Graphics designer Augustina Paukštė recommends 10 best places for design lovers
Vilnius has been reviving on various fronts for some time - from the capital of startups to the recent hail of culinary stars - and this is absolutely true and wonderful. Lithuania is finally being discovered and appreciated. Yet another overlooked area of the ongoing renaissance is Design. When we think of a design capital, Copenhagen, Stockholm or Milan probably come to mind. However, in my opinion, Vilnius has much more to offer than you might think. I am convinced that the capital has more design than many Western cities - converts LinkedIn, you will find as many as 15000 Lithuanian designers, which is a large number for a country with a population of less than 3 million. Therefore, this top is necessary for both professional designers who lack inspiration, and design lovers, and those who have nothing to do with this field at all.
Demoloft
in 2006 the ten-legged chair "Ku-dir-ka" made the young designer Paulias Vitkauskas famous, and the piece of furniture became the face of Lithuanian design and is still represented in the form of an iron sculpture. This sculpture now stands next to another design essential, the Demoloft. It is a wonderful place that has long served as a hotbed of industrial design; it was a space for co-working, galleries, design shops and experiments, and the furniture and walls still breathe that spirit. Today, you can feel that here, sit on the chairs designed by Nauris Kalinauskas, drink excellent quality coffee, and in the evening have dinner with 1 Michelin star in a restaurant. Of course, the restaurant requires a reservation in advance.
Stationery
This place is so good that I have been avoiding it lately. She's attracted to me like a magnet, and she's also attracted to my money. It's a haven for designer gear, from Japanese notepads to top-brand stationery, not to mention a well-curated selection of design, architecture and art books. I probably haven't left there empty-handed, and when I manage to refrain from buying things, I have to at least get an iced macha latte with strawberry puree. Every time you visit here, you will meet colleagues, and the projects initiated by the shop/cafe with famous Lithuanian illustrators always surprise and fascinate.
Missed Copenhagen Design Week? No problem! Visit the Danish lifestyle embassy on Stiklių street. A bookshop dedicated to cuisine, nature and a sustainable lifestyle, a conceptual flower shop, 1918. Earned a Michelin star, Danish pastries - all in one place. You will find here everything that is Scandinavian, and the atmosphere is imperceptibly intertwined with Lithuanianness and naturalness.
Museum of Applied Arts and Design
Yes, I know this suggestion is obvious, but even among my designer friends, many people associate this museum with carved spoons and spinning wheels, which is not true! Here you can see the works of Lithuanian design classics, from Felix Daukantas to Brigita Adomonienė and many others. In my opinion, these unforgivably forgotten Lithuanian classics are not inferior to the world-famous works of "Eames" or "Vitra".
Neringa
in 1959 The cafe "Neringa" was the first example of modernism in the architecture of that time. The interior was designed by the architect brothers Vytautas and Algimantas For Nasvyčiai, the tempera walls were beautified by artists Vladas Jankauskas and Vytautas Povilaitis. The interior, which has been respectfully and tastefully renovated, has remained authentic and has been complemented by a logo painted by Mykolas Saulytis. It is definitely worth visiting "Neringa" and traveling to the times when the entire cultural elite spent their days there.
The oldest advertisement pole
In interwar Vilnius, notice boards were replaced by the first notice poles. It was an innovation that made it easier to see ads. Those who wanted to hang an A4 poster had to pay one and a half zlotys for the first day and 0,4 zlotys for the following days. Today, the Department of Graphic Design of the Vilnius Academy of Arts takes care of this heritage. Passing by, I must stop at the displayed student works - it is the past and the future of Lithuanian graphic design in one.
Egg Square
This place is indirectly related to design. It so happened that the essential design agencies - "Etiquette", "Andstudio", "Synthesis consulting group", "Neat", "Bettr" - located on Raugyklos street, and after a long working day, colleagues gather in Kiaušinis square, so if you want to chat with solid designers immediately, look for them in the surrounding bars, "Vištide" and "Laiptinė" .
House of Composers
in Vilnius in 1966 Scandinavian-style Composers' House opened its doors in the Žvērynas microdistrict (A. Mickevičius str. 29). The building designed by architect Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas is considered one of the first masterpieces of post-war modernist architecture. So if you're looking for a place to be inspired with colleagues, I suggest holding meetings here.
Garden 2123
Lithuanian community of interdisciplinary art creators. It gathers more than a dozen cultural creators and researchers in various fields who experiment during their practices, among them you can also meet a number of design representatives, and fun parties, delicious drinks and sometimes food on the outskirts of Vilnius center always put you in a positive mood.
Gallery "Vartai"
Many people know the largest private gallery in Lithuania, which presents diverse and distinctive contemporary art, but not everyone knows that the "Vartai" gallery pays a lot of attention to conceptual design - here you can see such contemporary creators as Vilius Dringelis, Mantas Lesauskas, Martynas Kazimierėnas.
