We invite you to special tours exploring the Zuzeum Art Museum’s building and its transformation.
📅 14 October at 13:00–14:00 (Latvian), 14:00–15:00 (English)
🎟️ Admission: 12 EUR for adults, 8 EUR for students and seniors*. Registration required.
🗣️ Tours are available in Latvian and English
*The price of the tour ticket does not include admission to the exhibition.
The more than 100-year-old cork factory has become one of Latvia’s most significant contemporary art institutions. What began as a small pop-up initiative grew into the revitalisation of the entire site, creating an open, multifunctional and freely accessible cultural environment. The courtyards, entrance area, café, exhibition halls and rooftop terrace work as a flexible system for art, education, events and everyday use, bringing life back to a previously closed-off part of the city.
Recently, in October 2026, the Latvian Association of Architects and an international jury recognised Zuzeum site revitalisation, the reconstruction of its historic buildings and its interior design, awarding it the Latvian Architecture Annual Silver Award. The jury particularly highlighted the role of inclusive design in the museum’s work. They noted that Latvia has gone for generations without a contemporary art museum, which is why Zuzeum becomes more than a private art space. The jury calls the outcome a spot-on result, in which the spatial idea, materiality and colour language have created an identity that transformed the environment into a new public space.
What will you see on the tour?
As we walk through the site, we will look at how the new layer converses with the historic factory architecture, how the colour orange becomes an element of transformation, and how the squares around the building have become a vibrant, complementary part of the urban fabric. Special attention will be given to parts of the building that visitors never see in everyday life: the office spaces and the residential apartment. You will also get a behind-the-scenes insight into how the building works for art: why air temperature and humidity are so important for exhibitions, and how the building’s logistics are designed so that artworks reach the exhibition halls and the viewer safely and at exactly the right moment.
The tour will be led in Latvian by Madara Vinklere and in English by Timurs Revunovs. Both young architects got to know the Zuzeum building ahead of the architecture festival Open House Riga, which took place for the first time this October, offering visitors the chance to explore dozens of buildings of different eras and functions across Riga.
About tour guides
Madara Vinklere
An architecture student with three years of academic experience in Berlin, Germany. Upon returning to Riga, the capital of Art Nouveau architecture, she developed a renewed passion for working and learning in the fields of architectural restoration and reconstruction.
Timurs Revunovs
With a Bachelor’s in Architecture, a study stint in Belgium, and office experience in Zurich, I’ve spent years looking at buildings from every possible angle. Currently based in Riga, I balance office and guiding kids through drawing classes while prioritizing good anmbiance and mental well-being. Easygoing and always curious, I’m ready to translate complex building details into fun, digestible stories for museum visitors!
*By attending the event, you agree to photo and video documentation and the use of these materials for publicity purposes. You have the right to object to being photographed or filmed, or to your child being photographed or filmed, by informing the photographer or videographer during the event.