The majority of bank buildings designed during the interwar period both in large cities and in provinces were characterised by clear classical forms. The thirties saw the emergence of rationalist and functionalist characteristics. Classical architecture, which prevailed in buildings at that time, became increasingly abstract, taking on simpler geometrical shapes. The Agriculture Bank in Kaunas is an example of this process. It is interesting to note that architectural presentations of the bank in periodic press at that time clearly alluded to the new modernist aesthetics. “Indoor workrooms need to be bright and let in enough air and heat”. All other requirements for the building were considered to be of secondary importance. Primary focus was on hygiene and cleanliness of the premises. Nevertheless, aesthetic quality of architecture was still inspired by ornamentation. Its absence could only be explained by the intention to maintain hygiene or by the lack of finances: “The new building of the Agriculture Bank is characterised by the lack of expensive furnishing, plaster decorations and ornamentation which, although would add to the interior, usually attract dust”.
Vaidas Petrulis