"If I get an opportunity to get to know some field or the people working in it more widely and for free, I don't know what has to happen for me to refuse," smiles journalist and LRT TV presenter Rasa Tapinienė, volunteering at the open architecture weekend "Open House Vilnius". She is not short of activities and responsibilities, but this year she will put on the shirt of a volunteer-guide for the fourth time and lead tours in the unique buildings of Vilnius.
Rasa, you are no longer new to the "Open House Vilnius" festival - this year you will be volunteering for the fourth time. But let's go back to the beginning. How did you find out about the open architecture weekend in Vilnius, what made you interested in it?
I saw the invitation to volunteer at Open House Vilnius while scrolling through my Facebook feed. I was interested because, I'm ashamed to admit, I learned about this event, which had been organized for the fifth or sixth year, for the first time, and after all, news is my element.
Deciding that there was an urgent need to fill the gaps, I immediately filled out the volunteer form. I knew about architecture in general terms, but then there was an invitation to learn more and to fill this gap (smiling)!
Is the desire to deepen the knowledge about architecture the only reason that prompted you to join the OHV volunteers?
This was probably one of the main reasons. Other reasons were also purely selfish. Every year, volunteers have the opportunity to explore one building at a time, almost to the seams of the foundation, to get personally acquainted with the architects of those buildings or their descendants, old-timers and/or settlers who contributed to the atmosphere that the building fills with today.
And this is not the only privilege granted to volunteers. When they go to each other on test tours, they can visit at least all the buildings that are open to the public that year without any queues. Everything must be smooth during the weekend of the event!
The "Open House Vilnius" program includes about 60 different, but interesting and significant buildings in their own way every year. In which ones have you had the opportunity to lead tours?
When I filled out the form for the first time in 2020, I didn't choose a specific building when asked where I would like to volunteer - I ticked the "surprise me" option. This means that the organizers assign volunteers to the building at their discretion. I was appointed to the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre.
The LNOBT was followed by the Lithuanian National Drama Theater, which is undergoing reconstruction, and last year by the ISM University of Management and Economics, which after reconstruction is located in the former central building of the Lithuanian Post Office. This year, I will be volunteering very close to these buildings - at the Bank of Lithuania located on Gediminas Avenue.
Since the first year of volunteering, I have been traveling through the buildings with the same wonderful, thorough, extremely responsible and dutiful mentor Giedre Juknevičiūtė and the core of the LNOBT volunteer team. It is safe and calm to work with people whose professionalism is confirmed by the experiences lived with them.
How would you describe volunteering at the festival? What impressions, experiences, perhaps - challenges or lessons did it bring you?
In July 2020, due to the pandemic (against the background of the Ukrainian war, it seems like it was so long ago - in another life), there were strict restrictions on the number of participants in excursions, everyone had to register, and wear masks inside.
But I always remember one story from those first years that I shared with my children and friends most vividly: don't jump to conclusions about another person because you don't know them or their situation. Seems basic, doesn't it? At least for me, yes. But that day, I got myself together.
Seeing that there was a homeless man standing in the queue for my excursion (and then I had to keep the distance from everyone) with his whole life in "terbs", I started to panic: what if he wanders off somewhere during the excursion and decides to take a place to stay Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre indoors? What should I do then? After all, it is full of families with children, and that smell... Trouble.
After all, that person had an identity document - there was no reason not to register it. "Terbas" was taken for safekeeping by colleagues who were not leading excursions at the time. And I only at the last stop of the excursion outside, when we all finally took off our masks and breathed air after 45 minutes inside, I saw him among the faces and smiles and remembered that, hey, I had my imaginary "trouble" all this time, and she didn't cause any trouble. Later, colleagues told that he confessed to them that he worked at LNOBT. Apparently, he really wanted to go back to that life.
This year's "Open House Vilnius" theme is "People who create the city". They are all of us - both those who create and implement building projects, and those who give meaning to those buildings with their stories, feelings, and works. Which architectural objects in Vilnius are the most significant for you? What are the stories behind them?
The first one that immediately comes to mind is Gediminas Tower. He is the center of the circle around which my life mostly revolves. It's like a beacon that greets me on foot from any point of the city, at any time of the day or year, and signals that I'm almost home. He is the only one without a specific human face.
The second building is Vilnius Clinical Antakalnis Hospital, because this is where my firstborn was born. Even though it's been 22 years, every time I walk or drive past that huge complex, I smile because I see my daughter's face in it. And St. Anna's church - of her son, although I'm not even sure if he was there in his life (smiling). But he was definitely next to her in the wheelchair, just a week when I was defending my bachelor's thesis at the Institute of Journalism of the Faculty of Communication of VU on the other side of Maironis street.
And, of course, the building of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television, which for me has the face of Eglė Bučelytė.
Each of us contributes to the creation of the face of the city in our own way, and we also see it differently. How would you describe the face of Vilnius?
I'm probably one of those people who can't decide which feeling is better - to pack a backpack for a trip or to move it after returning, because I miss my Vilnius so much.
An acquaintance who went abroad to live around 2000 and returned after 10-15 years joked: "It's as sterile as an operating room with you - there's nowhere to even spit." I don't know why this is so stuck with me, but I am very happy that Vilnius is clean and cozy - both in terms of size, hospitality and comfort. And if public transport were still fixed, I would have nothing to cling to at all.
Which buildings, people and places of Vilnius, in your opinion, shape the face of the city the most?
It is formed by dance schools - bachata, salsa, kizomba, zumba - which organize parties in the warm season in very picturesque places in Vilnius: at the Subačias observation deck, on the coast along the Karalias Mindaugas bridge, on the highest balcony of the business center "Europa", on the roof terrace of the "Business Stadium" and in the TV tower. It's great that building managers also allow access to the terraces, and sometimes to the roofs. In this way, the city opens up to locals and visitors from unexpected angles panorama.
The MO Museum, which tells stories about us, and its founders, scientists Danguolė and Viktoras Butkai, as well as St. A tranquilizer, who recently moved from an industrial warehouse to a home in a strong community. I am not a member of the community - I have been once on an excursion, a couple of times - at cultural events, but I am very impressed by the fact that that building and its community really accommodate everything - from the children's area to restaurant, which employs people with disabilities, when other places sometimes try to "sort" things out.
Finally, what kind of face does the open architecture festival "Open House Vilnius" create for Vilnius?
Recognizable to everyone, my own - I can show you where, what is and how it works, and expensive - I know how much and whose effort was put into it to make it the way it is today.
The open architecture weekend "Open House Vilnius" is organized by the Architecture Foundation. Open House Vilnius belongs to the Open House Worldwide network, which connects more than 50 cities around the world, and is also part of the Open House Europe cooperation project, which is co-financed by the European Union.
The organizers invite volunteers to contribute to the event. Hundreds of volunteer guides are an integral part of the event's success. If you want to be the first to get acquainted with the unique architecture of Vilnius and gain new knowledge and skills, until March 13 fill in volunteer profile.
