Why big homes become a problem?

Lukas Rekevičius, the head of « Akini Architects », commented on what to do with such monuments of such a free Lithuania and why no one is now.

– Why did people built homes of this size?

– It is easier to answer why they were not finished – the money ended. But the question of why you build is more interesting and not so easy to answer. Probably because several circumstances have arisen. First of all, the spring rested – people lived in Soviet Khrushchevs for 50 years, where the ceiling height was just 2 meters of 20 centimeters and suddenly came to break free.

At the time, it was still showing various, say, Mexican TV series, from which it was possible to get ideas for what the home in the West looks like. Thirdly, there were no established traditions of what family life should look like. Many thought that several generations would live here.

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– Another thing as you said was the end of the Soviet era.

– Yes, the nineties. And what happened at the time? The blockade occurs, the economic situation is completely unclear. Maybe life will be like in the West, but maybe much worse. So that desire to take care of everyone came from that insecurity.

– There were no lease markets?

– There was no opportunity to invest something at all. I do not remember exactly when investment checks came up. People started to start businesses, and money came from trading, say, metals, but where to invest – it is unknown. So what did you do? It plays bricks and builds real estate and is still unstable in the economy, so it builds great assets to make that house a fortress for the whole family.

– And why are people no longer start such homes now?

-Could you spend that money somewhere else in the 1990s, such as travel, health, education. Now all this is available. You can now allocate a family or personal budget between different areas and only one is an investment in real estate. Now people are very rationally counting how much they need.

Understands that children will move out, so they behave rationally and direct funds elsewhere. In addition, energy prices have risen – keeping the house alone becomes very expensive during energy costs. So now we count wisely and choose such homes that they do not eat all our food.

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– What to do now with such a 200-300 square house?

– Basically, infrastructure – kindergartens, primary schools – is very lacking, so such houses are successfully reorganized, such as kindergartens or day care centers. Children can come there – a large house, even if the plot is small, is suitable for such a function. Rooms can be equipped with children’s overlooking groups, and the rooms are spacious, as 15 children need to be accommodated there. And the yard is compact enough to make children easy to see. Some reconstruct and turn such houses into apartment buildings.

– And is such a turning into an apartment building legally legal?

– If you resolve infrastructure issues such as securing Parking For all flats, they do not clog the surrounding streets, the spatial planning documents allow it – then everything is fine. But if it is done in places where only one -to -one, not apartment buildings can be, then an inevitable conflict. If one family starts living with two cars, but eight or sixteen cars, that’s a problem for the whole street.