Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s Architectural Competition, Riga Architects Contest, Design

Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Design Competition

LMCA Architects Shortlist: Design Contest in Riga for architectural team – by Malcolm Reading Consultants

6 Jun 2016

Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition Concepts

Architects Shortlist for Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Competition Designs

An online gallery showcasing the seven shortlisted design concepts for the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Design Competition was launched today (June 6, 2016) by the architecture competition’s organisers, Malcolm Reading Consultants, in association with the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art.

Images and design boards for the proposals for this new national museum in Riga, Latvia, are now available to view digitally at the competition’s online site.

Concept by Caruso St John Architects and Arhitektu birojs Jaunromāns un Ābele:

Concept by Henning Larsen Architects and MARK arhitekti:

Concept by Neutelings Riedijk Architects and Brigita Bula arhitekte:

Concept by Sauerbruch Hutton and Arhitekts Ingurds Lazdiņše:

Concept by wHY, OUTOFBOX Architecture and ALPS:

Concept by Adjaye Associates and AB3D:

Concept by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects and MADE arhitekti:

Dace Melbārde, Minister for Culture of the Republic of Latvia:

‘It is a source of pride that we can experience the first example in Latvia’s history of cultural patronage on such a scale. The new museum building is becoming a catalyst for changes in Latvia. It is an affirmation of the power of private public partnership and the ability to significantly influence our cultural environment.

The ambitiousness of the project proves that, by involving the private sector, it is possible to embark on the construction of large scale, nationally important infrastructure. The creation of the museum is also a huge investment in the shaping of Latvia’s international image. I am glad that this project has already made creative partnerships between the world’s top class and Latvian architects’ offices.’

Romans Surnacovs, Chair of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, said:

“There was great excitement in the Foundation when we saw the submissions. We were so thrilled with these and we wanted the general public to see them too – these seven proposals have come out of a hugely creative collaboration between international architectural practices and Latvian architects.

“We would like to thank all the teams for participating in the competition and allowing us to present their design concepts for the forthcoming contemporary art museum not only to the competition jury, but also to the general public, architectural professionals and students, and the art community,”

Malcolm Reading, Competition Director, said:

“We are delighted to publish these submissions. The teams have created a vivid and intense set of design proposals illustrating the potential for this building to become a modern landmark for Riga. The teams of international and local partners have produced work of the highest quality and, today, the jury begins its work to determine a winner.”

Website: Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition Concepts

More images:

LMCA concept design by Adjaye Associates and AB3D:

LMCA concept design by Caruso St John Architects and Arhitektu birojs Jaunromāns un Ābele:

LMCA concept design by Henning Larsen Architects and MARK arhitekti:

LMCA concept design by Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects and MADE arhitekti:

LMCA concept design by Neutelings Riedijk Architects and Brigita Bula arhitekte:

LMCA concept design by Sauerbruch Hutton and Arhitekts Ingurds Lazdiņše:

LMCA concept design by wHY, OUTOFBOX Architecture and ALPS:

Announced in early 2016, the shortlisted teams – international practices working in collaboration with Latvian architects – are:

Adjaye Associates (UK) and AB3D
Caruso St John Architects (UK) and Arhitektu birojs Jaunromāns un Ābele
Henning Larsen Architects (Denmark) and MARK arhitekti
Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects (Finland) and MADE arhitekti
Neutelings Riedijk Architects (Netherlands) and Brigita Bula arhitekte
Sauerbruch Hutton (Germany) and Arhitekts Ingurds Lazdiņš
wHY (US), OUTOFBOX Architecture and ALPS

The competition jury, chaired by David Bickle, Director of Design, Exhibitions and FuturePlan, at London’s V&A museum, will meet on June 6 and 7, and the winner announcement is scheduled for mid-June.

Other members of the jury include, Uldis Balodis, Architect, representing the Ministry of Culture; Gianni Botsford, Director & Head of Design, Gianni Botsford Architects; Jānis Dripe, Architect, representing the Ministry of Culture; Reinier de Graaf, Partner, Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), and Director of AMO (OMA’s think-tank); Luke Jerram, Visual artist and director of Luke Jerram Ltd; Ieva Valtere, Executive Director, Pillar Management, SIA; Elīna Vikmane, Board Member, Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation. Malcolm Reading, Competition Director, will advise the jury.

