This spring, the design community is marking the 90th birthday of one of the most prominent figures in Lithuanian design—architect and designer Tadas Baginskas (b. 1936). The Museum of Applied Arts and Design of the Lithuanian National Art Museum, in collaboration with the Design Foundation, the Vilnius Academy of Arts, and other institutions, invites you to exhibitions and events dedicated to Tadas Baginskas.
Tadas Baginskas was born on April 16, 1936, in Kaunas, where he spent his first 24 years. A student of Kaunas “Aušra” Gymnasium, he later enrolled at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute, where the memorable lectures of his Professor Stasys Ušinskas introduced him to such titans as Léger or Le Corbusier. It was also at Kaunas Polytechnic that his eyes were opened to the work of the Bauhaus. After completing his architecture studies, he moved to Vilnius in 1960 and began working at a furniture design bureau. His creative career spanned six decades, encompassing furniture and lighting objects, interior design projects, exhibition design, as well as examples of graphic design and architectural drawings. However, it was not individual creative works that were his true legacy or focus, but rather the way in which he approached design as a systematic process that connects creators, people, and environments. His biography acts as a unique nexus, uniting not only the centres of Kaunas and Vilnius, but also experiences from the First Republic of Lithuania, the post-war period, the Soviet occupation, and the era of Independence.
Through his role as mentor and teacher for over three decades, Baginskas was a key driver in the development of the Lithuanian design school. From 1985 to 2006, he headed the Department of Design at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, inspiring and leading generations of Lithuanian designers. In 2016, Tadas rose to the position of professor emeritus at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. It was the connections that he forged within these years, between colleagues, artists from various fields, and especially students and alumni – that gave him his greatest satisfaction. In recent years, Baginskas has hosted an informal “Design Club” at his home, where he warmly welcomes members of the design community.
From April 21 to May 17, the Museum of Applied Arts and Design will host a small exhibition dedicated to Tadas Baginskas’ anniversary. This show is part of the “The Spaces In Between” exhibition series and event programme organized by the Lithuanian Design Association for International Design Day. It features an exhibition that will reveal the stories behind the furniture of one of Baginskas’ earliest projects—the “Gintaras” hotel and restaurant (1965) in Vilnius.
The Stories of the “Gintaras” Chairs
In 1964, the “Gintaras” Hotel and Restaurant (designed by architect Stasys Bareikis; now the renovated “Panorama” Hotel) was opened next to the Vilnius Railway Station. The restaurant’s most iconic element was its metal decorative partition created by Teodoras Kazimieras Valaitis. This, like the hotel’s entire interior design, has not survived. Tadas Baginskas was commissioned to design the chairs for the hotel’s restaurant, which were then quickly put into production by Šiauliai Furniture Factory. Two variants of the chair were produced, one a simplified version, and the other, a more experimental model. Known today as the “Gintaras Family” chairs, they were originally designated with the catalogue numbers 590 and 620. Due to their characteristic curved backrest, the chairs became affectionately known as “the hunchbacks.” These chairs would then go on to be mass produced, losing not only their original character, but also the name of their designer with subsequent iterations. Although somewhat compromised by poor quality and the introduction of different models, they were to become the most ubiquitous chairs of the Soviet era in Lithuania, and could be seen, and experienced, everywhere from hospitals, cafeterias, to the offices of other public, particularly more formal, institutions. Indeed, it was on “Gintaras” chairs that professors from the Design and Textiles Departments of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, as well as researchers from the Institute of Art Research, sat (and continue to sit). Today, this legacy is being rediscovered, restored and re-upholstered by admirers of their minimalist design, although many examples of the chair have been left to decay in forgotten spaces and municipal wastelands.
In preparation for the anniversary exhibition, the “Gintaras” chairs were restored based on Tadas Baginskas’s recollections. At the International Design Day exhibition, these chairs will be presented in an exhibition designed by Vytautas Gečas, alongside archival footage and playful promotional brochures for the “Gintaras” hotel from the 1960s. During our research, we also managed to discover authentic furniture from the “Gintaras” hotel. This will be presented subsequently at the opening of the exhibition on May 21st. At that time, we plan to open a larger commemorative exhibition titled “Tadas Baginskas. Design Counterpoints,” which will reveal more of Tadas Baginskas’ creative phases, presenting design objects from different periods, authentic personal artifacts, original architectural projects, archival documents, as well as works by his contemporaries and interpretations and tributes to the Professor of Design by contemporary creators. This exhibition will be on view at the the Museum of Applied Arts and Design of the Lithuanian National Art Museum until August 23.
On Sunday, April 26, 2026, at 1:00 p.m., visitors of the exhibition “The Spaces In Between” will have the opportunity to meet designer and architect Tadas Baginskas at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design.
Project initiator and chief curator: Karolina Jakaitė (Vilnius Academy of Arts, “Design Foundation”)
Curators: Julijus Balčikonis, Živilė Intaitė, Karolina Jakaitė
Consultants and additional researchers: Aistė Dičkalnytė, Rasa Dargužaitė, Rasa Janulevičiūtė
Designer – Vytautas Gečas
Graphic designer – Aurelija Slapšytė
Coordinator – Mažvydas Truklickas
Furniturer restorer – Ramūnas Gilys (“Old-new”)
The exhibition features furniture created by designer Paulius Vitkauskas for the “Design Foundation”
Partners: Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuanian Design Association, Lithuanian Artists’ Union, LAPAS Publishing House, Lithuanian Central State Archives.
The anniversary exhibition, related research, exhibitions, and their implementation are partially financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
