INTERVIEW / December
Do you know how cities and roads
came into existence? They’re animal
paths. So, I’m convinced that the Middle
East conflict was in part provoked by
architecture, by changes in lifestyle.
What do you, as a person who has cre-
ated so many buildings in your lifetime,
need in order to feel a sense of home?
Natural materials: wood, wood floors,
and the proportions of the space are also
important. But I could actually furnish
and inhabit any kind of space. I’ve often
noticed buildings while walking around
and daydreamed about what it would be
like to live in them.
The first thing that gives a place a homey
feeling is books. They’re really like friends
– they gather around and are with us. The
second thing is flowers in a vase. When I
arrive at our house in Kaltene by the sea,
the first thing I do is go out to the meadow
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The first thing that
gives a place a homey
feeling is books
or forest and pick some flowers to put in
a vase. In autumn maybe it’s yellow aspen
branches, in spring pussy willows, in sum-
mer mock orange or lilacs. In winter I pick
dry grasses and arrange them in vases...
and then I work, and sit and look. Natu-
rally, we also have a piano in the house.
Does anyone play the piano?
Yes, yes. I play, too. But not so
much nowadays.
And paintings. My father was a doctor,
and he had paintings that his patients had
given to him. One of them gave him this
very valuable painting by Padegs (Kārlis
Padegs, a legendary Latvian painter
and graphic artist – Ed.), and my father
passed it on to me. I’ve also got artwork
by Helēna Heinrihsone, Boriss Bērziņš,
Ieva Iltnere, and others. Sometimes
you look at a painting and always find
something new in it, and you never feel
alone. It’s very important what you hang
on the wall across from your bed and by
the dining table.
When you travel, how do you choose
your accommodations? What’s impor-
tant to you, as a professional and simply
as a person?
It’s getting more and more difficult with
each passing year. More and more hotels
are being built, but global tourism is
really impoverishing everything. So,
it’s getting harder and harder for me to
find places that I like, whether it’s the
location, size, interior, or just my first
impression. I’m quite spoiled, I’ve got
high standards...and I just don’t feel good
in poor-quality spaces.
For a while we stayed in apartments.
We had some really good experiences in
Amsterdam and London... If we travel as
a couple, then that’s one way of avoid-
ing hotels that are just a room with a
bed in the middle. An apartment gives
you freedom. But I recently stayed in
an apartment in Greece, and it was a
little strange, because I realised that this
apartment owner had really just given
his own place to tourists – there was the
children’s room, the owner’s bedroom,
all of their things... And I spent three days
living in this Greek person’s house, which
was actually very personal, and I did not
feel good there. The places I like best are
simple, logical, unpretentious. I’ve actu-
ally tried out very many hotels...
Fifteen years ago, when we were devel-
oping Hotel Bergs in Riga, we needed to
find the right model, because it’s a busi-
ness hotel, and I still believe it’s the best
in Riga. Government officials do not stay
at Hotel Bergs, because it’s located in a
courtyard and it’s not possible to provide
the adequate security there. That’s why
the Americans always stay at the Radis-
son Blu Daugava Hotel on the banks of
the Daugava River. Our Hotel Bergs gets
all of the cultural personalities and stars,
including Lady Gaga and Elton John.
What I mean to say is that I created this
hotel very neutrally, because different
people have different goals when travel-
ling. If a person is practical, busy, and has
come here with a specific purpose other
than tourism, then the hotel must not
inconvenience him; it needs to be very
restful, calming.
What most drives me crazy about hotel
culture is that the traditional bathroom
has been destroyed. I’ve seen a thousand
and one strange things. For example,
you enter your hotel room, and there’s
the little hallway with the bathroom and
toilet, and then the room itself. But be-
cause the bathroom receives no daylight,
architects began playing around with it.
Today, however, things have gone so far
that there’s no longer any boundary be-
tween the bathroom, toilet, and sleeping