The members of the LAS Council have discussed the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers on the construction of the National Concert Hall at 2 Elizabetes Street, Riga, and summarized the views expressed in the meetings, discussions and debates organized by the LAS.
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The Association states that it consistently advocates a modern approach to the implementation of the National Concert Hall in accordance with the principles of good governance. However, the LAS Council has established that the current progress process of the National Concert Hall project does not comply with these principles, which have a detrimental effect on the achievement of the goal – to build a socially significant National Concert Hall. “Such decision-making practices create undue tension in society and contrast the respective industries against each other,” the association believes.
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The LAS Council has decided not to support the government’s decision to dismantle the building at Elizabetes Street 2, considering such a government decision to be hasty and insufficiently substantiated.
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At the same time, the LAS Council supports the decision of the National Council of Architecture of July 1 to include the concert hall in Kronvalda Park or Elizabetes Street 2 as equivalent to the list of potential concert halls established by the Ministry of Culture (MoC) for further research and comparison, possibly supplementing alternative sites, and to carry out an in-depth analysis and evaluation in accordance with the architectural and urban quality criteria developed by the National Concert Hall project working group.
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LAS supports the establishment of the working group of the concert hall of the National Council of Architecture by delegating LAS representatives to work in order to organize the project promotion process, making it professionally reasoned, inclusive, transparent, open and understandable to the public.
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The Union of Architects also calls for the future progress of the National Concert Hall project to respect socio-economic and political conditions, citing Riga as a “shrinking city” as an example, while assessing the potential contribution of the concert hall to the national economy.
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LAS invites to think not only about the construction of a concert hall, but also about long-term maintenance and management issues. In turn, approaching ideologically successful solutions, LAS encourages to evaluate the need to promulgate the law on the construction of a concert hall in Riga, so that, taking into account the time of construction of this building, it would become a successor duty to future governments.
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LAS also invites to study the potential use and further use of the existing building at Elizabetes Street 2 by organizing separate design plein airs and / or competitions.
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The Union of Architects believes that the progress of the national concert hall project is not possible without the participation of Riga City Municipality, therefore it is necessary to involve Riga City Municipalities in decision-making as early as possible, analogous to the practice in other countries.
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In the opinion of LAS, for the successful implementation of the National Concert Hall it is necessary to carry out careful and professionally planned preparatory work, involving professionals from various fields and informing the public, thus reaching a common agreement from the very beginning.
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LETA has already reported that the government has approved the development of the national concert hall project at Elizabetes Street 2, where the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Latvia was once located, later – the “World Trade Center”.
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A group of about 20 architects applied to the National Cultural Heritage Board, calling for the status of a cultural monument to be granted to the building in Riga, Elizabetes Street 2.
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In its turn, the National Council of Architecture has encouraged the Ministry of Culture to establish a working group of the National Concert Hall project with professionals in the fields involved, whose task, involving the public, would be to create a high-quality architectural process and develop a project implementation map.
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