Architect Ugis Schoenbergs is a wonderful person. Firstly, an unusual career, in which, besides the institute and all kinds of architectural bureaus, there is the line “Vice Mayor of the City of Jurmala”. Secondly, the quality and quantity of buildings, including houses, hotels, cinemas and even a church. A few years ago, he designed the new Riga Liedes street in Šamperis and by now has already built 18 houses on it. The last and most significant - "Salmon" - is presented on these pages.SALON: Why did you call your home "Salmon"? Ugis Schönbergs: Because of the form. The house turned out to be thick and almost round with elongated sharp edges - real salmon. And since, in accordance with the project, there are canals and ponds in this residential quarter, we gave all houses names of fish or water birds. S: Calling at home, in my opinion, is not accepted ... - Every ship has a name, and every good home should also have a name. So it is easier to talk about it while you are building it. And then I, probably, very boldly believe that my ideas can cause interest in Russia, Lithuania, Estonia and spread to these countries. It is not good if they are nameless ...S: Do you give names to all your projects? - The names come from the sculptural image of the house, so in cases of reconstruction, we usually do without them. We give the name when it comes to the original project. It all started with "Rectangular Mountain" - the material that you published in the "Ideas of Your Home" in 2002. For me it has become a kind of discovery that this building looks like a hill. Then the idea of "residential sculptures" first appeared ...S: ??? - We perceive buildings as sculptures: it makes them emotional. Like any design object - a table, a mug, a house has not only a functional, but also an artistic meaning. It is now accepted to bow before the labels: if the house is Australian, or Finnish, or American - everyone is delighted. But, in my opinion, there is no joy in these tags. Joy - in the form of a house. In Shampeteris we built eighteen houses. I think that's enough. When each project is considered as a living sculpture, it is also more interesting for architects.S: How much such an approach is typical for Latvia? - Not really. More common "stamping". Now in Latvia and in Russia many new streets are being built, but the houses of which they consist have different styles, different colors, different materials. Because of this, urban unity is lost. Having studied the experience of other countries, I realized that "ensemble" is important for the street. In this project, we were not afraid of repetition. According to the rules I wrote, all the houses should have something in common: tin roofs, the maximum number of floors - no more than three, wooden windows. But they are not boring. "Salmon" - one of the three round houses in Sampeteris. Such houses, in my opinion, give this street significance. The plan "Salmon" immediately shows that it is non-standard. For 50 years, architects have been building only according to rectangular plans. I can’t say that I don’t like them, but I’ll never clearly present them - this is a unique project or another stamping. Now we are trying to build everything round - maybe we will find something new in these circles ... Another interesting point is the different floors of the house: three floors from the street, one from the garden. You seem to say from the street: I am strong, rich, great. And in the back (by the way, this is where the entrance lies): I am part of nature, I do not try to stand out against its background.S: And inside? - A person who looks at such a thick house thinks that it is dark inside. But it turns out - everything shimmers with light passing through the light well in the ceiling. Through it you can see the trees that grow nearby, the sky, the stars, even the birds. A spiral staircase rises around the light well. It is completely unique: it looks very light, but in fact it is very heavy, because inside the wooden sheathing there is two-three-centimeter reinforced concrete. The supports are only below and above, but the ladder is standing and does not even stagger. The staircase on each floor adjacent bedrooms. Such a construction principle is a bit like a theater: all floors form a single space. Each member of the family can go out to the internal balcony and sing a song or chat with the others. And for privacy he has his own bedroom, which is almost square by the way, since we used a 90-degree grid layout inside the circle. Another unique moment - the absence of outbuildings. The boiler room, garage and all other technical rooms are hidden inside the house.S: Are your other projects also unconventional? - Yes, probably. They are different. I work with volumes, with town-planning objects, with all that is in life.S: Could you relate your objects to any specific architectural flow? - Each case is individual. At the beginning of the project, it is not clear whether it will be deconstructionism, postmodernism, or anything else. It depends on you, on the client, on the situation ... In the historical part of the city I am a traditionalist, in new buildings I am rather an avant-gardist. All architectural trends are unique and beautiful, but I am trying to build something that is not in the world yet.Ugis Schönbergs: The Salmon House is one of the eighteen that we built on Liedes Street in Riga. For us it was a very important order: a new street, a new district. Therefore, we fulfilled it as if we were the only architects in the world. At first it was incomprehensible to the residents of Riga: almost the center of the city - and suddenly such unexpected forms and colors took place. But after 2-3 years, everyone got used to it. I am glad that there is no such street in Lithuania or Estonia. .
Passing the gallery 
