The primary purpose of the reconstruction of this location was to provide the citizens of Kyiv with a cozy and appealing place to unwind and rest, a place that features a European look and feel and allows the visitors to find out more about one of the friendly European countries, Latvia.
The Latvian Square improvement project is a charity initiative of the architectural bureau ‘ArchUnion’ LTD and its head, a Latvian, Alex Babushkin. The team of architects has developed this project conceptually modeling the courtyards typical of Riga and using simple, natural materials in a laconic, unpretentious form and Baltic style.
Wooden roots symbolize the underworld, the tree’s trunk: the middle world, the one we occupy with animals and plants, but the leaves represent the heavenly world above, the one that all search for. This tree captures our understanding of the past, present, and future, our ancestors, ourselves, and our children. It is a guardian of the beautiful and valuable: luck, blessings, and success. Apart from its symbolic purpose, the pillar of ‘Austra’s tree’ also serves as quite a useful light source. This is the first lighting ever installed in the location.
During the complete overhaul of the territory of the square, all the hard surfaces and curbs were dismantled, the new and natural surface was laid, and new borders were fitted. In the works, we used local Ukrainian granite. All the park benches were replaced with high-quality bars of appropriate and matching design. A series of landscaping tasks were completed in the area; quality lawns were put in place, and an automated sprinkler system was installed, which logically ended the creation of the green zone that was aimed to enhance and enrich the scenery of this area.
Donations financed the improvement works from Latvian and Ukrainian entrepreneurs and citizens: ArchUnion LTD and architect Aleksis Babuškins in person. "Malo-Kihņivskij karjer" LTD, TET, Baltic International Bank, SQUALIO, Ecolines, Telegroup Ukraine, SALMO, "AVR plus" LTD, YesWeCan,The Latvian Association in Ukraine,Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia, The National Botanical Garden of Latvia, Latvian Honorary Consuls in Ukraine: Jurijs Pidgornijs, Jeļena Višņakova, Jurijs Ignatko, Oļegs Vereteņņikovs, Volodimirs Garcuļa.
Socially active citizens of Latvia and Ukraine: Mihails Sorokins, Vanda Usuri, Dainis Aleksejevs, Igors Skoromņijs, Andrijs Podobulkins, Arnis Draudziņš, Iļja Hočs, Juris Poikāns, Irēna Putniņa, Edgars Sēja, Viktorija Sēja, Andrejs Karpovičs, Renārs Volks, Oleksandrs Pavenko, Mareks Ostrovskis, Arnis Ozols, Andris Blaka, Rauls Viktorovs, Edvīns Severs, Raivis Veckagans, Agnese Nemme, Kaspars Auziņš, Ilze Baranovska, Armands Baranovski, Jānis Bērziņš, Ilvija Bruģe, Henrijs Davidonis, Ilgonis Eks, Baiba Eltermane, Kaspars Jēkabsons, Āris Kotāns, Oskars Kastēns, Māra Miķelsone, Guntars Rumpēters, Agnis Sauka, Edvards Seliška, Kristaps Sēlis, Sergejs Davidovs.
