Author, Institution: Algimantas Grigas, Kaunas University of Technology
Science area, field of science: Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003
Research Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vaidas Petrulis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003).
Dissertation Defence Board of History and Theory of Arts Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Kęstutis Zaleckis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003) – chairperson
Prof. Dr. Marija Drėmaitė (Vilnius University, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eglė Navickienė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Prof. Dr. Florian Urban (Glasgow School of Architecture, United Kingdom, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Dissertation defence meeting will be at Rectorate Hall of Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio 73-402, Kaunas)
The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (Gedimino 50, Kaunas) and on the internet: A. Grigo el. dissertation.pdf
© A. Grigas, 2026 “The text of the thesis may not be copied, distributed, published, made public, including by making it publicly available on computer networks (Internet), reproduced in any form or by any means, including, but not limited to, electronic, mechanical or other means. Pursuant to Article 25(1) of the Law on Copyright and Related Rights of the Republic of Lithuania, a person with a disability who has difficulties in reading a document of a thesis published on the Internet, and insofar as this is justified by a particular disability, shall request that the document be made available in an alternative form by e-mail to doktorantura@ktu.lt.”
Annotation: The dissertation examines the development of architectural criticism in Soviet Lithuania (1945–1990) and challenges the prevailing assumption that it was largely absent under the Soviet regime. It argues that this perception results from a narrow understanding of criticism as journalistic writing rather than as a broader professional and institutional practice. The study combines archival analysis, critical discourse analysis, case studies, interviews, and a systematic examination of the only professional journal “Statyba ir architektūra”. Building upon an analytical typology, the dissertation develops a methodological approach suited to Soviet Lithuania’s political context. Architectural criticism is defined as a multilayered phenomenon encompassing public, institutional, and professional forms of discourse. The findings demonstrate that, with only isolated exceptions, architectural criticism functioned as an instrument of ideological regulation. From the mid-1970s onwards, however, Lithuanian architects gradually appropriated criticism for professional purposes, transforming it into a mechanism of professional reflection and self-regulation. More broadly, the dissertation argues that architectural criticism in Soviet Lithuania should be understood as a historically contingent phenomenon whose forms, functions, and evaluative criteria were shaped by its institutional and political context.