Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis
{{Short description|Latvian architect}}
{{Infobox architect
| name = Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis
| image = Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis.jpg
| image_size = 200
| caption = Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis
| nationality = Latvian
| birth_date = May 23, 1834
| birth_place = Riga, Russian Empire
(now Latvia)
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1891|3|19|1834|5|23}}
| death_place = Riga
| practice =
| significant_buildings = Riga Circus
Riga Regional Court
| significant_projects =
}}
{{For|the Rallycross driver|Jānis Baumanis (racing driver)}}
Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis (or Johann Friedrich Baumann, May 23, 1834, Riga – March 19, 1891, Riga) was a Latvian, Baltic German architect. He was the first professional Latvian architect. Baumanis designed the Riga Circus in 1888.{{cite web|url=http://cirks.lv/en/about/circus-history/|title=Circus history|publisher=Riga Circus|accessdate=October 3, 2015|archive-date=August 10, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150810234941/http://www.cirks.lv/en/about/circus-history/|url-status=dead}} He was responsible for a number of important public buildings of eclectic design constructed in the second half of the 19th century in Riga.
Biography
Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis was born in 1834 in Riga, the son of a ferryman. In his youth he started work as a carpenter. In Riga he was spotted by the St. Petersburg architect Ludvig Bohnstedt. With his support Baumanis undertook studies in the Bauakademie in Berlin (1860–62) and in the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1862–65). After that he was a government architect in Livland (now Vidzeme) until he established his own practice in Riga.
Baumanis also played an important role in Latvian cultural history. In 1862 he helped to establish the first union of Russian architects in St. Petersburg. In 1879 he was involved in establishing the Union of Riga Architects (Rigaer Architekten=Verein). Further, in 1868, he helped to establish the Latvian union in Riga.
His main professional activity was in relation to the former defensive walls of Riga. The walls, built of sand, were demolished in the mid-19th century and a new string of boulevards was planned. He designed 40% of the buildings in this area. His buildings were mostly eclectic (a combination of Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic elements) in design, with refined details and well-executed plastic forms.
He also designed the Alexanders Gymnasium (a secondary school) in Riga, now the Latvian Academy of Music, in 1870-75.
From 1887 to 1888 Baumanis was responsible for the building of the Riga Regional Court at 34 Brīvības Blvd. In its construction Baumanis drew on both Classical and Baroque influences for the façades. The structure won him considerable acclaim not only for the exterior but also for the interior design.{{cite web|url=http://www.lursoft.lv/ra/english.html |title=Riga Regional Court |publisher=Riga Regional Court |accessdate=March 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226215818/http://www.lursoft.lv/ra/english.html |archivedate=February 26, 2009 }}
Altogether he designed 17 Orthodox churches in the southern part of Estonia and Vidzeme and more than 150 buildings in Riga.{{cite web|url=https://www.pasts.lv/en/footer/Useful_Information/News/philately_news/2881-latvijas-pasts-makes-addition-to-series-republic-of-latvia-100-by-releasing-three-stamps-dedicated-to-latvian-architects |title=Latvijas Pasts makes addition to series Republic of Latvia – 100 by releasing three stamps dedicated to Latvian architects |publisher=Latvijas Pasts |accessdate=December 17, 2020 |date=November 11, 2015}}
Gallery
{{gallery |title=|align=center |height=170
|File:Riga (13.08.2011) 121.JPG|Mansion of Emma Menzendorf (now the French Embassy)
|File:Consejo de Abogados Letones, Riga, Letonia, 2012-08-07, DD 01.JPG|Riga Regional Court building
|File:Ziemassvētku egle pie Saeimas nama - Flickr - Saeima (11).jpg|The Saeima (House of the Livonian Noble Corporation): Baumanis and R. Pflug)
|File:Flickr - Saeima - Saeimas Baltā zāle (4).jpg|Interior of the House of the Livonian Noble Corporation
|File:Flickr - Saeima - Saeimas nams.jpg|House of the Livonian Noble Corporation, exterior view
|File:Merķeļa iela 12, Rīga.jpg|Building on Merķeļa street 12, Riga (1881)
|File:Raiņa bulvāris 11, Rīga.JPG|Building on Raiņa boulevard 11, Riga. (1867)
}}
{{clear}}
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumanis, Janis Fridrihs}}