Collector coin Building the Unbuilt by Rūta Jumīte

Marta Staņa is a renowned figure in the history of Latvian architecture, design, and art. Her architectural creations were realised between the 1950s and the 1970s. While most of her works have not been preserved in their original form, Staņa’s most significant achievement, the Dailes Theatre building in Riga, continues to fulfil its role as a place of culture and stands as a lasting testament to modernist architecture, remaining accessible to the public today.

Staņa combined progressive ideas for museums, cafés, and office buildings, the possibilities of form, and new materials with an empathetic attitude towards the environment, nature, and people. The architect designed the space and its objects as a cohesive ensemble and introduced this principle in design education. The architect was a member of the teaching staff at what is now the Riga School of Design and Art and the Art Academy of Latvia. Her approach has inspired several generations of artists and designers. Staņa was also a talented artist and expressed her ideas in vivid architectural illustrations on paper.

The coin’s designer, Rūta Jumīte , points out that its square shape is a reference to the geometric architecture of Staņa. To emphasise the contrasts that were present in Staņa’s work, the shape is juxtaposed with airy reliefs of sketches from Staņa’s projects, surrounding bright watercolour drawings. The coin depicts two of Staņa’s most notable works in Riga, the Dailes Theatre and an experimental apartment building at Brīvības iela 313, as well as unrealised projects: sketches for a viewing tower in Gaiziņkalns, an open-air concert hall in Rēzekne, and the National Theatre in Budapest.

For more information about the coin, visit the Latvijas Banka website.