Imaginary and unbuilt Architectural drawings in the archival collection of the Latvian Museum of Architecture

Centuries back, when the architect's profession was not yet fully defined, Leon Batista Alberti, in his book On Building (De re aedificatoria), proposed a revolutionary idea: in Scheer's5 interpretation, the architect's main task is not to build but to design. [...]we can assume that it is not the building that we have to evaluate but its design, through drawings and available visual material. When asked about the value of architectural drawings, the LMA director and art historian Ilze Martinsone confirmed that the 'unbuilt often is much more important than the built, and projects that are not constructed hold more meaning than realised buildings because of the purity and process that is wrapped up in the visual materials and drawings, which cannot be seen in the completed building'7. [...]an interest in looking into what is envisioned, unbuilt and materialised only on paper is important for understanding how visionary architectural drawings in the past may have influenced today's architectural culture and how they can take part in the contemporary discourse. The order for the formation of the Museum of Latvian Architecture was issued on 2 May 1994, with the main goal being 'to preserve Latvian architecture heritage research and original manuscripts and drawings, as well as the collection and preservation of construction materials'10. [...]the museum became a keeper of cultural and historical heritage related to the field of architecture: files of documents, manuscripts, original drawings, photographs and models. Besides preserving and storing, nowadays the museum also strives to display selected parts of the collection to the general public.