Exhibition devoted to the Architecture and Urban Regeneration of Riga – "9 Conditions of Riga"

26.08.2015

Exhibition "9 Conditions of Riga: Regeneration and Transformation of the City – Urban Environment and Architecture” is a satellite event of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2015 programme. The exhibition "9 Conditions of Riga" contributes to the overall theme of the biennale “Self Driven Cities” by questioning whether and how the very inhabitants or the 'self' of the city can actually maintain and influence or rather ‘drive’ the politics of the built environment and the city.

Exhibition will be held from October 9th to October 29th, 2015.

Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday 2 p.m. – 8 p.m.; Mondays – Closed.
Vernissage: October 8th, 5 p.m.
Venue: Red Hall (Punane Saal) at Telliskivi Creative City (C2)
Address: Telliskivi 60A, 10412 Tallinn.

This traveling exhibition "9 Conditions of Riga" was as an integral part of the larger project – European Cultural Days of the ECB – Latvia, organized by European Central Bank. For the first time this traveling exhibition was exhibited in House of Finance, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany in 2013. In 2014 it was exhibited in Riga, Latvia. In 2015 the exhibition goes to Tallinn, Estonia.

The curator and architect Oskars Redbergs in his concept is highlighting the emergence of new urban typologies by offering a new classification for buildings and urban intervention projects mostly built in last two decades in the Historic Centre of Riga – UNESCO world heritage protection zone. The goal of such classification is to reveal the relationship between the physical structure, its social structure (in its broadest sense) and the intangible constituents of modern capitalism.

"9 Conditions of Riga" presents architecture as both a process and an outcome of a complex and multilayered economic, social, cultural and political dialogue, which is influenced by the impact of different regulations and restrictions, as well as other important circumstances.

In his exhibition review "Learning from Riga", urban theorist and professor of the Plymouth University Krzysztof Nawratek emphasizes the following: "Exhibition "9 Conditions of Riga" is an interesting and ambitious project. Its purpose is to tell a story of the new Latvian (or rather Rigan) architecture, built since the re-establishment of the Latvian independence in 1991. However, the strength of this exhibition is not the quality of the presented projects (some of these projects are excellent, but some are - to put it mildly – controversial). Its strength lays in an attempt to find a new, original and precise language to tell this story."

The exhibition is divided into 9 thematic sections, which present more than 50 different examples of architecture and urban design projects of Riga, carried out by more than 20 international architecture firms. Story of the historical and contemporary architecture of Riga is told using the spatial experience created by an innovative curatorial concept and high quality exhibition design.

The exhibition has cognitive as well as representative character and it turns the exhibition venue into an interactive "learning classroom" where visitors are invited to involve and become active participants in shaping their own and unique story of Riga.

SEMINAR DEVOTED TO TRANSFORMATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN RIGA AND TALLINN - "Architecture as a Dialogue. New Approaches towards Transformation of the Architectural Heritage between Riga and Tallinn".

Date and time: September 17th, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Venue: Kultuurikatel
Address: Põhja puiestee 27a, 10415 Tallinn

The discussion forum "RIGA TALKS" is an integral part of the exhibition "9 Conditions of Riga" and along with the exhibition offers a series of seminars that brings together thinkers and makers in order to discuss challenges and opportunities, which the cities of the Baltic Sea Region are facing today.

Earlier in 2013, two seminars were organized in Frankfurt am Main: "Re-industrialization and Urban Regeneration in Europe between Riga, Frankfurt and Warsaw" (Deutsches Architekturmuseum (DAM)) and "Riga until 1914 as a Role Model for the Contemporary European Urban Culture of 21st Century" (Goethe University, House of Finance).

The contribution for this year’s Tallinn’s Architecture Biennale (TAB CLUB) programme is a seminar "Architecture as a Dialogue. New Approaches towards Transformation of the Architectural Heritage between Riga and Tallinn".

The seminars aim to discuss the architecture as a process and as an outcome of complex and multilayered economic, social, cultural and political dialogue due to the impact of different regulations and restrictions, as well as other important circumstances.

The cities within the Baltic Sea Region are currently undergoing large scale changes, which are mainly related to economic growth, immigration and emigration, ecological and environmental issues, mass tourism, threat of war and economic sanctions among neighboring counties, etc.. It is important to ascertain how contemporary architecture and built environment can help us to facilitate and accommodate these changes and how these changes affect historical urban environment and architecture.

