CIB World Building Congress 2007 989 CIB2007 343 Influence of Local Cultural Peculiarities on National and International Design Process and Results Vladas Stauskas ABSTRACT The total globalization issues a worldwide spread threat which touches the philosophy of territorial planning and architectural design, as well as methods and results. Nevertheless, local diversity and national identity are an asset and a base for steady and peculiar future development. The planning practice of the Lithuanian Republic, and especially of the Baltic coast zone, are analyzed as research basis in the article, by estimating the work of national and international design teams here. In the Lithuanian coast of the Baltic Sea, there are four local zones which have interesting and valuable peculiarities of cultural heritage, as well as natural and social peculiarities. In estimating the size, shape, materials of buildings and the diversity of building location in the settlement, both the positive and negative examples have been provided. The region analyzed can serve as one of methodical laboratories urgent for areas having UNESCO World Heritage landscapes and settlements. Keywords: Identity, Peculiarities, Planning, Design, Methodologies. 1. INTRODUCTION The concept of architectural management could be understood both in its narrow and broad sense. For example, we could treat it as the whole chain of processes: academic studies architectural research design process the implementation in construction by the architectural control. This chain is a necessity in the all fields of architectural practice: urbanism, spatial planning, building architecture, and landscape architecture. Recently, the quality of the final result of the chain is under the threat of total globalization, which occurs not only in Europe and Africa but also in all over
990 CIB World Building Congress 2007 the world. New information technologies or unrestricted physical contacts via air transport are not the only factors which trigger the threat. The unification of philosophies themselves and various attitudes towards the quality of architecture also contribute to this threat. As in nature, the variety of physical objects and spiritual expression in human culture is a real asset and a real and certified base for a modern progress in future. Professional architectural contacts and work results in projects and in life could serve for enriching this variety and for estimating national and local identity, or even its genius loci. In the small republic of Lithuania, there is an old and fairly influential school of architecture and urbanism, established in the 18 th century, at the University of Vilnius the oldest university of Northern East Europe (established in 1579). Now it encompasses the universities of Kaunas and Klaipėda, Academy of Fine Arts, Science Research Institute in Kaunas, etc. Already in the period of 1970-1980, the concept of sustainable development was not only known but also practised in such fields as architectural research and design. This concept has always been associated with the perception of local identity the aspects of nature and culture peculiarities. These approaches have been exported from the Baltic Sea to the East. They included supervision for doctoral studies, methodical help for the projects of urbanism and architecture (especially in tourism and recreational architecture) in the republics of central Asia (Uzbekistan, Tajikistan) and Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan). In the Baltic region, there was a constant mutual work of territorial strategy and infrastructure location with colleagues from Latvia and Estonia. Unfortunately, the Soviet regime closed the door for professional contacts with the Western world before. After Lithuanian independence was restored (1990), the first contacts were established with the architectural schools and design firms of Scandinavia, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands. In Lithuania, a big number of local and international studies and projects have been directed to coastal zone. For this reason, Lithuanian seacoast has been chosen as a case study of results of previous research, methodical as well as practical example. 2. THE PLANNING AND ARCHITECTURE POLICY IN THE LITHUANIAN SEACOAST The question arises why Lithuanian seacoast attracts attention of designers, researches of architecture, urbanism, and construction investors. The first factor, looking from a historical perspective, is cultural diversity. For example, ethnocultural relicts of Baltic tribes: Samogitians in the East, Curonians and old Prussians in the South. It is the intersection of the history of culture. The second factor is geographical diversity. Even though the coastline is short (100 km) and there is no island or mountains,