Set to become a cultural and arts centre of interregional as well as national significance, the forthcoming Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art benefits from a strategic site in the centre of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its unique collection will span art and visual culture in Latvia and the Baltic Sea region from the 1960s to the present day.

The new €30 million museum building is a private and public collaboration; funded by the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation and the ABLV Charitable Foundation, the initiative is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.

In 2015 the Foundation commissioned a high-profile invited design competition from leading competition specialists, Malcolm Reading Consultants, to identify the best architectural talent available for the project. Twenty-five international practices were asked to participate in the first stage of the competition.

Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architectural Competition

Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art

With the objective of founding the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art (LMCA), the ABLV Charitable Foundation and the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation have founded the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation. Drawing on the founders’ funds and other financing from private individuals and in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the Foundation’s goal is to build the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, ensure the museum’s operation and governance, including the formation, maintenance and researching of the museum’s collection of contemporary art.

Believing that private initiative is of great importance to the development of society, the founders of the new foundation hope that this step will provide a powerful boost to the development of contemporary arts processes in Latvia, encouraging the formation of an integrated cultural space and making Riga a well-known and distinctive tourism destination.

On 30 October 2014, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia and the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation signed a memorandum of intent regarding the building and development of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art. It was signed on the basis of the successful long-term collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, the ABLV Charitable Foundation and the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation, as notable benefactors in the realm of Latvian contemporary art, and ABLV Bank as the principal supporter of the formation of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s collection.

The memorandum of intent envisages that the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art will be located within the territory of the business and leisure centre New Hanza City (NHC). NHC is being developed across an area of 24.5 hectares in the location of the former Riga railway goods station, in the quarter between Hanzas iela, Pulkveža Brieža iela, Skanstes iela and Sporta iela.

The museum will be adjoined by a number of office buildings, including the headquarters of ABLV Bank, a hotel, conference centre, exclusive apartment district, a pre-school educational facility, as well as an urban garden with spacious and verdant grounds for recreation at the heart of the territory. It is agreed that the Foundation’s founders will provide financing in the amount of at least €30 million for the development of the museum.

The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation plans to open the museum building on 18 November 2021. After it enters service, the museum’s operations will be organised in accordance with the Republic of Latvia’s Museums Law, so that in conformity with the operating principles of a private accredited museum, the museum will be accessible to the general public and its collection will be included in the National Museum Collection Catalogue.

The Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation

In 2010, the philanthropists Boris and Ināra Teterev founded a family charitable foundation to encourage the development of culture, art and higher education, as well as to provide support in the social realm to community development organisations and animal welfare initiatives. The results of projects supported by the Foundation have touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of members of Latvia’s population, as well as the inhabitants of 10 other countries in almost every continent of the world.

For more information, please visit: www.teterevufonds.lv

Boris and Ināra Teterev’s TÊTE-À-TÊTE arts programme is one of the ways in which the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation encourages the development and facilitates the accessibility of culture and art in Latvia. The programme was launched in 2013, offering the general public contemporary cultural and arts events on a European scale, whose execution in Latvia would be unfeasible without the Foundation’s support.

For more information, please visit: www.tat.lv

In turn, permanent contemporary art objects in the urban environment are created under the auspices of the Foundation’s art programme “Art in Public Space”. The programme’s leitmotif is THE JOY OF THOUGHT, accenting the pleasant surprises, paradoxes, global spirit and thinking that contemporary art can bring to the urban environment.

For more information, please visit: www.artinpublicspace.lv

The ABLV Charitable Foundation

In signing its collaboration agreement with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia in 2005, ABLV Bank became the most significant supporter of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art project, allocating €1,422,872 million for the formation of the museum’s collection by the year 2021. Currently, the bank’s funds have been used to acquire works worth €720,000 for the museum’s collection.

