VILNIAUS KLASIKA THEATRE AND TSEKH ART GALLERY

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The Vilniaus Klasika Theatre and the Tsekh Art Gallery are testimony to an ironic story. The building is unique in that it has been rebuilt from the structures of the church that previously stood here, designed by Antanas Vivulskis. The dramatically fated church was exceptional in its technological solutions – it was the first building in Lithuania to have all load-bearing structures made of reinforced concrete.

The current building is a bold statement by the young post-war generation. The then-designed Palace of Culture, like a sarcophagus, preserved some of the fragments of the church that once stood here. The historic arches supporting the reinforced concrete vaults can still be seen in the spaces of the Vilniaus Klasika Theatre and the Tsekh Art Gallery.

Today’s building is similar to the Bauhaus style that emerged in Germany during the interwar period. Architect Algimantas Mačiulis used a number of innovative solutions in the design of the building, such as doors with hot air curtains, innovative convectors instead of radiators, and underfloor heating in the lobbies. These decisions were completely astonishing back in the 1970s. The first frameless glass door in post-war Vilnius has survived to this day.

The building designed by Mačiulis accommodates a lot: both the post-war avant-garde and the memory destroyed by the Soviet regime.