Each generation rethinks and re-embraces its heritage. Today’s heritage values ​​can no longer be appreciated without the involvement of the public and the heritage community. Especially in the 20th century architecture, whose legacy is closely linked to the spaces in which we often live, work, create and spend our leisure time. Heritage is the uniqueness that has been created by others in the past. If we want to responsibly adapt it to our contemporary needs, we need to work all together engaging all stakeholders, so that heritage does not become a synonym of banning but a privilege and a quality of life.

Heritage workshops, with the involvement of the local heritage community, provide an opportunity to see, learn about and get to know practical issues and aspects of heritage management. The workshops introduce the cultural heritage through learning and experience. Joint consultation provides answers to concerns about research, management, and recovery. Events of this nature also serve as an alternate space for discussion where heritage theorists, practitioners, institutions and heritage community meet.

“Kaunas 2022 – European Capital of Culture” programme “Modernism for the Future” joins the European Heritage Days initiative and invites you to participate in its events. The theme of this year’s European Heritage Days is “Sustainable Heritage”. It not only reminds us but also encourages us to turn back to the multifaceted commitment to a better quality of life for all. Heritage has repeatedly proven its longevity, sustainability and application of time-tested technologies and materials. However, today’s realities encourage us not only to look back and be proud, but also to raise awareness of the living environment and to highlight and address existing issues of heritage accessibility. Attention should be also paid to adapting cultural heritage to new functions, strengthening community links, and the ability to bring together different groups and find benefits for all. The series includes four events of different kinds: seminars, workshops for schoolchildren, a concert and a presentation of the results of crowdfunding projects on heritage: 

The Forums of Modernist Cities aim to bring together a network of modernist cities and to develop cooperation in addressing current issues of evaluation of modernist heritage, financial incentives, needs of urban development, and community engagement. The forums present an opportunity to discuss one of the major challenges that modern cities face in regard to modernist heritage: the ever-growing tension between the need for preservation of urban heritage and the need for further development of the city. The latter has the tendency to become rather uncontrollable, with global processes such as population growth, urbanisation, post-industrialisation, socio-economic turmoil and climate change influencing the decision-making process, prompting city leaders to make quick decisions and develop large-scale projects. This results in the loss of cultural and historical layers of the city, as well as the local spirit. Cities are being developed in a disorderly manner, with the continuously undermined cultural, social and historical structure, the integrity of heritage values ​​and the well-being of their population. The legacy of the 20th century is particularly susceptible to such changes.

The rapid changes in residential environments that have taken place in recent years did not bypass the historic centres of towns and cities. This is where the greatest challenges lie – how can one create a contemporary and harmonious environment in a historical setting? Finding balance between preserving the defined historical character of the place and proceeding with sustainable development of a modern city or settlement is particularly challenging when considering the objects of the 20th century architecture; they have historical value, but at the same time are also a part of everyday life. When it comes to designing a purpose for the architecture of that period, this is a universal problem. In order to find potential solutions to the issue, the architecture and heritage program “Modernism for the Future” of the project Kaunas 2022 – European Capital of Culture initiates Summer Schools for architecture and heritage students and professionals.

About the conference

The conference marks the symbolic conclusion of the “Modernism for the Future” programme, which has been running over the last five years as part of Kaunas’ European Capital of Culture 2022. Intensive work on interpretations of modernism has confirmed that an essential condition for the successful integration of a historic urban layer into the contemporary city is a multifaceted narrative combining the knowledge, stories and motivations of scholars, heritage professionals, artists, heritage site owners, the heritage community at large and an enthusiastic public. Only a multifaceted picture of historic architecture reflects the complexities and contradictions of the built environment. Focusing on the dialogue between art and heritage, and taking the architectural legacy of the 20th century as the principal example, we took these sites as a cultural heritage laboratory, where today’s interdisciplinary interpretations and histories are as important as the authentic signs of the past.

The year 2018 was designated the European Year of Cultural Heritage in the European Union, highlighting the European cultural heritage as a source of memory, identity, dialogue, unitedness and creativity. This initiative coincided with the centenary of the restoration of the Lithuanian state, thus in Lithuania a particular focus was placed on the signs of modernisation, and especially the architecture of modernism, through which one can truly witness the dynamism and optimism of Europe of that time. On this occasion, the architecture and heritage program “Modernism for the Future” of the project Kaunas 2022 – European Capital of Culture initiated the International Modernism Conference “Modernism for the Future”, dedicated to the research and dissemination of modernist architecture. The Conference was attended by speakers from a dozen European and world countries, and provided insights into the significance of modernism architecture on a global scale. Moreover, the speakers presented examples of successful heritage preservation, as well as possible visions for the future.