Old place and New egg

Designed project – art centre.

The relief of the lot subsides about 8 meters in the axis from the southern to northern side, and further subsides 10 meters more up to the river Vilnelė.

From east and west the borders of the lot adjoin the flame-walls of the buildings of the 16-19^th centuries. It joins the Užupis Street in the southern part. Here, by the street, there is an old fragment of façade left. The northern part hasn’t got its clearly expressed façade.

In the present situation, when 2 visible facades are possible, a building-sign of dual portrait is formed conceptually. Associative symbolic parallel with the Roman two-faced Jan as well as the symbol of the beginning and end, transition and middle is possible. One side of the object looks with old, traditional historical face. Remainders of its old façade by the street are brought to sculptural-architectural, non-functional sign. The other side looks with totally new face. For the expression of new façade metaphoric bulk of egg shape is chosen, which is laid on the stairs leading towards the river. The composition as if is dreaming the idea about subjective value of modern art, process, maturity and ephemeral being.

Connecting element of both ends – stairs, stepped expositional halls, as if symbolic jigsaw without defined beginning and ending. In the frame of symbolic facades, in the middle part, all the attention is given to the content. Maximal functionality stratifies through 4 floors. The inner space of the egg is devoted to the arts of sound-silence.

In the historic context, which is characteristic for multi-edging, skew and multi-stratification, a new, clean, edgeless shape would act as a spot emphasizing the old and reflecting the new.

Construction and finishing of the building – light-conductive polymer-concrete.

Architect:  Mantas Maziliauskas

Academic contest.  N place

Client: VAA