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 Konstantīns Pēkšēns (born 3 March 1859, Mazsalaca parish, Russian Empire — died 23 June 1928, Bad Kissingen, Weimar Republic) is one of the most prominent Latvian people, Latvian architects of all times. After Jānis Baumanis he is the epito ...

between 1895 and 1905 and then established his own firm. Vanags designed a number of churches in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

and approximately 70 multi-storey apartment buildings in the city before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 ...

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

architecture. During World War I, he worked for the road construction department of the

Imperial Russian army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

but during the German occupation of Riga he helped organise an exhibition in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 The Red Terror () was a campaign of political repression and Mass killing, executions in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia which was carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police ...

'' because he was arrested and executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

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''. File:Dzīvojamā ēka Rīgā, Slokas iela 29, fasāde.jpg, Residential building on the Slokas street 29/1, Riga. (1911).

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanags, Aleksandrs Art Nouveau architects 1873 births 1919 deaths Architects from Riga People from Madona Municipality