Characteristic Features of Publications on Architectural Competition Practice in Latvia, 1859-2013

The competition practice has been rather extensively published, as publications on architectural competitions are inseparable from the competition process itself. They are a significant part of representation that explicitly promotes understanding of the design, realization and implementation process, and are a way to communicate the project to the client, jury, community and authorities. Yet, there have always been insufficient consistent critical discussions on the architecture and planning discourse in Latvia, neither on competitions, nor on the related publications. The purpose of the paper is to distinguish features that characterize publications on architectural competitions in Latvia. Methodological principles and systematization of the materials have been carried out according to the historical and logical approach method based on studies of the collected examples and sources of over 1,000 publications on 960 competitions of the past 160 years. The paper systematizes publications on competition practice over the several time periods in Latvia (Russian Empire 1859–1918, Independence 1918–34, Authoritarian Regime 1934–40, Soviet Period 1940–90 and the Second Independence 1991–2013) according to their topics, the author’s professional profiles, type and content and, eventually their characteristic style. Insights into the development of local competition practice through related publications help to explain the formation of a significant part of the local architectural and urban discourse, as its understanding is partially determined by the plurality of representations and interpretations