Cultural, economic and social ‘regeneration’ have become key words, especially after the global financial crisis, which severely affected the economy of the Baltic States. Due to the financial crisis, the transformation of urban environment and architecture has experienced various new trends. When it comes to Riga, after the financial crisis a large number of residential buildings, office complexes and former factories remain vacant. These are the main conditions which determine the need of contemporary architects to shift from the construction of new buildings to the adaption of existing buildings and complexes of the urban environment, taking into account the new functions of the buildings, as well as the needs of the users.

It is exactly the work on historical development and cultural heritage which has helped contemporary Latvian and Estonian architects to earn recognition on a regional level. The large number of projects carried out counts as proof that new architecture can be combined with old architecture in very different ways. Such projects reveal the differences between the Estonian and Latvian attitude and approach towards both the historical and contemporary substance.

Both – Riga and Tallinn – share a lot in common. For example, the same geopolitical situation, political history or the status of a small-nation capital, etc. At the same time when it comes to their mentality, building traditions or even the origins of foreign investment, these capitals can be considered as very different.

The main aim of the seminar is to outline the different approaches in the design of contemporary architecture and the diverse attitudes towards the architectural heritage in Riga and Tallinn, as well as to distinguish the causes and preconditions of such differences. The discussion will attempt to reveal the connection between the contemporary architecture and the historic urban environment. Special emphasis will be put on the policy of the conservation of cultural heritage as well as building regulations which determine the formation and development of contemporary architecture.


The seminar is jointly organized by the mT15. Foundation for Interdisciplinary Cooperation and Riga City Architect’s Office. For more information please contact Inga Karlštrēma (inga.karlstrema@inbox.lv), + 371 26364044 and Oskars Redbergs (redbergs@hotmail.com), + 371 29581841.

SUPPORTERS

Embassy of Latvia in Estonia
State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF)
LIVE RIGA (The Riga Tourism Development Bureau Foundation)
Riga Municipal Agency “Riga City Architect’s Office”
The Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council
Megaphone Publishers
mT15. Foundation for Interdisciplinary Cooperation

ORGANIZERS

Curator: Oskars Redbergs
Project coordinator: Inga Karlštrēma
Concept: mT15. Foundation for Interdisciplinary Cooperation
Implementation: Megaphone Publishers
Immersive sound installation (TAB15 Edition): Geo Reisinger
Photographer: Aivars Siliņš
Exhibition Designers: Manten Devriendt, Liene Jākobsone (Sampling.lv)
Graphic Designers: Edgars Zvirgzdiņš (Associates, Partners et Sons Design & Development), Artis Tauriņš (formup.lv)
TAB15 Project Assistant: Ieva Lange

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO:

His Excellency ambassador Juris Bone (Embassy of Latvia in Estonia)
Zenta Ļakša (DHM, Counsellor)
Agita Ikauniece (Latvian Cultural days of ECB)
Zanda Ķergalve (The Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council)
Marten Kaevats (TAB15)
Rebecca Kontus (TAB15)
Maria Derlõš (TAB CLUB15)
Solveig Jahnke (Estonian Academy of Arts)
Tauri Tuvikene (Tallinn University)

CURATOR

Oskars Redbergs is a Latvian architect, educator and curator. His main research focus is on the transformations of urban landscape of post socialist cities. He studied Architecture and Urban planning at the Riga Technical University (Latvia), Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), The Royal Danish Academy of Fine arts – School of Architecture (Denmark), The Staatliche Hochschule der bildenden Künste (Staedelschule) Frankfurt’s Architecture Class (Germany).

Oskars Redbergs is a founder of The Riga School of Architecture and for the last 5 years he has been a Dean and a Lecturer of Faculty of Architecture and Design at RISEBA University in Riga.

Since 2009 he has been closely collaborating with the Swedish Institute and Fargfabriken in Stockholm. Currently he is working on his doctoral research at Brandenburgische Technische Universität, Germany.

He is a member of the board of the Latvian Association of Architects, MT15 forum and Megaphone Publishers. He is a curator of European Cultural Days of the European Central Bank (ECB) – Latvia, 2013. He is an author of various articles as well as editor of books "Mūsdienu kultūras stāvokļi / Conditions for Contemporary Culture. Riga" and "9 Conditions of Riga: Regeneration and Transformation of the City - Urban Environment and Architecture".