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Elina Amann, last edited 12.10.2022
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic with the capital in Vilnius existed from 1940 to 1990 and was located on the western European part of the USSR.
Three republics, the Estonian SSR, the Lithuanian SSR and the Latvian SSR, were collectively known as the Soviet Baltics. This region, the “Soviet West,” was more developed economically and culturally than most of the other republics. Due to its European identity, the population of the Baltic republics was generally antagonistic towards the Soviet Union and its ideology. To mitigate popular discontent, the central government had to agree to a series of special arrangments in the Baltic republics. Among them was a greater role of the private sector, particularly in agriculture, and deviations from architectural and construction norms.
Lithuania, populated by the Baltic-language speaking communities united with Poland to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the mid-16th century. The Commonwealth successfully challenged Russia from the West, reaching the peak of its power in the early 17th century, occupying Moscow in the 1610-s. Later in the 17th century, however, Lithuania was occupied by Russia and subsequently Sweden. In the late 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned between the Russian and the Habsburg empires and Prussia.
Lithuania proclaimed its independence in 1918, retaining it, following Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, it was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Sovietization brought strict political control. In the course of the collectivization campaign between 1947 and 1952, Lithuanian peasants were forced to join collective farms. Meanwhile, industrialization triggered rapid urbanization, with new towns emerging in proximity to factories.
Despite the ideological control of the Soviet power, Lithuanian architects followed French models, such as Le Corbusier, and looked to their Scandinavian neighbors for inspiration. Architects who had during the interwar period practiced in the nationalist historicist style were able to retain their practice, and their stylistic prefernces, during the Soviet period, using wood and strong color schemes, perceived as pertaining to the national style. Yet, not all of their designs were approved, and some, like Apolonja Nisteliene, struggled to maintain their creative authority.
The Lithuanian furniture and consumer design industry became well-known both in the Soviet Union and abroad. Lithanian wooden furniture, for example, was exported to the Scandinavian countries or western Europe. Among the female furniture designers employed at the Experimental Furniture Design and Construction Office were Brigita Adomonienė, Valerija Cukermanienė, Lygija Stapulionienė and Liucija Zaveckienė.
E[duardas]. S. Budreika, Arkhitektura sovetskoi Litvy [Architecture of Soviet Lithuania]. Leningrad: Stroizdat, 1971.
https://historyrussia.org/sobytiya/sovetskaya-pribaltika-imidzh-i-realnost-2.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic
https://www.lithuania.travel/de/categori/sowjetische-architektur
http://books.totalarch.com/architecture_of_soviet_lithuania
