Didžioji sporto salė

The structure at Rinktinės g. 1 sits apart from the familiar concrete cathedrals of European football. The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports does not share the long, sweeping terraces of a modern arena; it is a low, blocky mass that presses against the horizon. In the photographs, the skeletal frame rises above the treeline in places where work has stalled, a slab of concrete waiting for a roof that has not yet arrived. The surrounding grass is uneven and springs with yellow flowers, leading to a dirt track that cuts through the field.

Built in 1971, the venue served a different function than the grounds of the local clubs. It hosted the 1986 FIBA World Championship for Women and the 1975 World Women's Handball Championship. The interior was a wooden parquet floor, designed for the sharp clicks of shoes on a court rather than the slide of boots on turf. When it closed in 2004 on safety grounds, the city did not demolish it; the plan was to convert it into a convention centre. The photographs suggest that the project is still in parts: the stands are a skeleton of grey blocks, and the roof is a series of cutouts against a blue sky.

Other venues in the capital carry the same name—Didžioji sporto salė—but this is the one that sits on the edge of the city. The capacity for basketball was 4,400. Today the site is a quiet patch of land where the wind moves through the unfinished beams.