OFFICE BUILDING OF COOPERATIVE UNION OF LITHUANIA

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The office building of the Cooperative Union of Lithuanian, located at the intersection of Gediminas Avenue and A. Stulginskio Street, is an exceptional example of late modernist architecture.

Justinas Šeibokas’ innovative and organic architectural solutions blend seamlessly into the already established urban fabric. The gently undulating terraces of the building interpret and echo the Baroque style of Vilnius Old Town. This building is the Soviet equivalent of the modern office: it resembles a ship, where the architect’s priority is the well-being of the working man, and, on the upper floors, the desire to see beyond.

The undulating façade and the building’s distinctive exterior conceal not only the functionality of the premises, but also the extraordinary interior elements and the search for national originality. Inside the building, works of art come together: Algirdas Dovydėnas’ stained glass piece Miestas prie upės (City by the River), Antanas Kmieliauskas’ fresco entitled Rudens gėrybės (Autumn Goods) and Neringa Dovydėnienė’s sculptural ceramics composition, while the working space has remained unchanged since 1986.

If not for the persistence of the architect Justinas Šeibokas, the administrative building of the Cooperative Union of Lithuanian might have remained just a vision, as the city’s urban planning requirements at the time clashed with the building’s appearance.