PROJECT DETAILS

Eduardas Chlomauskas: Vilnius Concert and Sports Palace (Vilniaus Sporto Rūmai), 1965C–1971

  • Vilnius, Lithuania, Show on map
  • #SPO #Eastern Europe
  • The shape of the sports hall, developed and revised over a decade, was a typical example of the soaring concrete architecture and open glass expanses that had become extremely popular in the Soviet Union at the time. The project’s architects were particularly impressed with the fluid concrete forms made popular by the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, specifically Pier Luigi Nervi’s Palazetto dello Sport, completed in 1957. During the design process the team was given as guidance the design of the Minsk Sports Arena by Sergey Filimonov and Valentin Malyshev of Belgosproekt, which has been implemented also in Chelyabinsk, Volgograd and other places. Excerpt from Marija Drėmaitė’s article in: SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey. Catalog DAM + Wüstenrot Foundation, Zurich (Park Books) 2017

  • Dilapidated and abandoned. After privatization, the state bought back the complex and is now planning to lease it. There was a competition for the best proposal in January 2019.