The Palace of Sports and Gymnastics – a usual example of inter-war period construction, depicting the architectural thinking of those days, which balances between historically comprehended representation and pursuit of modernism. The harmony of symmetry, rhythmic and arcades illustrates the pursuit for pompous representation, while flat roofs, clear geometric outlines and advanced construction – clear elements of modernistic architecture vocabulary. Significantly smaller object than the Palace of physical education in Kaunas, which had a similar function, had a huge sports hall with fan sectors and two balconies and the small – gymnastics training hall. The changing rooms were created under the sectors. V. Landsbergis-Žemkalnis created the building with a help from an engineer-architect Algirdas Prapulenis, who designed the stairway, windows, created the plans and sections for the foundation and floors, also executed object’s author rights monitoring. Four famous constructors of those times worked together with the architects: A. Rozenbliumas, P. Markūnas, S. Milis and C. Ginzburg. As we can see from the sketch, the Palace of Sports and Gymnastics was created as a complex with an example-like elementary school, where “future teachers, guided by the lectors, execute school practice”. The latter was built few years earlier – in 1936, according to a project of one famous inter-war period architect from Klaipeda – Herbert Reissmann. Both buildings earlier had been joint by a “covered gallery”.

Vaidas Petrulis