The collections of Latvian Museum of Architecture
contain more than 1000 items. The Museum does not have a permanent
exposition, and access to its archives can be provided to specialists
with prior notification.
Collections of the museum are formed of the original
works of architects, including outlines, sketches and drawings.
Good quality sepia transparency copies or photocopies can be accepted
in cases when the originals have not survived. The museum can
also accept models, though in case of larges-scale models photo
pictures are preferable. To ensure complete understanding of the
architect's ideas, explanatory articles of the architectural part
of the design are appreciated.
The designs by C. Haberland (1750-1803), J.D.
Felsko (1813-1902) and V.N. Bockslaff (1858-1945) are the oldest
works in the archives of the museum. The archives also contain
some design sheets of the first professional Latvian architect
J.F. Baumanis (1834-1891).
The largest collections are those of Aleksandrs
Birzenieks (1893-1980), Aleksandrs Klinklavs (1899- 1982), Voldemars
Vasilis (born in 1922), Pauls Kundzins (1888-1983), drawings of
Ivars Bumbiers (born in 1932), and the works of students of the
Faculty of Architecture of LU. Several architects living abroad,
such as Gunars Birkerts (born in 1925), Eizens Janiss (born in
1911), Stanislavs Borbals (1907-2000), Janis Manfreds Sarma (born
in 1909), Alfreds Ginters (1910-2000) and others, have presented
the museum with their own works. The manuscripts of prof. Eizens
Laube (1880-1967) and the donations of his family were a very
valuable contribution.
In Latvia the register of certified architects
was established by Latvian Association of Architects (LAA) in
early 1990's. In cooperation with LAA the museum works on a list
of architects who had practice in Latvia. The list contains over
2000 personalities, with biographical data of more than 900 architects.
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