Elizabetes street 10b, Riga

Is it the most iconic Art Nouveau building in Riga? Most probably - yes. Huge sculptural faces which tops this building's facade is often used as a symbolizing picture of Riga

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Riga
ARCHITECTURE	Art Nouveau
BUILT	1903
ARCHITECT	Mikhail Eisenstein
RATING (9/10)

Is it the most iconic Art Nouveau building in Riga? Most probably - yes. Huge sculptural faces which tops this building's facade is often used as a symbolizing picture of Riga, from tourism brochures to art history books.

The duality concept

Buiding's sculptures symbolizes the struggle between world's rational and chaotic forces. Also the building itself is like a symbol of contradictions - both in regard to it’s artistical qualities, as well as to it’s author’s, architect’s Mikhail Eisenstein’s creativity, talent and originality.

Architecture experts still tend to denounce Eisenstein’s buildings as too pompous, frivolous, created for a cheap popularity. They really may seem like an overdecorated Christmas trees - just a very posh facades with no relation to the “real soul of the architecture”. However, if we take this argument as valid, we can go further and say that any external decorations or even plays of forms which doesn’t strictly follows the rule “form follows function” aren’t a part of architecture and are unnecessary. And that is a dangerous step to take - because the next one would lead to the disastrous mistakes the architecture made in 1960ies - 1970ies.

Ode for woman

To me, Elizabetes street 10b and other Eisenstein’s buildings are “true soul” not only of architecture but the art in general. There is no need for any other proof than one’s own personal feelings (either you sense art there or not) - but educated people have took much deeper look to all the stuff on the building’s facade and found many interesting layers of symbolic meanings. Women would love some conclusions - the two heads on the building’s serpent is said to be symbolizing the feminine power, their face expressions exuberating a calm and rational approach, while the screaming male face is said to be symbolizing the opposite - “demonic and disturbing forces of the world”. Of course, it’s hard to verify whether such ideas was really behind the author’s imagination or they were born only in the observer’s mind. Some insights are to be found in the memories of Mikhail Eisenstein’s son, film director Sergei Eisenstein. He has told that there were also a strong inspirations of ancient Mayan Indians culture in the facade decorations of Elizabetes 10b.

The question of originality

Next contradiction is related to the originality of the building’s design. As told, Elizabetes street 10b is one of Eisenstein’s most impressive and most famous buildings. However, two other author names should be mentioned besides him regarding to this building - it’s known that Eisenstein used the sketches from some architecture drawings collection, designed by Leipzig architects Georg Wünschmann and Hans Kozel. This fact (together with similar facts about some other Eisenstein buildings) has sparked a harsh words in direction to Eisenstein and Riga’s “decorative eclectic Art Nouveau” in general - by calling it a cheap plagiarism, for example. But, as an art historian Silvija Grosa writes, using the pre-made sketches in architecture was a typical characteristic of that time. Furthermore, if we explore the building closely and compare it to Wünschmann and Kozel sketch, we can see that, although the main composition and structure of the facade is indeed copied, there are many smaller details added by Eisenstein. Eisenstein was not only an architect but also construction engineer - so his devotion was also the practical work of bringing these German architects/his own visions to life.