Founded in 2006 by ABLV Bank’s biggest shareholders Ernests Bernis and Oļegs Fiļs, ABLV Charitable Foundation’s operating goal is to encourage the corporate sector and society as a whole to take responsibility for their fellow citizens and the environment. The Foundation primarily focuses on supporting contemporary art, children and adolescents, education and the upgrading of the urban environment.

The ABLV Charitable Foundation will soon be able to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its founding, in the intervening period having become one of the biggest and most effective charitable foundations in Latvia. To date, it has attracted €4.3 million in donations and gifts, mainly from ABLV Bank, its employees, clients and business partners, and has successfully implemented about 270 projects, allocating them funding in the region of €2 million.

In wishing to offer particular support to contemporary art in Latvia, the ABLV Charitable Foundation organises grant competitions for artists and arts organisations, sponsors arts institutions, educational programmes run by arts institutions, as well as projects in the realm of cultural journalism. The Foundation enjoys a long-term collaboration with the Art Academy of Latvia, supporting its postgraduates in their work on their graduation shows. In 2015, the Foundation was the Lead Sponsor of the Latvian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale.

For more information, please visit: http://ablv.org

Website: Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition Designs

27 Jan 2016

Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition Shortlist

Architects Shortlist for Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Competition

Shortlisted architects in running for €30m Latvian museum:

Adjaye Associates (UK)
Caruso St John(UK)
Henning Larsen Architects (Denmark)
Lahdelma & Mahlamäki (Finland)
Neutelings Riedijk Architects (Netherlands)
Sauerbruch Hutton (Germany)
wHY (USA)

The finalists saw off competition from 25 international architects practices who were invited to submit entries for the art gallery and museum contest.

Goethe Institut Logo Riga Orthodox Cathedral (Creative Commons, Author Mariusz Kluzniak, Flickr)

The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation (LMoCAF) announced today [27.01.16] the seven international architectural practices shortlisted to design the building of the new museum in the centre of Riga, Latvia in the invited design competition organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC).

The circa €30 million project for the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art (LMoCA) is funded by the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation and the ABLV Charitable Foundation, who are working closely with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The Museum’s ambition is to become the most visited art museum in the Baltic States, as well as a cultural and arts centre of interregional significance. Its unique collection will span art and visual culture in Latvia and the Baltic Sea region from the 1960s.

Twenty-five top-tier international practices were invited to submit their credentials for this initiative, which seeks to create an environmentally-sustainable architectural masterwork which will become one of Riga’s leading visitor, public and civic attractions. It is anticipated that the concept designs will be developed in association with local architectural practices. MRC made recommendations to the board of the Foundation, which chose the shortlist.

The shortlisted teams are (in alphabetical order):

• Adjaye Associates (UK)

• Architects Lahdelma & Mahlamäki (Finland)

• Caruso St John Architects (UK)

• Henning Larsen Architects (Denmark)

• Neutelings Riedijk Architects (Netherlands)

• Sauerbruch Hutton (Germany)

• wHY (US)

Chair of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation, Romans Surnačovs, said:

“This new museum is a major initiative for Latvia and will showcase the country’s culture and artistic flair. Creating a museum, which can compete with others around the world and establish a distinctive presence on the regional cultural map, is a specialised challenge, so in the competition we have sought to concentrate on international designers who are experienced in this field. However, the project represents an opportunity for seven local practices to shine too in a creative partnership with the international practices. As with any serious creative endeavour, it is the will to contribute knowledge that leads to ultimate success.”

Competition organiser, Malcolm Reading, said,

“The selection of the architects was made by balancing skills, talent and ability as shown in past projects. Knowledge and experience of contemporary art display was important but so was cultural and civic placemaking: a fascinating element of the project is trying to make a new place in this part of Riga. Additionally, understanding the realities of designing public and cultural buildings along with awareness and experience of designing for different climates and sustainability was taken into consideration.”

“It is also anticipated that local architectural practices will bring knowledge of local building materials and standards, local outlook, ideals and values, as well as specifics of local climate and visitors’ behaviour, accordingly, to let the design fulfil the museum’s mission – to be a place where people genuinely feel at home – all year round.”

