Latvian Architecture

10 projects, 10 functions. Featuring a multitude of different programs, this week’s curated selection of Best Unbuilt Architecture highlights diverse and innovative conceptual approaches. Submitted by our readers, this variety of proposals includes sports, religious, cultural, educational, and social purposes.

ArchDaily and Strelka Mag have launched a jointly curated section that will host projects of emerging architects and offices that promote new design ideas and bring about positive transformations in their cities.

Ensuring a platform for everyone, ArchDaily is rounding up, every once in a while, a curated selection from our readers’ submissions. With proposals coming from all over the world, our aim is to feature the best Unbuilt Architecture out there.

The Latvian city of Riga, the largest between the three Baltic states, is undergoing a cultural and urban renaissance. The city's pedestrian-only Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with several museums, cultural centers, and restaurants, attracting thousands of new visitors every year.

"Sounding Forest” is a finalist proposal for the Latvian Pavilion in Expo Dubai 2020, designed by Malitis Architects. The project was granted the 1st prize in the first phase of a national competition in Latvia. The interactive installation puts in place an artificial forest made of piano strings, generating a playful dialogue between the installation and the visitors.

Bee Breeders has announced the winners of the Teamakers Guest House competition, calling for design proposals for an eco-friendly, cost-effective accommodation to house visitors to the Ozolini teamakers retreat, situated in a forest 100 kilometers southeast of the Latvian capital of Riga.

Bee Breeders has revealed the winners of the Gauja National Park Footbridge competition. The Nature Conservation Agency of Latvia paired up with Bee Breeders to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Latvia's largest national park. Teams were asked to create a footbridge marking the park's entry to serve as an architectural landmark that adds to the park's existing collection of 500 cultural and historical monuments, including medieval castles and towns.

Bee Breeders has revealed the winners of the 2019 Pāvilosta Poet Huts Competition. The project brief asked designers to submit proposals for a writers community in the small coastal fishing village of Pāvilosta, Latvia. The small writers retreat needed to accommodate selected poets with free board visiting for short periods to produce their work. The submissions included a range of building typologies, from isolated cabins scattered across the site, to single buildings focused on community experience, to towers offering views to across Pāvilosta.

As part of our 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale coverage, we present the completed Latvian Pavilion. To read the initial proposal, refer to our previously published post, "Latvian Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Biennale to Highlight Turning Points in 20th Century Apartment Block Design.”

Danish firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects has been selected to design the redevelopment of Kimmel Quarter, a historic district in the heart of the Latvian capital of Riga, after an international competition. The 19th-century Kimmel Brewery complex, now mostly abandoned, will be transformed into a mixed-use center featuring a new office building, hotel, and an array of public facilities. Schmidt Hammer Lassen was one of eleven participants, with firms such as Henning Larsen and Zaha Hadid invited to the open competition.