Modernism and the Phenomenon of Kaunas

Abstract The representation of modernism in architecture was affected by various determinants which were related to the technical, economic, and social circumstances of the period. The decade when modernism began to be seen in the architectural sphere was marked with aims to create new building forms associated with the ambition for a more socially balanced and egalitarian form of society in which the ideals of equal rights and liberation would be realised. However, establishing equality-based communities, adjusting the housing problem, and creating new universal values dismissed the connection with the tradition. This paper aims to analyse the dialect of modernism in Kaunas, Lithuania, and its characteristics by investigating its various physical nuances and invisible social context, which makes it distinguished when compared with the modernist language in the same period. Furthermore, it focuses on the experimental architectural language and the urban planning trends of the interwar period Kaunas through analysis of values in local architecture and urban planning levels to conduct its integrity.