CIB World Building Congress 2007 991 there is a great territorial diversity: a shore with beautiful beaches, flatland forests in the North and unique Curonian Spit with the landscape of huge dunes (h over 60 m) in the South. Moreover, the region encompasses a large lagoon (1584 km²) and the region of the Nemunas delta (a large river of Northern Europe, 937 km long) along with its system of channels and polders in the North East. The third factor could be seen as dynamics of economics and business. Now Klaipėda city and its harbour in the coast centre is one of the most developing areas in the Eastern Baltic seashore. It is connected to Scandinavia and Germany by ferry lines. Furthermore, a fine highway and railway connects it to such Lithuanian cities as Kaunas and Vilnius, as well as to Latvia, Poland, Belarus and Western Russia. And the fourth factor is the flow of constantly increasing international tourism and the potential of the variety of tourism services (e.g. spa resort Palanga in the North, ethnoculture and ecotourism in the Curonian Spit and in the delta region, and the concentration of recreational facilities in Klaipėda city). Peculiarity and uniqueness of this region is recognized both on the national and international scale. There was established the National Park of Curonian Spit (1995) and two Regional Parks. In 2000, world experts included the Curonian Spit to the World Heritage List. It is important to stress that Curonian Spit was recognized not only as a natural landscape but also as a cultural one, by appreciating over 200 years human activity of stabilizing drafting sandy dunes and founding fisher villages with unique ethnical architecture. It is the only World Heritage Area in the whole perimeter of the Baltic seacoasts. The factors that have been mentioned above determine a huge responsibility of architects, urbanists and construction managers. Over the last 20-25 years, the region has been covered by more than 10 complex and local design projects and study networks. Such works as the author s Doctoral Habilitatis thesis on complex concept (Stauskas, 1985), Master plans of Palanga, Neringa and Klaipėda, and the studies on nature and culture heritage could be named. Moreover, the following international team works should also be mentioned: a feasibility study on Tourism development of the coastal areas of Lithuania (1993, Inst. of Architecture and Construction, Kaunas, Lithuania; BLUKON and KHR AS, Copenhagen, Denmark), Integrated coastal zone development plan, ICZM (1998-99 Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, incl. team from the Netherlands), and the PHARE programme (European Commission, 1998). Such factors as high responsibility, the uniqueness of Lithuanian seacoast as a whole, and the need to estimate the local identity and diversity of its separate parts have affected the method of the design process, the characteristics of management, and the nature of the results. 1. Before starting actual design work, each territorial, urbanistic, and architectural project was required to execute special scientific studies which are necessary in analyzing each territory, or being
992 CIB World Building Congress 2007 more specific, its cultural, natural and social context. In this way, a double result, which consisted of a complex study and project work, has been achieved. 2. When inviting foreign colleagues to participate in design process, it was commonly agreed that the general coordinator or one of scholar supervisors would be one of Lithuanian professionals, who is familiar with local peculiarities. 3. The primary approbation of coastal projects was carried out on the level of broader architectural society and local municipalities. Therefore, the governmental bodies had to take into consideration this issue. 4. The plans of local municipalities, national and regional parks, resorts and tourism centres are usually prepared only after a clear and approved spatial structure concept of a wider zone is pronounced. In comparison to the Lithuanian model, the Swedish one is less restricted, since the documents of local planning and investment development are usually prepared more autonomously. It has to be admitted that colleagues from Denmark, Poland and Netherlands have managed to grasp and estimate the particularity of Lithuanian seacoast. It could be also said that the slogan of territorial conception Unity through variety has already served its purpose. After specific scholarly studies in the coastal region, the four most outstanding zones have been distinguished: A. The Northern area (centre resort Palanga; a new harbour for oil export Būtingė, which borders on Latvia). B. Curonian Spit (Neringa municipality, National Park, UNESCO World Heritage). Small fisher villages with the relicts of Curonian ethnical architecture. Business orientation: fishery, forestry, tourism infrastructure. C. Klaipėda region. Sea-traffic and shipbuilding industry, the centre of culture and recreational facilities. D. The Eastern coast of Curonian Lagoon with the Nemunas delta. Business orientation: fishery, weekend recreation, water economy, and agriculture in polders Regional park (see Figure 1). As soon as the integrated system of a coastal territory and construction location was approved, more detailed plans of land use were prepared for each of these areas. These were followed by Master plans for each municipality, towns and villages. The principle of diversity and local identity preservation is emphasized here. However, it is not the only one in the territorial planning. It is suggested to stick to the principles of the whole unit: a) the principle of balance and harmony, which consists of physical environment, social needs, and historical and cultural heritage (Convention, 1996); b) the principle of diversity (mentioned above); c) the principle of ecologization; d) the principle of territorial contacts (each site is not object for itself but object in the broad environment nearby); e) the principle of dynamics which is based on the evaluation of possible changes in nature, social and market space (Stauskas, 2002).
