[Site, symbol and cultural landscape. Almantas Samalavičius]

ENThis book skillfully portrays the historical and sociocultural context for current cultural preservation efforts in Lithuania. In the foreword, the editor, Almantas Samalavičius, opens the collection of nine essays with the argument that the cultural landscape, its symbolic and spiritual dimensions, has largely been ignored by modernism. It is important today for scholars of urban planning to give priority to genius loci (spirit of place) to create livable urban environments and meaningful architecture. The theme of genius loci as pioneered by the Norwegian scholar Christian Norberg-Schulz is especially fruitful for discussing the built environment of historic places. In his essay, Samalavičius discusses the relationship between historical architecture and nature in Vilnius and makes a bold point that Vilnius has always been an international city with cathedral and church towers as symbols of a Christian city. He cites the Europa shopping center that dominates over the domes and towers of historical monuments as an example of pollution by contemporary urbanization. Samalavičius offers architectural phenomenology, that is, personal experience plus analysis as a tool for understanding the current threats to the genius loci of Vilnius. He builds his argument by summarizing the views of those who extolled the admirable balance in Vilnius between the picturesque natural environment, which makes up 43% of its territory, and the built environment, as well as the city’s intimate scale. In order to control ‘wild capitalism’, the author advocates reclaiming the spaces in new historical contexts to protect the spirit of the place. He quotes Philip Sheldrake who wrote in his 2001 book, Spaces for the sacred: place, memory, and identity that ‘Places must affirm the sacredness of people, community and the human capacity for transcendence’.