On April 8, 2008, three internationally acclaimed architects, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Massimiliano Fuksas will unveil their proposed designs for a new museum in Vilnius. This amazing event with three big name architects deserves the attention of even the most jaded Londoner or New Yorker. But they might well ask - “Where exactly is this Vilnius place anyway?” What was once considered an outrageous idea is evolving into reality. Vilnius could become a premier destination for cutting-edge art, film and architecture, an international center of the avant-garde.
 I have to admit that just a couple years ago my proposal to build a new museum with world famous partners like the Guggenheim museum in New York and the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg looked unrealistic even to my own friends and colleagues.  But as a Mayor of Vilnius then and as just a Vilnius citizen now in love with his city, I have always believed that Vilnius should have new, modern symbols, that Vilnius can and should attract people from around the world with its modernity as well as with its historical heritage.
 Just look at the history of the Basque city of Bilbao, where the local media ridiculed the idea of building a Guggenheim museum in a city of blue collar workers and ship builders with economic problems. But the museum literally transformed the city and now it’s a popular destination for cultural tourists and aficionados of modern architecture. Vilnius today has a stronger economy than Bilbao did back then, in the late eighties and early nineties, but I strongly believe that the city still needs something more than just new shopping malls, offices, and apartment blocks.    Plačiau…

Jau kitą savaitę vilniečiai bei smalsūs, atviri naujovėms ir besidomintys menu ir architektūra miesto svečiai galės savo akimis pamatyti tai, apie ką šiame savo kampe esu ne kartą užsiminęs. Bet vienas yra parašyti ar perskaityti, o kita - savo akimis pamatyti tai, apie ką rašoma ar skaitoma. Šiandien žurnalistams buvo pristatyti ir kai kurie  Solomono R. Guggenheimo fondo ir Valstybinio Ermitažo muziejaus atliekamos galimybių studijos duomenys.

 Visų pirma, reikia pabrėžti, kad naujasis muziejus Vilniuje gali tapti pirmuoju valstybės objektu, kurio statyboms yra taip atsakingai ruošiamasi. Atliekama tikrai išsami galimybių studija, ekonominė, finansinė ir rinkos analizė, ko nebuvo daroma net užsimojus statyti atominę elektrinę, jau nekalbant apie kitus smulkesnius, bet žinomus projektus.  Plačiau…