![Zinatnu_akademija_Riga_2012-08-07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Zinatnu_akademija_Riga_2012-08-07.jpg)
The Latvian Academy of Sciences ( lv, Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija) is the official
science academy
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unite ...
of
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and is an association of the country's foremost scientists. The academy was founded as the ''Latvian SSR Academy of Sciences'' ( lv, Latvijas PSR Zinātņu akadēmija). It is located in
Riga
Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...
.
[Latvian Academy of Sciences website]
/ref> The current President of the academy is Ivars Kalviņš.
Building
The Academy of Sciences edifice was built after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, between 1951 and 1961, collecting the necessary financing from the newly established kolkhozes in Latvia and – as further expenses increased, collecting the finances as "voluntary donations" deducted from the salaries of the Latvian rural population.Nams ar raksturu
/ref>
The building is decorated with several hammer and sickle
The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...
symbols as well as Latvian folk ornaments and motifs. The spire was originally decorated with a wreath and a five pointed star
A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture.
Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and ...
, which was removed after Latvia regained independence in 1991. Being tall, it was the first skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...
in the republic and was the tallest building until the construction of the Swedbank Headquarters in Latvia (), and at the time, one of the highest reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...
buildings in the world.
The building, designed by Osvalds Tīlmanis, Vaidelotis Apsītis, and Kārlis Plūksne, is a cousin to similar Stalin-era skyscrapers, which were representative of what became known as Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...
(sometimes referred to as ''Socialist Classicism''). The architecture of the skyscraper resembles many others built in the Soviet Union at the time, most notably the main building of Moscow State University. Local nickname
A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...
s include ''Stalin's birthday cake'' and ''the Kremlin''.
The view of Riga cityscape is open for public viewing from the 17th-floor balcony (height of ). The tower is located in the suburb of Maskavas Vorstadt
In German, a Vorstadt is an area of a city that is outside the Altstadt (city center) but tightly connected to it and densely populated, thus distinguishing itself from a ''Vorort'' (suburb).
Historically, a ''Vorstadt'' ("suburb" in German) was ...
.
Gallery
File:Akadēmijas laukums tip.jpeg, View of the Academy of Sciences
File:Latvia-Academy-Sciences Riga.jpg, Latvian Academy of Sciences, November 2016
File:Вид на академию - panoramio.jpg, Panorama view of the academy
File:Latvian Academy of Sciences - panoramio.jpg, Panoramic deck
See also
*All-Russia Exhibition Centre
Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (russian: Выставка достижений народного хозяйства, ''Vystavka dostizheniy narodnogo khozyaystva'', abbreviated as VDNKh or VDNH, russian: ВДНХ, ) is a perman ...
*Eighth Sister The Eighth Sister is the unbuilt project for a skyscraper in Zaryadye, Moscow. It would have been the eighth sister to the group of Stalinist skyscrapers known as Seven Sisters. The architect was Dmitry Chechulin.
Original 1947 plans included an e ...
*Hotel Leningradskaya
The Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya (russian: Гостиница Ленинградская) is one of Moscow's Seven Sisters, skyscrapers built in the early 1950s in the Stalinist neoclassical style. Stalinist neoclassical architecture mixes the ...
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia
*Red Gates Administrative Building
The Red Gate Building is one of Seven Sisters (Moscow), seven Stalinist architecture, Stalinist skyscrapers, designed by Alexey Dushkin. Its name comes from the Red Gate square.
Features
The 138-metre building consists of a central 24-storey bui ...
* Moscow State University
* Palace of the Soviets
*Seven Sisters (Moscow)
The Seven Sisters (russian: links=no, Сталинские высотки, Stalinskie Vysotki, Stalin's high-rises) are a group of seven skyscrapers in Moscow designed in the Stalinist style. They were built from 1947 to 1953 in an elaborate c ...
*Triumph Palace
Triumph Palace (russian: Триу́мф-Пала́с, transliterated as ''Triumf Palas'') is the tallest apartment building in Moscow and all of Europe. It is sometimes called the Eighth Sister because it is similar in appearance to the Seven Sis ...
*Warsaw Palace of Culture and Science
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
*House of the Free Press
The House of the Free Press ( ro, Casa Presei Libere) is a building in northern Bucharest, Romania, the tallest in the city between 1956 and 2007.
History
A horse race track was built in 1905 on the future site of the House of the Free Press. ...
in Bucharest
References
External links
International cooperation of the Latvian Academy of Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latvian Academy Of Sciences
Buildings and structures built in the Soviet Union
Buildings and structures in Riga
Tourist attractions in Riga
Skyscrapers in Latvia
National academies of sciences
Socialist realism
1946 establishments in Latvia
Stalinist architecture
USSR Academy of Sciences
University and college buildings completed in 1956
Members of the International Council for Science
Research institutes established in 1946
Members of the International Science Council