Update: Latvia

NRJA is a young Riga architectural practice established in 2005 by Uldis Lukševics (37). The average age of the eleven architects working in the office is 25. Most of the commissions are obtained via invited competitions, where they live up to their name – NRJA stands for No Rules Just Architecture – by always going beyond the strict limits of the competition brief. NRJA is currently involved in more than 15 different design proposals starting with the high-rise Z Towers in Riga, several large-scale housing and mixed-use projects, as well as the development of a new town square and wharf in the seaside town of Pāvilosta. The practice's best-known project is House of Ruins – a new family house built inside the ruin of a traditional, 19th-century barn (see A10 #10). They have won several awards, including the Prize for Excellence in Latvian Architecture 2005, Best Technology Award of Interior Digest Magazine 2006, and have been nominated for the Mies Van der Rohe award.

MADE arhitekti is a Riga-based architectural practice, founded in 2007 by Mikelis Putrāms (27) and Linda Krūmina (28), who had been working together since 2002. They have attracted attention through their participation and success in several design competitions, such as the facade for student dormitories in Riga, and a competition (which they won) for a new art and music school in the small town of Saldus. Parallel to the competitions, they are currently working on a conference and recreational centre and several housing projects. They are active in the public realm, where their strategy of trying to maintain a productive element of uncertainty and openness has resulted in some robust design ideas.

Sintija Vaivade set up her architectural office in 2003 after returning from Berlin, where she had trained as an architect and then spent nine years working in German offices. She believes architecture has to be an unpretentious background for life processes; shocking people should never become the prime objective of any piece of architecture. The office's architecture reveals a minimalist approach to new constructions and sensitivity towards historical architecture and the existing environment. Scale models are essential to their design process both in the search for ideas and as a means of presenting those ideas to clients. The best-known example of Vaivade's work is the renovation and extension of a 19th-century apartment block (R. Schmaeling) in central Riga, where two floors in a contemporary style were added to the existing four-storey building.

Jaunromāns & Ābele practice was founded in 2005 by Mārtinš Jaunromāns and Māra Ābele (both 30) who have become well known through their entries in several competitions for buildings in historical city centres. They have attracted the public's attention with their sensitive, analytical approach to historical sites, in combination with an expressive contemporary architecture. Their breakthrough came when their entry won an international competition for a new apartment building in the heart of Riga's Old Town. Located on a site surrounded by three medieval churches, the sculpture-like shape of their building manages to maintain a dialogue with its imposing surroundings. Currently they are working on several housing projects and the conversion of an old factory in the centre of Riga.

Architectural studio Modus Mood was established in 2004 by Jānis Alksnis (37). Specializing in private houses and apartment blocks, the office of six young architects acquired wider recognition by winning the Prize for Excellence in Latvian Architecture 2006 for a six-apartment residential building in the picturesque seaside town of Jūrmala. The geometrical, copper- and plywood-clad structure fits in well with a small-scale built context surrounded by a pine forest. The powerful composition of rectangular volumes with copious glazing, influenced by the Modern Movement, is a characteristic feature of the studio. The human scale of the buildings is achieved by a careful attention to detail both inside and outside. Modus Mood have participated in several limited-entry competitions and are now working on a couple of projects abroad.