The theme of the tenth anniversary festival is people who create the city. According to the program managers of the event, Emilia Deksnytė and Solveiga Buoželytė, it aims to encourage a conversation between architects, urban planners and other specialists who create a vision of the city, and the people who make it meaningful with their stories.
“At this year’s event, we are not only talking about architecture, but also about the people who create it. Therefore, when developing the program of the event, it seemed very natural to invite city developers to join it – architects, urban planners and other specialists working in city planning. They are the people who play an important role in creating cities and their future. This is an opportunity for them to introduce themselves, and guests and residents of the city will be able to see the behind-the-scenes work of the city’s developers,” says E. Deksnytė.
City developers appreciate the opportunity to present to the public and show a different approach to city building.
“Objects created by us have been participating in Open House Vilnius since the event began to be organized. Therefore, this year we decided that it might be interesting for the public to get to know not only the results of our work, but to open the door to the creative processes as well,” says Laura Malcaitė, partner of the INBLUM architectural office.
Martynas Maroz, head of urban planning company mmap., says that Open House Vilnius is a great platform to talk about architecture and urban planning, how they differ and how they interact.
“When it comes to creating cities, people often confuse architects and urban planners. The profession of urban planner is still little known to the public. We want people to understand that urban planning is a very important topic. It is an attempt to see the distant future of the city. It is planning that can determine whether it will successfully exist in 10 years, or whether certain negative trends will begin to emerge,” says M. Maroz.
He emphasizes the importance of planning using the example of Vilnius.
“Looking at the growth rate of Vilnius, it is very realistic that in 2040 the number of inhabitants in the city will increase by another 100 thousand. The question is how do we accommodate them. It relates to questions about urban identity, nature, urban economy, mobility and all other processes that take place in the city. Architecture is an important part, but urban planning is the profession that combines different disciplines into one whole. Seeing the whole, rather than acupuncture focusing on certain parts, is very important, it is needed and will only be needed more,” says the urbanist.
During the weekend of the event, the following city developers will open the doors of their offices: Vilnius City Municipality, Ambras Architects Office, Paleko Architects Studio, A2SM Architects, mmap., DO ARCHITECTS, INBLUM, 2L Architects & Engineers, IMPLMNT architects, AKETURI .
City developers will invite event visitors to meetings, discussions, and presentations. The full meeting program will be published on the “Open House Vilnius” website.
