Aleksandrs Vanags (5 March 1873 – 19 March 1919) was a Latvian architect.
Vanags studied civil engineering between 1891 and 1899 and then pursued studies in architecture at
Riga Technical Institute (today Riga Technical University). He never finished his studies in architecture but secured a permit to run a building practice in 1902. He worked in the office of
Konstantīns Pēkšēns between 1895 and 1905 and then established his own firm. Vanags designed a number of churches in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...
and approximately 70 multi-storey apartment buildings in the city before
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, most of which are in a
National romantic style
The National Romantic style was a Nordic architectural style that was part of the National Romantic movement during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is often considered to be a form of Art Nouveau.
The National Romantic style spread ...
of
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Moder ...
architecture. During World War I, he worked for the road construction department of the
Imperial Russian army
The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, Romanization of Russian, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the earl ...
but during the German occupation of Riga he helped organise an exhibition in
Berlin
Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...
about Latvian art (in 1918). He returned to Riga in 1919 and worked with the building department of the city during the Communist occupation. He was a victim of the so called ''Red Terror'' because he was arrested and executed by
firing squad
Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...
for "counterrevolutionary activities".
Examples of buildings by Aleksandrs Vanags
File:RigaValdemara69.jpg, Building by Aleksandrs Vanags (together with Paul Kampe) on Krišjāņa Valdemāra iela 69, Riga
File:Латвия (Latvija), Рига (Rīga), ул.Александра Чака (Aleksandra Čaka iela),55, гостиница Виктория (viesnīca Viktorija), 16-23 10.07.2006 - panoramio.jpg, Building by Aleksandrs Vanags (together with Paul Kampe) on Aleksandra Čaka iela 55, Riga
File:RigaBarona37.jpg, Building by Aleksandrs Vanags on Krišjāņa Barona iela 37, Riga
2017-07-29-Corner house in Riga-JonasR.jpg, Building on Brīvības str. 58/61. So called ''Corner house
The Cornerhouse is leisure complex in the city centre of Nottingham, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwes ...
''.
File:Dzīvojamā ēka Rīgā, Slokas iela 29, fasāde.jpg, Residential building on the Slokas street 29/1, Riga. (1911).
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanags, Aleksandrs
Art Nouveau architects
1873 births
1919 deaths
Architects from Riga
People from Madona Municipality