Open House Vilnius is an annual open architecture weekend that invites residents and visitors to explore the city through its most remarkable buildings and urban spaces. Returned for its 11th edition on May 10–11, 2025, the festival offered a rare opportunity to discover more than 50 unique sites across Vilnius, many of which are usually closed to the public.

This year, the festival engaged with the continent-wide Open House Europe theme, ‘Future Heritage’. The programme encouraged visitors to look at contemporary architecture as tomorrow’s legacy, inviting everyone to reflect on how our current values, lifestyles, and challenges are shaping the city. It posed the vital question: what elements of today’s built environment might become meaningful for future generations? Across the city, programme buildings, green spaces, and city makers’ offices discussed the theme of the year in different ways and from various perspectives.

Office Building of the Lithuanian Cooperative Union

The Office Building of the Lithuanian Cooperative Union, located at the intersection of Gediminas Avenue and A. Stulginskio Street, stood out as an exceptional example of late modernist architecture. Architect Justinas Šeibokas’ innovative and organic architectural solutions blend seamlessly into the already established urban fabric. The gently undulating terraces of the building interpret and echo the Baroque style of Vilnius Old Town.

This building acts as the Soviet equivalent of the modern office: it resembles a ship, where the architect’s priority is the well-being of the working man, and, on the upper floors, the desire to see beyond. If not for the persistence of Šeibokas, this administrative building might have remained just a vision, as the city’s urban planning requirements at the time clashed with the building’s appearance. Today, the undulating façade and distinctive exterior conceal extraordinary interior elements. Inside, works of art come together: Algirdas Dovydėnas’ stained glass piece Miestas prie upės (City by the River), Antanas Kmieliauskas’ fresco Rudens gėrybės (Autumn Goods), and Neringa Dovydėnienė’s sculptural ceramics composition, while the working space has remained unchanged since 1986.

Japanese Garden Sei Shin En

Reflecting on heritage also means examining landscape and culture. Nestled quietly in the Sluškai Valley, between T. Kosciuškos and Sluškų streets, lies a unique gem – the Japanese Garden Sei Shin En, or Pure Heart Japanese Garden. In this small corner of nature, Eastern aesthetics, the historical landscape of Vilnius, and the idea of harmony blend with exquisite sensitivity.

Born from the dream of artist Dalia Dokšaitė and brought to life with landscape architect Laura Popkytė-Fukumoto and Japanese garden master Yasuo Kitayama, the heart of this space is a natural spring. Gently flowing down the slope through moss and pines, it winds among carefully placed stones, creating a dialogue between symbols and nature. Today, the garden is not only a unique green space in the heart of Vilnius but also a living bridge between Lithuanian and Japanese cultures.

Agricultural Data Centre

Situated on the approaches to Taurus Hill, the Agricultural Data Centre is a late modernist building by architect Vytautas Edmundas Čekanauskas, known for the Lazdynai district and the Government Palace. The structure responds carefully to the complex terrain, its broken-plan form and sleek staircases shaping the façade. Paired narrow window strips divide the large planes, while the design of the interior — including the unusual experience of reaching the third floor from the ground floor through straight corridors — reflects the constraints of its trapezoidal site.

Inside, the building features stained glass by Algirdas Dovydėnas and the 240 m² fresco Our Land, included in the Register of Cultural Property and familiar from various films and video clips. An authentic cinema equipment room with 1971 projectors also remains. Together, these elements illustrate how even purpose-built administrative structures can accumulate cultural layers over time.