Fashion designer Agnese Narņicka, founder of the brand One Wolf and head of the Fashion Design Department at the Art Academy of Latvia, talks about a place that will allow design professionals and students to materialise innovative ideas. 

Andrejs and Ernests Kļaviņš are the authors of the internationally acclaimed game The Case of the Golden Idol. A sequel, The Rise of the Golden Idol, has just been released. In this conversation with Andrejs and Ernests, we discussed their path to game development and the works of Color Gray Games, as well as the challenges of game design in Latvia.

As part of his master’s thesis in architecture at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, architect and artist Pauls Rietums explores Riga’s empty houses and vacant lots, searching for an answer to the question of how we can revitalise the neglected places of a shrinking city.

Anna Andersone is one of the leaders of the startup ecosystem in Latvia and the head of the Riga TechGirls movement. In the Nice Touch section, Anna talks about her daily companion that helps her move both her body and her mind.

This month, the game studio Color Gray Games released the new detective game The Rise of the Golden Idol by brothers Andrejs and Ernests Kļaviņš. It is a sequel to their 2022 game The Case of the Golden Idol, which received wide international acclaim and the National Design Award of Latvia 2023 in the digital solutions category.

Wigiwama, a manufacturer of upholstered furniture for children, creates attractive and high-quality items that fit not only into a kids’ room but even in a minimalistic interior. The company’s latest product is the Moon Chair, a modular armchair that can be easily adapted to different functions and heights, including for adults.

Estere Betija Grāvere is an emerging artist and designer who works with drawing and various techniques of graphic art and also creates visual identities and book designs. In the Nice Touch section, she talks about her favourite pen.

Designer Sarmīte Poļakova specialises in material design — she creates new, sustainable, and, equally importantly, visually appealing materials from the residues of different industries. «Waste is our own invention,» says Sarmīte. She looks for ways to turn it into new resources through design.

Continuing the tradition, this year ISSP is publishing a planner for 2025, which includes 40 photographs by Latvian and foreign artists. The theme of the year is Metamorphosis — a symbol of transformation and development.

Architect Brigita Bula, one of the selection jury chairs of the National Design Award of Latvia 2025, creates sustainable architecture for environmentally conscious and forward-thinking clients. In the Nice Touch section, Brigita talks about a method that helps her develop ideas when working on projects.

The New Riga Theatre, whose concept and project were created by the architecture office Zaigas Gailes Birojs but later also worked on by the studio Sarma and Norde, stands out both for its multi-layered architecture and for its complex construction process, which was widely discussed by the local media.