Design, as a distinct genre, emerged in the 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, but it had been a part of our everyday lives even earlier.
Today, when we move around Vilnius, we are also constantly trampling, grasping, reaching for and holding on to design solutions. Some of them were created before the Soviet era, others during the Soviet occupation, when the term ‘design’ was not used because of its ‘capitalist’ connotations and was replaced by ‘applied art’ or ‘industrial art’. Inventive design solutions also abound during independence. This period can indeed be divided into two halves. After regaining independence, Lithuanian design first had to catch up with the Western world in terms of ideology, processes, and the quality of the result. And then, the search for identity and the formation of the face of Lithuanian design began, still ongoing but already recognisable and withstanding the challenges of the global market. When design solutions perform their function perfectly, we usually do not even pay attention to them. The main purpose of design is to fill a gap, solve a problem, or meet a challenge. This route invites you to discover design objects in Vilnius that are united by solutions that hit the bullseye.
What will you learn/see on this route?
- In which dessert shop can you see the furniture of an old pharmacy?
- What design solutions helped the new buildings blend into the old town?
- Which bench can you sit on even when it’s raining?
