Competition underway to find architect for Riga contemporary art museum

A British consulting firm has been employed to run a contest to find an architect for an upcoming contemporary art museum in the Latvian capital, Riga.

Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) is staging an “invited competition” to design the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, a €30 million (US$32 million) project.

According to a press release by MRC, it is hoped that the museum will become “the most visited art museum in the Baltic States, as well as a cultural and arts centre of interregional significance”.

The competition is divided into two stages, the first of which is used to filter entrants based on their capabilities and suitability for the project and create a shortlist of five or six architectural teams.

MRC chairman Malcolm Reading predicts that finding an architect will take around six months, and that “architects of international standing” will take part in the contest. He added that Latvian architects will also be involved in working with the winning team of architects, even if a Latvian team does not win the competition.

Unlike previous plans for the museum, the new project is being financed by private funds rather than by the state. The largest contributors are the ABLV Charitable Foundation and the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation, which focusses on supporting cultural and community development.

“[...]This step gives a powerful developmental impulse to Latvia’s arts processes, to strengthening the nation’s identity, tourism industry and the development of arts education, as well as the formation of an integrated cultural space in Riga,” read a statement by the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation.

The museum is expected to open to the public on 18 November 2021. It will be located in the New Hanza City area of Riga.

Source: LSM.lv