Forty per cent of buildings in the centre of Riga belong to art nouveau, which is more than in other European cities.
Art nouveau (also known as Jugendstil in Germany, art nouveau in France, modernismo in Spain, Sezessionsstil in Austria, Stile Liberty or Stile Floreale in Italy) emerged in Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and continued its march of victory up until World War I.
By learning from nature, delighting in bunches of flowers, ornamentation, sinuous and undulating lines, relishing in antique beauty, fantasising about sphinxes, gryphons and Cerberuses, art nouveau rendered Riga more lavish, mysterious and seductive. Raise your eyes upwards and discover Europe’s most beautiful art nouveau buildings for yourself!
Riga has around 800 art nouveau buildings, the majority of which are concentrated in the central part of Riga, especially in Alberta Street and the so-called Quiet Centre or embassy district, where every building deserves a look. Therefore, while on your way around Riga, don’t just gaze at the cobblestones and shop windows but lift your eyes – there is some truly astonishing architecture out there!
Here is a listing of the most interesting of the art nouveau buildings:
· 7 Audēju Street, Old Riga (A. Aschenkampf, M. Scherwinsky, 1899). The first art nouveau building in Riga featuring typical stylised floral (irises, blossoming trees, cattails) motifs and masks.
· 9 Audēju Street, Old Riga (K. Pēkšēns, 1900). The building features an interesting sun motif, typical for art nouveau, which symbolises the flourishing of new life.
· 9 Teātra Street, Old Riga (H. Scheel, F. Scheffel, 1903). This building is adorned with mythological characters, Athena and Hermes. The building is crowned with figures of Atlases supporting a globe fashioned out of glass and zinc and illuminated at night.
· 2 Vaļņu Street, Old Riga (E. Friesendorff, 1911). Attracts attention with its entrance portal with expressive sculptural mouldings. Copper forgings of figures from the ancient Greek mythology, Asclepius (god of healing) and the Moira Atropos (goddess of fate) symbolise the course of human life, well-being and labour.
· 2 Smilšu Street, Old Riga (1902). The building is one of the best examples of the Riga art nouveau architecture: the façade is adorned with an image of a peacock, one of the symbols of beauty and self-confidence in art nouveau. The Herma underneath the bow window is considered the most beautiful female image in the art nouveau architecture of Riga.
· 8 Smilšu Street, Old Riga (H. Scheel, F. Scheffel, 1902). A building abundantly decorated with masks, hybrid creatures, plant elements. Both portals are adorned with the typically art nouveau image of a melancholy woman with her eyes shut. The ornament in the entrance hallway is considered by experts to be a classic example of art nouveau ornamental forms.
· 15/17 Tērbatas Street, Centre (K. Pēkšēns, 1905). The building is one of the first examples of national romanticism in Riga, featuring an expressive silhouette and an architectural finish consisting of varied construction materials. According to the customer’s idea, the travertine used to finish the façade was gathered from the debris of the Staburags rock.
· 47 Brīvības Street, Centre (E. Laube, 1909). An outstanding monument of national romanticism, featuring a dynamic composition of mass, bow windows arranged at different heights, steep and stressed roof planes, tall gables and cone-shaped upper cornices on the corners.
· 10a and 10b Elizabetes Street, Centre (M. Eisenstein, 1903). The buildings are “clothed” in unusually abundant and lavish art nouveau ornaments. The leaf spring motif woven into several decorative elements of the building at 10a recalls M. Eisenstein’s place of employment: he was the head of the Traffic Department of the Livonian Governorate. Especially noticeable at 10b are the composition of masks, peacocks, sculptural heads and geometrical figures on the upper cornices of the façade and the blue tiled façade areas at the top-storey level. There is also a sumptuously ornate stairwell.
· 4 Alberta Street(M. Eisenstein 1904). The most elegant and artistically most original eclectically decorative art nouveau building. The eye is drawn to the three Medusa heads placed above the cornice with their mouths agape in the middle of a scream (a similar motif was used in the Secession Building in Vienna). The façade is scattered with figures of eagles and lions and reliefs of winged lions. The winged relief of a woman’s head at the centre of the building symbolises the sun and protection.
· 4a Strēlnieku Street, embassy district (M. Eisenstein, 1905). This building is an example of the eclectic and extremely decorative direction in art nouveau and close up it dazzles with an abundance of ornaments in which the arrangement of shapes in historic styles are interspersed with various combinations of art nouveau motifs.
· 10 Vīlandes Street, embassy district (K. Pēkšēns, 1908). A national romantic building with an asymmetrical façade combination, finished in variously coloured and textured plaster. Pay attention to the reliefs with classical storylines: dancing maidens with garlands and grapes. The building entrance is shaped like a keyhole.
