JUST “A FOLLOWER WITH NO VISIBLE CHARACTERISTICS”? EXAMPLES OF ERNESTS ŠTĀLBERGS’ MODERNISM IN THE CONTEXT OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE

Abstract

The view of modernist architecture as a “unified mass” without regional traits or specific developmental trends has sometimes become symptomatic and is threatening to monuments of this style even today. This article aims to introduce the most significant conclusions obtained from the analysis of the architect Ernests Štālbergs’ creative legacy in the context of Western modernist architecture, identifying the means used to localise the style. Formal and stylistically comparative methods were applied for this purpose. Štālbergs’ modernist works reveal three lines of influences – from the German architect Erich Mendelsohn, the French architect Le Corbusier and the Nordic modernism. This does not mean direct appropriations of composition but rather impulses and inspirations. Štālbergs attempted to adapt modernism to local conditions, as he paid attention to the context of surrounding environment and regional traditions. However, he was more interested not in national but in regional identity, thus fitting in a wider cultural space.