Neoislāma stila iezīmes Latvijas 19. gadsimta otrās puses un 20. gadsimta pirmās trešdaļas arhitektūrā un interjeros
Elements of Neo-Islamic Style in Latvian Architecture and Interiors During the Second Half of the 19th and the First Third of the 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of stylistic trends of neo-Islamic style as they manifest themselves in Latvian architecture and interior design of the time period. The architecture in Latvia during the second half of the 19th and the first third of the 20th century is characterized by rich and versatile heritage which has been dealt with from different angles in earlier publications; however, particular aspects of this heritage are still undervalued due to different reasons. One of the trends characteristic of the mentioned time period, for example, was the growing international influence of oriental cultures which has thus far not been investigated in Latvian contexts. The article pays attention to the neo-Islamic style heritage in Latvia and attempts to substantiate particular features of this style of architecture. The research offers a functional and stylistic analysis of the chosen objects which are subdivided into different groups according to their particular types and characteristic architectural elements. The introductory part of the article offers an analysis of those factors which determined the rise of neo-Islamic style architecture in the 19th century and thus might be considered as its sources. Among the most characteristic trends, the so-called orientalism which manifested itself in the scientific interest as well as popular study of and fascination about the art of the Orient is discussed. The Great Exhibitions started in 1851 in London offered a possibility to get acquainted with Islamic and neo-Islamic architecture in Ottoman section, Egyptian section, Algerian pavilion, Tunisian pavilion etc. The following part pays attention to the interest of Latvian travelers and scholars who visited countries with Islamic style architecture and left testimonies in the Latvian press about their experience and impressions there, thus showing that the fascination about oriental heritage was present also in Latvia. The main body of the article discusses different types of buildings – public and private houses, manors and examples of ephemeral architecture – which contain stylistic elements of neo-Islamic style. The buildings are classified into several groups according to different aspects of the presence of neo-Islamic style features.

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