Morta Baužienė ‘Senojo Vilniaus architektūra Mečislovo Sakalausko fotografijose’ (2013, Vilnius Academy of Arts Publishing House) [Architecture of Old Vilnius in the Photographs of Mečislovas Sakalauskas]
Mečislovas Sakalauskas, the most famous architectural photographer of Vilnius in the second half of the 20th century, presents one more photo book to the public. He calls it a tribute to Vilnius, a thank you for the city’s acceptance of him, for letting him feel as if he belongs to it, for making him fall in love with the streets of the Old Town, and for making him understand its architecture. The photo book consists of the author’s selections of his preferred Gothic, Baroque and Classical ensembles, a dozen of the most impressive buildings from the Historicism period and monuments from the last two decades.
Vladas Drėma ‘Dingęs Vilnius’ (2013, Versus Aureus) [Lost Vilnius]
‘Lost Vilnius’ includes 634 historical illustrations, skilfully selected by V. Drėma, together with the author’s detailed descriptions, revealing the monuments of Vilnius architecture that have been destroyed or altered by time and people.
Vladas Drėma „Dingęs Vilnius“
‘Vilnius, 1900–2016: architektūros gidas’ (2016, Lapas) edited by Marija Drėmaitė, Rūta Leitanaitė, and Julija Reklaitė [Vilnius 1900-2016. An Architectural Guide]
Vilnius has a string of charming Art Nouveau fragments, and a brief but striking period of inter-war modernism, which is a controversial but impressive mark of the Soviet period, signalling a unique experience in the European context. The current architecture of Vilnius provides an intriguing code of information about the dynamic processes across the whole country, the construction boom, the search for the quality of the urban environment and the identity of Vilnius architecture. All this is told in the third Lithuanian edition of the Vilnius Architectural Guide, richly supplemented with visual and factual material. Each edition of the Vilnius Architectural Guide encourages us to explore new, seemingly inexhaustible layers of the city’s history. Each volume is a kind of revision of the architecture of the last century from a different point of reference, which, at the same time, documents architectural changes. ‘Vilnius 1900 – 2016. An Architectural Guide’ covers one hundred and sixteen years of Vilnius architecture and includes the history of 238 buildings illustrated through 333 photographs and 200 drawings.
Andrej Vasilenko, ‘Tai yra Vilnius’ (2019, Andrej Vasilenko) [This is Vilnius]
The photo book ‘This is Vilnius’ paints a portrait of the capital of Lithuania as a diverse, ever-changing city. The book captures the multi-layered history of Vilnius, laconically creating storylines of alternative versions of the city. Through artistic and investigative research, it attempts to reveal the possibilities of the city’s chimeric identity.
Morta Baužienė ‘Pasižvalgymas po senojo Vilniaus mūrus’ (2012, Paveldas) [Looking around the old walls of Vilnius]
The book provides a popular account of the city’s most important buildings, weaves the biography of one personality into the narrative fabric, looks at the development of the city’s economy, as well as the relationship between attitudes, religions, celebrations, and conflicts. The planning and management of the city and the emergence of the first residential complexes (the so-called Rasų and Lukiškių colonies) are also covered briefly. The author devotes a lot of attention to Vilnius University, which has increased the recognition of the city since 1579.
Morta Baužienė ‘Pasižvalgymas anapus Vilniaus miesto gynybinės sienos’ (2015, Savastis) [Looking Beyond the Defensive Wall of Vilnius]
This second volume of ‘A look around the walls of old Vilnius’ extends the scope to beyond the Vilnia and Neris rivers, to Pylimo and J. Basanavičiaus Streets, the suburbs of Rūdnininkai and Užupis, and the large Evangelical Reformed estate that used to be beyond the city walls. The book, which provides a popular account of the buildings of Vilnius, will also be useful for tour guides who take visitors around the city, as well as for anyone living here who would like to get to know the city better.
Liudas Parulskis ‘Betonas ir barokas: fotomanipuliacijos’ (2016, Lapas) [Concrete and Baroque: photomanipulations]
Discover an alternative Vilnius to the one we are used to! These photos of transformed places in the city have been inspired by the changing sights of Vilnius and create romantic or slightly macabre compositions in your mind.
As Laima Kreivytė put it, “Liudas Parulskis’ book is a prophetic scenario of disappearing buildings and cultural objects. You are looking at a Vilnius that is disappearing right before your eyes – like those houses in Žvėrynas and Šnipiškės that have gone up in smoke. The Baroque and concrete centaurs created by Liudas Parulskis can be classified in the genre of urban fantasy that resembles a documentary. If imagination has a roof, now is the time to remove it”.
‘Vilniaus senamiesčio architektūros stiliai ‘ (2011, Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency) [Architectural styles of Vilnius Old Town]
This publication by the Vilnius Old Town Renewal Agency is aimed at Vilnius residents and other Lithuanian citizens who want to get to know the capital’s heritage better and be able to tell their children and visitors about it.
Here is an overview of Vilnius architectural styles up to the early 20th century: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicism, Historicism, and Art Nouveau are the architectural styles found in the Old Town of Vilnius from the 14th century until the First World War in 1914.