CIB World Building Congress 2007 993 The following chapter discusses the influence of local differences on contemporary architectural objects. 3. THE INFLUENCE OF LOCAL DIFFERENCES ON CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURAL OBJECTS In order to compare differences and similarities, the most different areas of open-sea coastline have been chosen. A. In the North, vacational and holiday region of Palanga. B. In the South, Curonian Spit National Park (Neringa municipality), the area of UNESCO environmental protection, fishery, forestry and tourism. C. Klaipėda city and its suburbs. In the city, there is a historical centre, where new urbanization processes and investment concentration can be determined. Comparison groups of building architecture and constructions: a) Size and shape According to Lithuanian laws, these parameters are not fully autonomous. In protected territories, the parameters are determined by laws of these territories. In the laws of municipalities, local councils have a possibility to take various decisions themselves. In Neringa, construction regulations restrict the building height to 2 or 3 floors. In order to retain the traditional roof rhythm in the silhouette, which is very common in this region, the flat roofs have been determined to be unallowable. Furthermore, long horizontal blocks are also to be avoided. However, small new dwelling-houses and hotels, whose shape (but not facades) is close to the overall dimensions of ethnical architecture, are preferred. Recently, the importance of ethnical architecture has been worldwide recognized not only in the field of cultural history but also in contemporary education, and even tourism development (Norberg-Schultz C., 1996). In Palanga region, on the contrary, there is a very interesting exposition of various contemporary architectural trends, varying sizes of buildings and the variety of shapes. In expert opinion, this variety could be even smaller. However, even according to Master plan regulations, the height of buildings cannot exceed the height of a pinery (h 20-25m) in order to maintain the silhouette of forests and parks that are important to the resort. The attempt to design a new hotel of 40 m height triggered negative reaction of both architects and Lithuanian society. On the whole, skyscrapers as a part of the modern recreational architecture of Florida (USA) or Gold Coast (Australia) are recently more criticized (Gunn C.A. 1988; Stauskas, 1997). In harbour city Klaipėda, architectural regulations are applied only for the Old Town (the 12-13 th century) where German and Lithuanian
994 CIB World Building Congress 2007 architectural traditions of Middle Ages interlace. The new center, which was destroyed during the war and suburbs were open for such novelties as high buildings (e.g. the building of two skyscrapers shaped as letter K in the center of Klaipėda, and is the highest apartment house in Lithuania (40 floors). It is situated near the second ferry-pier). b) Building constructions, materials and colours. Although there are no regulations for the façades of buildings in Neringa, priorities for the building materials are stated clearly: wood, bricks, wooden (not plastic) windows, tiles and reeds for the roof and walls of industrial concrete are prohibited. Preferred colours are the following: dark brown, dark blue and white, i.e. colours that are close to Scandinavian and Curonian architecture. The variety of building constructions and materials are not regulated in Klaipėda and Palanga resorts. However, there are some exceptions like several small fisher villages in the suburbs of Palanga, where some relicts of the old tribes of Curonians, Latvians and Samogitians remained. The red brick walls and tiling are necessary in the Old Town of Klaipėda. In addition, it is important to regulate the height in accordance with historical neighbourhood.
CIB World Building Congress 2007 995 Figure 1. The different zones in the territorial system of Lithuanian seacoast, Baltic Sea, Europe. A Northern area. Palanga resort; holiday and vacation. B Southern area. Curonian Spit; National Park. UNESCO World Heritage. C Klaipėda region; harbour, industry, commerce, cultural
996 CIB World Building Congress 2007 centre. D Regional Park of Nemunas river delta and Eastern shores of Curonian Lagoon. E Lake area of Samogitian National Park. F, G weekend areas. H Seacoast Regional Park. c) Location. It is important to mention the following three aspects: 1. Building location in respect of the sea and lagoon; 2. The visual relation with a nearby natural landscape and 3. The relation between new building and nearby architectural heritage (in ethnic villages or Old Towns). Buildings are located near the shore with one side facing the bay and another side facing the dominating western winds; this is a usual location in Curonian seashores in Neringa. It is a wise decision for both business (fishery) and severe climate. Older dwelling-houses and new hotels in Palanga are situated further from the sea since they are hidden from the wind behind coastal dunes and protective forest line. This principle also is used in new constructions. Visual relation between villages in Neringa and the lagoon is open and interesting because Palanga (except the church tower) is in a way hidden from the sea. Furthermore, the green area between the sea and hotels is greatly valued by tourists and especially foreigners. Unfortunately, such places do not exist anymore in highly urbanized resorts worldwide. The construction of new buildings in Neringa is encouraged by teams in areas that are visually separated from the area of ethnic architecture (Nida, Juodkrantė). Unfortunately, during the last 10-15 years there is an increase of cases when the acknowledged principles and official architectural or urban regulations are violated. New Challenges is the slogan used in such cases; however, new can be both good and bad. For example, a huge financial flow to the National Park of Curonian Spit resulted in sale-out of hotels that were turned into private apartments; thus, there were no cheep hotels for the youth, instead of this, they were oriented to 4 or 5 stars. The invasion of modern buildings to ethnic neighbourhood created the danger of architectural mix. Instead of wood, its imitation on plastic plates and plastic windows are used more often. There are no stones in geology of Neringa; however, imported stone walls that are common in Spain are also used in Neringa. Somehow villas of the wealthy in Palanga resort are built in the protective forest line located onshore, which is a restricted area. In case of Nida, some small private villa blocks are constructed on the slope of dunes which is strictly prohibited. In addition, there is some danger of copying naïve pseudo-ethnic architecture, for example, copying old fisher houses or even fachwerk constructions that are situated only in the historical Old Town in Klaipėda (Stauskas, 2005). There can be three reasons which are as follows: 1. The level of new investor culture often does not correspond to the sum of money that they have in their pockets. 2. Local architects absorb examples that come from various foreign literature. 3. As it is known, there are some cases of corruption which occur among the authorities (Stauskas, 2005).
