Alberta iela 2a
At the head of the street, one of the last and loudest of Eisenstein’s decorated facades.
At a glance
Alberta iela 2a stands near the head of Albert Street in Riga, an Art Nouveau apartment building of about 1906, attributed to Mikhail Eisenstein. It is one of the latest of his facades on the street and among the most elaborate, completing the run of decorated fronts that made Albert Street famous. Like every building on the street it is a protected Latvian cultural monument, and it sits within Riga’s UNESCO-listed historic centre.
Key facts
- Architect: attributed to Mikhail Eisenstein
- Built: 1906
- Street: Alberta iela (Albert Street)
- Style: Art Nouveau (decorative stage)
- Status: Latvian cultural monument
- Context: Riga’s UNESCO-listed historic centre
History
By 1906 Albert Street was almost complete, its plots filled with the apartment houses of a booming city. Mikhail Eisenstein, who had been designing facades there since 1901, is generally credited with this one, built in the last years of his most intense activity.
Eisenstein was a civil engineer who turned the street front into a field for ornament, and his Albert Street buildings — this among them — are the best-known expressions of Riga’s Art Nouveau. He worked at the moment when roughly a third of central Riga was being rebuilt in the new style.
The building is a protected monument and forms part of the World Heritage historic centre of Riga.
What you see
The facade is among the most densely worked on the street, its surface covered with Art Nouveau ornament that climbs the whole height of the building. Eisenstein’s manner is theatrical: decoration is not an accent here but the subject, applied with a confidence that verges on excess.
Standing close to the start of Albert Street, the building acts as an overture to the sequence of facades beyond, setting the decorative key for the whole road.
Practical information
- The building is residential; the facade is admired from the street.
- Start here and walk the length of Albert Street.
- Pair with the Riga Art Nouveau Museum at number 12.
Getting there
Albert Street lies in the quiet centre of Riga, a short walk from the Esplanade park and the old town.
Nearby
- The Eisenstein facades along the rest of Alberta iela.
- The Riga Art Nouveau Museum at Alberta iela 12.
- Elizabetes iela, with more of Eisenstein’s work.
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN), “Albert Street”, “Mikhail Eisenstein” and “Art Nouveau architecture in Riga”.
- Latvian State Inspection for Heritage Protection (cultural-monument register).
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