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House of Iciko-Elchona and Frieda Chajetavičiai

Lithuania
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By Huriye Armağan Doğan

The perimeter building line of this section of Laisves Avenue was finally formed in 1931 when a four-storey brick building was inserted between the house of S. and A. Mejerovicius and the Ateitininkai Palace. Interestingly, it was designed by the same architect as the adjacent Mejerovics' house, Leonas Ritas. The two buildings were also built at almost the same time, just two years apart (the Mejerovicius House was built in 1929). However, paradoxical as it may seem, the architecture of the two houses is fundamentally different: the neighbouring house is characterised by pompous, neo-Baroque historicist architecture, while the building of I. and F. Chajetovics is much closer to functionalism.

Although the cornice or door decoration still has a touch of historicist decorativeness, the clear and simple structure of the facade, the wide windows and the continuous vertical band of windows in the staircase (after abandoning the small, decorative and sometimes stained-glass-like glazing of the staircase, which was typical of the buildings of the period), make it possible to present the building as a representative of the functionalism of Lithuania during the early interwar period. In addition, the house is somewhat more coherent with the Ateitininkai building, with both the eaves and the ground floor continuing the facade of the Ateitininkai building. This was partly in response to a comment on the planning permission, which stated that it was conditional on 'the architectural lines of the facade being in harmony with those of the neighbouring houses.

The main entrance of the building is at the right axis, while the passageway to the backyard is at the left axis. The building has two staircases, and one of them was used by the servants. The entrance to this staircase is from the backyard. At the back facade, there is one balcony on each floor.

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