīgā, Balasta dambī atrodas Ķīpsalā, Valsts nozīmes pilsētbūvniecības pieminekļa UNESCO Pasaules kultūras un dabas mantojuma vietas - Rīgas vēsturiskais centrs aizsardzības zonā. Ēka ir vērtīgs Ķīpsalas vēsturiskās koka apbūves piemineklis un saglabājams nelielas zvejnieku dzīvojamās guļbūves veidolā un tēlā, Balasta dambja ielas līnijā gar Daugavu. Dzīvojamā māja projektēta tās esošajā vietā ar slīpu pagriezienu pret Balasta dambi.