The coast of Jurmala is full of fascinating constructions, like the former restaurant ‘Juras Perle’, the Baltic Beach Hotel, cantilevered over the beach and horizon, or even the Dubulti station, with its impressive canopy and Art Nouveau constructions implanted right on the beach.
More recently other projects equally reveal the fascinating moment the country is crossing, after years of foreign dominance, like the Majori Sports Arena or the Dzintaru Park Observation Tower.?But in the same way that the ability to imagine the future is something absolutely necessary for the culture and development of a country, the knowledge of its historical heritage is also the base on which any future could be built.
In Jurmala there is a historical legacy even more important than the spectacle of its recent projects: the traditional wooden constructions, the importance which music acquired locally and afterwards spread internationally, the richness of its forest area, the beauty of its coastline, sheltered from the Baltic by the Gulf of Riga.
Jurmala lives in and by these crossroads of ideals: between the history and tradition of the local culture - in which both architecure and music are inserted - and an enormous expectation about its own future.?The project of the hotel recovers the concept of old ‘estrãdês’, simple outdoor structures formed by a stage with an acoustic shell and a flat audience, in front. Despite the existance of various concert halls in Jurmala and Riga, the outdoor events continue to be a tradition strongly rooted in the local culture, as demonstrated in the outdoor auditorium of Dzintari Concert Hall.
Wood, with a solid tradition in construction in Latvia (the Riga pine wood is used worldwide) is also the material par excellence in the making of musical instruments as well as the spaces conceived for musical audition.?And for those reasons it overlays the surfaces of the exterior pavements and of some facades in the project.
It is even the selected material of the indoor public spaces, providing the creation of adequate acoustic conditions for the realization of small musical events, throughout all the Hotel spaces.?The building acts like a system of visual and functional relation with the theme of the music box (resonance box), with visual resonance in the collective memory of the guests and general population.
It is intended to constitute a synthesis of the relation of Jurmala with music (a secular legacy signed by world renowned songwriters and musicians, from Krisjãnis Barons to Gidon Kremer), but also the statement of Jurmala as a beach area of excellence in Latvia and Riga in particular, and of the Baltic in general.