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The Chamber of Labor

Kaunas, Lithuania
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Z. Rinkselio nuotrauka, 2019 m.

The Chamber of Labor was founded in the 1930s. It was an institution that had to take care of workers' education, culture, social welfare, and the professional field. When it started operating, this institution did not have suitable premises, so it was decided to build a new, comfortable building. The project of the building was made in 1938. In the same year, its construction began. The authors of the building are civil engineers Adolfas Lukošaitis and Antanas Novickis.

The building stands on the corner plot, located at the intersection of Vytautas Avenue and Kęstučio Street. It is a four-story masonry building with a plastered facade. Its layout is U-shaped, consisting of two large rectangular volumes and a connecting part. The architecture of the building is rational and expressive. The facades are simple, divided by vertical forms - the narrow windows and elongated triangular pillars resembling columns. As a result, the exterior of the building is similar to the Land Bank building, which was built a few years earlier. The main facade, located on Kęstučio Street, is symmetrical. Its center is marked by a bold portal. The lower part of the building is emphasized by a high, dark-colored plinth. The strict composition of the building is complemented by a straight cornice strip, and the upper part is completed by a pitched roof.

Inside the building, there were facilities for the institution's administration, as well as a workers' club with a 400-seat hall, a reading room, a library, a canteen, various leisure facilities, a 1000-seat theater hall with a balcony and a stage, workers' training rooms, and rooms for tourists. The construction of the building was completed in May 1940. It is one of the last buildings built in Kaunas before the Soviet occupation that began in the summer of that year. During the Soviet era, the building housed the Chamber of Culture of Trade Unions. Now the Kaunas City Cultural Center operates in the building, so its original function is partially preserved. The architecture of the building has not changed much, it is one of the most monumental buildings in the center of Kaunas, which symbolizes its architectural progress of the Interwar era.

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