MRC reports an encouraging response from its open call to Latvian architects – who have until mid-February, 2016 – to put themselves forward to work in a creative, collaborative partnership with the international teams. Latvian teams are warmly invited to register as potential partners for this landmark project in order that their details can be passed to the shortlist.

Malcolm Reading continued,

“This is a model of collaboration that we have promoted internationally to great success. In a major international design competition we ran for a new addition to the Glasgow School of Art, in Scotland, a US practice, Steven Holl Architects, won the competition with a Scottish firm, JM Architect, as design partner.JM Architects found the experience invaluable and subsequently the two practices have successfully worked together to make competition entries for subsequent global projects.”

An exhibition of concept designs is planned for the late spring and the Foundation will also publish these in the international media. The winner announcement is due in late May 2016.

Website: The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art New Museum Architects Shortlist – Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) post

9 Dec 2015

Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Contest

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) invites Latvian architects including urban architects, planners and landscape architects to apply to take part in the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s architectural competition by 8 February 2016.

Five architecture firms of international standing will be chosen to take part in the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s architectural competition. These finalists will collaborate with Latvian architects to create a proposal for the architectural form of the new museum. In February 2016, from the applications received, the finalists will choose partners from Latvia with the most compatible knowledge and experience, in order to jointly create conceptual designs for the new museum.

The vision outlined in the museum’s concept envisages that the museum building should become a stellar example of outstanding architecture and one of Riga’s premiere points of interest for visitors to the city. The building must be built using environmentally sustainable solutions that attract international interest and acclaim. In order to achieve these goals, the competition will be organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), which this summer successfully organised the challenging Guggenheim Helsinki Museum architectural competition in Finland.

It is planned that the competition will take about six months. At its conclusion, the winner will be chosen, while the other competition participants will receive gratuities.

23 Nov 2015

Latvia Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition

Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s Architectural Competition to be organised by Malcolm Reading Consultants

THE LATVIAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART’S ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITION TO BE ORGANISED BY MALCOLM READING CONSULTANTS

Following initial feasibility work, the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation will now search for an outstanding architectural team to design its new circa €30 million museum. The architectural competition will be run by London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), which successfully organised the recent Guggenheim Helsinki architectural competition.

photo of the site from Malcolm Reading Consultants

The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s ambition is to become the most visited art museum in the Baltic States, as well as a cultural and arts centre of interregional significance, whose exhibitions are regularly included in the programmes of museums in other countries. Its unique collection spans art and visual culture in Latvia and the Baltic Sea region from the 1960s, and the Foundation’s connections enable it to arrange the loan of collections from private collectors.

The vision outlined in the museum’s concept envisages that the museum building should become an architectural tour de force and one of Riga’s leading visitor attractions. The building must be built using environmentally-sustainable solutions that attract international interest and acclaim. In order to achieve these goals, the organisation of the competition has been entrusted to Malcolm Reading Consultants.

“We are honoured to undertake this project of such great importance to Latvia.” said MRC chairman, Malcolm Reading, commenting on this collaboration.

“The objective of the architectural competition is to choose a team of architects and the museum’s architectural concept design.

“We estimate that this process could take up to six months, bearing in mind that we are going to approach architects of international standing and the prerequisite for our collaboration – stipulated by the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation – whereby Latvian architects shall be involved in drafting the competition offers, as well as in subsequent work with the winning team of architects.

Latvia’s capital – Riga buildings (Creative Commons)

“This project gives architects the opportunity to design a building on an exceptional site within easy reach of the very heart of the capital. Right now, as far as European capital cities are concerned, this is a rare opportunity.” continued Mr Reading.

MRC specialises in organising high-level international architectural competitions for clients who are commissioning new buildings or refurbishing and conserving existing ones. It has clients in Finland, the Czech Republic, Russia, India, Qatar, Taiwan and elsewhere.

In London, MRC’s clients have included the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and White Cube. The UK Pavilion at the universal exposition Milan Expo 2015, whose architectonic solution was chosen in a competition run by MRC, has just won the exhibition’s ‘Best in Show’ prize, as well as nine other awards, including the Italian Association of Architects award for ‘Best Pavilion Architecture’.

Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Architecture Competition image / information from Malcolm Reading Consultants

15 Dec 2006