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Heritage of Modern Architecture in Lithuania At any history stage the process of public activity leaves some material symbols, among which immovable items take an especially important place. The dominant part of them in the cities is formed from architecture. Conception of historical architecture is undergoing constant changes by encompassing still new decades and styles. One of the "youngest" styles, which is gradually coming to be perceived as part of historical heritage, is modernism. The majority of the European countries have already refrained from questioning the historicity of this style. This stimulates us focusing also on the heritage of Lithuania's modern architecture and analysing what was achieved and what could be preserved as part of the former era. The research subject-matter deals with modern architecture as part of the heritage of Lithuania's architecture in the 20th century. Given the conditions of independent Lithuania, interwar and post-war modern architecture and separate objects of it receive ambiguous evaluations, a number of highly relevant and severe problems of heritage conservation and heritage documentation nature occur, which require urgent and reasoned answers. Fundamental problem lies in the attitude of conceptual character, namely whether this heritage is by and large recognized as the object of Lithuanian cultural heritage. Further destiny of modern architecture heritage depends on the latter attitude. It should be emphasised that the greatest part of architecturological research focused on the classical history periods of Lithuanian architecture and failed to go beyond the boundary of the 20th century. Alongside with this, the relevant problem of determining the criteria of differential value of modern architecture occurs. This issue is of really complex character because it must follow objectivity requirements, while our period of time relates to various interests, such as economic, political, etc. On the basis of the possible values it would be possible to determine and classify the valuables of modern architecture and resolve yet another major problem, i.e. integrate such valuables into the system of heritage documentation. The present research aims at finding out certain most important protection problems arising with regard to the Lithuanian modern architecture and determining the possibilities for its preservation. This research overviews the particularities of the development of 20th century architecture; deals with the complex and ambiguous attitude towards the heritage of Lithuanian modern architecture and the reasons of particular situation; singles out the examples of Lithuanian modern architecture and presents the most characteristic values of such buildings. After the research was carried out certain conclusions were drawn. Firstly, it should be stated that European movements and directions of modern architecture illustrate the social and economic situation of that time and demonstrate the creative architectural potential of those times; therefore, searching for one's own place in the overall architectural context, we must perceive and value the heritage of every historical stratum. Architecture of the 20th century shall not be an exception. Secondly, it should be stressed that a marked part of heritage of Lithuanian architecture of the 20th century is loosing its attractiveness due to various economic, cultural and political reasons and, should the legal acts fail to protect it, it is likely to disappear rapidly. The given situation may be altered by an active position of contemporary society. Third, it shall be asserted that 20th century architecture is not an ordinary heritage object; attitude towards such heritage must be more flexible in order to adjust it to the needs of a modern city. The given situation may be altered by an active position of contemporary society.

Heritage of Modern Architecture in Lithuania At any history stage the process of public activity leaves some material symbols, among which immovable items take an especially important place. The dominant part of them in the cities is formed from architecture. Conception of historical architecture is undergoing constant changes by encompassing still new decades and styles. One of the "youngest" styles, which is gradually coming to be perceived as part of historical heritage, is modernism. The majority of the European countries have already refrained from questioning the historicity of this style. This stimulates us focusing also on the heritage of Lithuania's modern architecture and analysing what was achieved and what could be preserved as part of the former era. The research subject-matter deals with modern architecture as part of the heritage of Lithuania's architecture in the 20th century. Given the conditions of independent Lithuania, interwar and post-war modern architecture and separate objects of it receive ambiguous evaluations, a number of highly relevant and severe problems of heritage conservation and heritage documentation nature occur, which require urgent and reasoned answers. Fundamental problem lies in the attitude of conceptual character, namely whether this heritage is by and large recognized as the object of Lithuanian cultural heritage. Further destiny of modern architecture heritage depends on the latter attitude. It should be emphasised that the greatest part of architecturological research focused on the classical history periods of Lithuanian architecture and failed to go beyond the boundary of the 20th century. Alongside with this, the relevant problem of determining the criteria of differential value of modern architecture occurs. This issue is of really complex character because it must follow objectivity requirements, while our period of time relates to various interests, such as economic, political, etc. On the basis of the possible values it would be possible to determine and classify the valuables of modern architecture and resolve yet another major problem, i.e. integrate such valuables into the system of heritage documentation. The present research aims at finding out certain most important protection problems arising with regard to the Lithuanian modern architecture and determining the possibilities for its preservation. This research overviews the particularities of the development of 20th century architecture; deals with the complex and ambiguous attitude towards the heritage of Lithuanian modern architecture and the reasons of particular situation; singles out the examples of Lithuanian modern architecture and presents the most characteristic values of such buildings. After the research was carried out certain conclusions were drawn. Firstly, it should be stated that European movements and directions of modern architecture illustrate the social and economic situation of that time and demonstrate the creative architectural potential of those times; therefore, searching for one's own place in the overall architectural context, we must perceive and value the heritage of every historical stratum. Architecture of the 20th century shall not be an exception. Secondly, it should be stressed that a marked part of heritage of Lithuanian architecture of the 20th century is loosing its attractiveness due to various economic, cultural and political reasons and, should the legal acts fail to protect it, it is likely to disappear rapidly. The given situation may be altered by an active position of contemporary society. Third, it shall be asserted that 20th century architecture is not an ordinary heritage object; attitude towards such heritage must be more flexible in order to adjust it to the needs of a modern city. The given situation may be altered by an active position of contemporary society.