The Latvian Academy of Sciences ( lv, Latvijas Zinātņu akadēmija) is the official science academy 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 ...

.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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, between 1951 and 1961, collecting the necessary financing from the newly established

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

es 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 industr ...

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-ri ...

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 ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

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 (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 M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

. 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

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

Building

Gallery

See also

References

External links