CIB World Building Congress 2007 997 The practice of international contacts exists in other Lithuanian zones and towns. For example, in Vilnius and Helsinki the methods of analysis and design were exchanged. On the grounds of these methods new neighbourhoods where built in Baltupiai (Vilnius) by team from Vilnius, Kaunas and Moscow and in Malminkartano (Helsinki); head of team arch. Ralph Erskin. This is an example of successful collaboration. Unfortunately, designing a new gigantic commercial centre and a group of skyscrapers near the historical mountain of King Gediminas Castle in Vilnius (well known Italian authors) as well as in the case of Sports Palace where searching for an appropriate relation between the form and environment in the island of Nemunas in the centre of Kaunas was not very successful (Capital city of Lithuania in the period 1918-1940) (Team from Paris, France). Perhaps it is influenced by various thoughts of architectural schools in Southern Europe. Evidently, both the philosophy and the direction of historical architectural schools are important. It is easier to carry in and implement your own standpoint in architecture and urbanism towards those regions or countries which do not have fully developed their architectural science and traditions of practice. However, in all these cases, the import of good ideas should not strive to achieve the objectives of cosmopolitanism and globalization. In these latter years, in Lithuania and perhaps in other countries we begin to notice the results of controversial standpoint Investment comes first and only then the quality of architecture follows. The regulations are said to be boundaries for the freedom of creativity or boundaries for business under cover of pseudo-social or international business slogan of success. However, the architectural creativity and its quality are fields of culture as well not only the means for construction business. 4. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS The understanding and estimation of the national identity and local genius loci more frequently appears to be one of the priorities in contemporary architecture rather than a sentiment. In the science and practice of architectology it also becomes more important because the cases of architecture import and international design teams increase. It is extremely important that colleagues from abroad in cooperation with local professionals manage to understand the meaning and form of identity and to find a relation with cultural heritage, social traditions and new challenges. The examples of the situation in Lithuania and its seacoast show and recommend that a) greater success can be achieved with international analysis and design when teams have the same or at least close professional qualitative potential; b) there has to be at least one local professional among coordinators or executives who knows the peculiarity
998 CIB World Building Congress 2007 of the nature, cultural and social environment of a certain country or local area; c) the quality of the end result is more successful when the project is like a duet of thorough research analysis and practical design results; d) the quality of new architecture has to correspond to the national and local peculiarity of culture history and heritage; e) it is important not only to cooperate with each other (on national and international level) but also to have stable contacts (not only official ones) with the representatives of local community. The contacts should exist not only in the sphere of investments or constructions but also in such humanitarian fields as culture, history, ecology and sociology. We believe that the progress of the 21st century corresponds to this humanitarian approach. Maybe it would be desirable that in the future the Republic of Lithuania and its seashore could serve as one of the methodical laboratories in research and planning of areas and settlement having UNESCO World Heritage status inside. 5. REFERENCES Convention concerning the protection of the World cultural and natural heritage, 1996, UNESCO World Heritage Committee (Merida, Mexico). European Commission Directorat General IA., 1998-99, Integrated Coastal Zone Management in the Baltic States and Poland, PHARE 229613/0302. Gunn, C., 1988, Vacationscape: Designing Tourist Regions, (New York: Van Norstrand Reinhold). Norberg-Schultz, C., 1996, Nightlands. Nordic Building, (Cambridge: Massachusetts, USA). Stauskas, V., 1997, Recreational architecture in the recreational landscape host or guest? In Proceedings of the World Congress of Landscape Architects, (Buenos Aires, Argentina, IFLA, Plenary Session), 9-16. Stauskas, V., 1985, Rekreacinės aplinkos formavimo urbanistiniai principai. Doctoral Habilitatis Thesis, (Kaunas Moscow: Lithuanian and Russian. Engl.: The planning principles of urban management of recreational environment). Stauskas, V., 2005, Urban and architectural heritage in the protected seaside settlements under pressure of the new challenges. In Contemporary Problems in Cultural heritage. Baltic course, Visby, Sweden, edited by J. Hansson, H. Ranta, (Visby: Gotland University), 50-54. Stauskas, V., 2002, The balance between preservation of cultural and natural heritage and contemporary tourism development. In Proceedings of the International Symposium Littoral 2002, Porto, Portugal, vol. 1, edited by EUROCOAST. Prof. F. Veloso Gomes, (Porto: EUROCOAST and EUCC), 125-128.