Microrayon Futures – a Latvian-Danish architecture exhibition

Yesterday, the exhibition “Microrayon Futures” was revealed at the City Council of Riga. Present were Gvido Princis, head of the Office of the City Architect, Hans Brask, the Danish ambassador in Latvia as well as Simon Drewsen Holmberg, Director of the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The microrayon is a massive project housing an estimated 80 million people worldwide. In Riga, at least 65% of the residents reside in microrayons. Long integrated in the city and social fabric of urban life, many of the microrayon districts and buildings however, have just reached, or are about to reach, the end of their anticipated fifty year lifespans, raising important questions over their futures.

Developed by master’s program in the Urbanism and Societal Change at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, this exhibition presents several explorations into the challenges and opportunities of microrayon areas, focusing on those located in Riga: Purvciems, Imanta, as well as some areas in the Historical centre. The exhibition attempts to both unfold the general theme of the microrayon, its different typologies and so forth, as well as proposing interventions on the particular site specific settings.

The exhibition is supported by The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Institute of Architecture, Urbanism & Landscape, Municipal Agency “Office of the City Architect” and Danish Cultural Institute in Latvia.