Monument to Dr. Vilnius residents and city guests will see Jonas Basanavičius and the square named after him on November 23 next year, commemorating Jonas Basanavičius' birthday. Today, a consultative meeting was held at the National Philharmonic, where the intermediate model of the sculpture and the preliminary design of the square were presented.
The authors of the idea of the monument and the square - sculptor Gediminas Piekuras and architects Gediminas Antanas Sakalis and Algirdas Rasimavičius - sought to express and contextually make sense of Dr. Jonas Basanavičius's personality, character, his determination, will and spirituality, the political vicissitudes of that time, therefore he chose a classical portrait figurative solution with a strong inner movement characteristic of that era.
"Considering the short time and what we managed to do, it's a huge step. I want to be happy that the author found a way to make the material speak for itself. The language of plastic is found and the form of metal is felt, which does not contradict the visible reality, there is no imitation here," said the chairman of the Expert Commission, laureate of the National Culture and Art Prize, sculptor prof. Gediminas King.
At this stage, the working model of the monument to Jonas Basanavičiis is presented - a dynamic sculpture placed on a rectangular pedestal rather than a round one. The monument will be small (up to 3 m), but an important historical and architectural highlight. The space created around the sculpture will allow people to closely examine the plastic expression of the figure, to move around the sculpture. During the discussion, sculptors and architects considered that the sculpture could be larger than 3 meters.
The member of the commission, Kaunas sculptor Stasys Žirgulis emphasized that the presented working model of the sculpture is interesting in its plastic solution, organized in a plastic manner: "I think we will have a new, semantically appropriate monument in this place." said the sculptor.
The location of the monument was chosen after considering many factors. A monument to one of the most outstanding figures of Lithuania - dr. For Jonas Basanavičius - they will stand in the historic space of Vilnius, in front of the former City Hall Palace, where in 1905 the Great Vilnius was meeting Seimas.
The monument will be clearly visible from afar when coming from the adjacent streets - Hoyės, Etmonų, Šv. Kazimier, Aušra Varta, Subačius and Pasaž intersection. The representative axis of the monument is focused on Dižija Street, which gathers the largest flow of people.
After the renovation of the square in front of the Philharmonic, a new public space will be created in place of the former parking lot In the old town.
It is planned that the monument and the square will be built in 2018, the year of the centenary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state, during the birthday of the Patriarch of the Nation, which is celebrated on November 23.
Currently, the technical project for the arrangement of the square in front of the Philharmonic is being prepared. It is planned to replace the surface of the square, install modern lighting, plant greenery and install small architectural elements (benches, etc.). Taking into account the observations of architects Vytautas Misevičius and Algimantas Mačiulis, Culture and Art Prize laureate Algimantas Nasvytis regarding the unity of the solutions of the square and the sculpture, the immediate connection with those visiting the square, the authors will still need to look for better solutions. The experts agreed at the meeting that the creative team will continue the work.
The square in front of the current Philharmonic is planned to be repaired by the autumn of next year. It is estimated that the pouring and construction of the monument will cost about 100 thousand euros, the arrangement of the square - about 300 thousand euros.
