please see large

this was children's polyclinic until the 90's. i remember going there in mid 80's for different reasons, but most unforgettable were visits to dentist. well, it was much better than at school, here the drills were faster, but you never got an anaesthesia anyway, even for tooth canal cleaning. my father frequently said to us that it's nothing, just a little discomfort as in his childhood drills were mechanical and powered by legs, like a sewing machine, so the speed wasn't even midtempo. i guess we were lucky comparing to children from 50's and 60's.

[PenPusher]

I quite like it though it looks like something from a war zone, perhaps irate adults remembering childhood visits ?

[ignath]

I quite like it though it looks like something from a war zone, perhaps irate adults remembering childhood visits ?

thank you
indeed if to edit out the modern lanterns, it could be faked as photo from 1945.

[dwj130]

please see large

this was children's polyclinic until the 90's. i remember going there in mid 80's for different reasons, but most unforgettable were visits to dentist. well, it was much better than at school, here the drills were faster, but you never got an anaesthesia anyway, even for tooth canal cleaning. my father frequently said to us that it's nothing, just a little discomfort as in his childhood drills were mechanical and powered by legs, like a sewing machine, so the speed wasn't even midtempo. i guess we were lucky comparing to children from 50's and 60's.

Very interesting so thanks for posting.
Mechanical drills.... Ouch!

[Bertrand3000]

Thanks for the shot and backstory. I agree that the building is in a terrible shape, what happened?

[ignath]

Very interesting so thanks for posting.
Mechanical drills.... Ouch!

!thank you

---------- Post added 11-25-19 at 09:50 ----------

Thanks for the shot and backstory. I agree that the building is in a terrible shape, what happened?

this house in it's early days was actually high-end living apartaments considering materials used, flat size and location.
it became polyclinic in soviet times, but then they moved to other place in 90s. i think because someone reclaimed family property, but i don't know why it became abandoned afterwards, too much dark things were happening back then - the first wave of free market was devastating in postsocialist lands, organized crime controlled everything, actually, khm.. the state itself was organized crime. house became a hive for homeless and low-end criminals and later, just some 5 years ago fire damaged it too much even for that contingent of people.

[savoche]

Thanks for an interesting image and back-story. Dramatic times with huge changes!

And thanks for the link to the Zeme radio A tad difficult (but not hopeless) to follow the narrative as I don't speak Latvian, but lots of interesting music!

[The Squirrel Mafia]

Quite interesting. Makes me wonder who designed it, who lived in it, & why did it eventually become abandoned.

[ignath]

Thanks for an interesting image and back-story. Dramatic times with huge changes!

And thanks for the link to the Zeme radio A tad difficult (but not hopeless) to follow the narrative as I don't speak Latvian, but lots of interesting music!

!thanks for commenting and listening, i hope you'll discover some unknown music to enjoy

---------- Post added 11-25-19 at 11:25 ----------

Quite interesting. Makes me wonder who designed it, who lived in it, & why did it eventually become abandoned.

the story i knew is located two posts above, but i just googled additionaly and discovered that my memory was faulty and it's polyclinic nr.8 not 6. this jugend style house was built in 1913. designed by architect Edgars Voldemārs Eduards Frīzendorfs, couldn't find much info on him, just that he designed ~25 houses in Riga, all or most of them large buildings.one of reasons for abandonement was lack of heating for 3 years. that's when tenants/owners moved out and soon homeless came in to demolish/sell whatever is possible, mostly metal objects.

btw, if interested you can look at this house in googlemaps streetview, search for Kalnciema street 2b in Riga, it gives nice wide angle view if to look up.

[StiffLegged]

The original backstory makes for ... uncomfortable reading. Owww!

[simple1]

thank you
indeed if to edit out the modern lanterns, it could be faked as photo from 1945.

Agreed, my first thought was WW2. Great shot and interesting backstory. Thanks for sharing.

[sasastro]

I like this shot of urban decay, I like the backstory too

[ignath]

The original backstory makes for ... uncomfortable reading. Owww!

Agreed, my first thought was WW2. Great shot and interesting backstory. Thanks for sharing.

I like this shot of urban decay, I like the backstory too

!much appreciated

[7.62lew]

Interesting shot and story. Thanks for sharing.

[Kerrowdown]

polyklinik nr.8

What a great monochrome image (which suits it so well) of a very austere place with it's really interesting chequered history.

BTW I agree lose the lamp posts.