In pre-war Lithuania, the company Pienocentras laid the foundations for a modern Lithuanian economy. The largest union of dairy processing companies of the time not only collected, produced and exported milk products, invested heavily in advertising its products in Lithuania and abroad, took part in various farm exhibitions, but also built a building in the very centre of the capital city that represented the company's solidity and financial capabilities. The company's activities significantly contributed to the economic and agricultural culture of interwar Lithuania and the development of modernist architecture. In 1939, Pienocentras' exports accounted for as much as 20.5% of Lithuania's total exports. Before the Second World War, it financed the construction of an extensive network of dairies and cream skimming stations. In the field of architecture, the company focused on representation, with a strong focus on modernism, which was crucial to the image of a hygienic, modern product.
The modern administrative building, built in 1932 on Laisvės Avenue, the main street of Kaunas, has today become an "icon" of Lithuanian modernist architecture. As soon as it appeared, the six-storey boulevard "skyscraper" sought to radically change the scale of Laisvės Avenue. It is also worth mentioning that the building initiated and constructed by the company became one of the most impressive multifunctional counterparts in interwar Lithuania: part of the second and third floors housed the administration of Pienocentras, the lower floors housed the company's shop, a snack bar and a dairy bar, and the upper floors were used for luxurious apartments, which still offer a magnificent view over the city centre. The ground-floor commercial space was distinguished by its huge shop windows and the merchandise behind them, while the building's luxurious black polished labrador stone panels and once-glowing rooftop beckoned with its exclusive access. The architect of the building is V. Landsbergis, and it was constructed using a reinforced concrete frame. It was not only the ground floor space that caught the eye but also the modern-looking rounded corner windows.
Today, many older Kaunas residents still remember the famous hairdressing salon of J. Muralis, which used to be located in the building of "Pienocentras". The most famous Kaunas hairdressers of the interwar period trained in Paris under the guidance of Antoine Cirplikowski, the world's foremost barber and artist. The salon was used by statesmen and the country's most famous ladies. The famous hairdressing salon was distinguished by its state-of-the-art equipment and interior, designed by the famous Lithuanian modernist architect A. Funkas.
When the occupation began, the company's assets were nationalised. In 1946, the Academy of Agriculture moved in, and in 1964 the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (later Kaunas University of Technology) moved in. In 2018, the disused building was auctioned off, but many people will remember it as a place of study. In 1982, an attempt was made to restore the nostalgic Milk Café and Bar, but it could not survive after independence.
Once it was built, the Pienocentras building set the tone for the rest of the development of Laisvės Avenue, seeking to change the scale of Laisvės Avenue from its pre-World War I scale to create the impression of a modern and European capital's main boulevard. Today, the building is still awaiting its proper rebirth.In 2015, the European Commission decided to inscribe 44 objects of interwar modernist architecture in Kaunas, including the Pienocentras Palace, on the European Heritage Label list.
