Algimantas Mikėnas was born in Kaunas on April 29, 1929 in the family of a famous Lithuanian military pilot and later professor of the Lithuanian Art Academy Jonas Mikėnas. He studied in the primary and secondary school from 1936 to 1946 and entered the Faculty of Architecture of Vytautas Magnus University in 1946. He obtained the architect’s specialty in 1952.
After starting the work in Kaunas, at the design institutes, Algimantas Mikėnas designed a number of buildings which still decorate the towns and villages of Lithuania. One of his first works was the residential house at Laisvės Alley No.81, where the central bookstore of Kaunas is still operating. The Cultural House (present Musical Theatre) arose near Klaipėda central square in 1963. One of his most mature works is Panevėžys Drama Theatre House, which became the symbol of the artistic director Juozas Miltinis. People gathering to Kučiūnai church will remember the architect well. Kaunas residents know the interiors of cafes “Tulpė” and “Orbita” designed by Algimantas Mikėnas and Vytautas Dičius well.
When Lithuania started its road of freedom in 1989, Algimantas Mikėnas participated in competitions of monuments creation and construction actively, he always gained premiums. The monument for Plechavičius’ army volunteers killed in 1944 designed by the architect and sculptor Juozas Šlivinskas was build in Vilnius near Paneriai. The architect Mikėnas and the sculptor Juozas Šlivinskas designed a number of tombstones for famous Lithuanians: Juozas Miltinis, Vaclovas Blėdis, Stasys Lozoraitis, Antanas Vaičiulaitis, etc.
Algimantas Mikėnas was known not only as an architect but also as a fine painter – watercolourist. He participated willingly in all plain-airs of watercolourists, his watercolour works were presented in exhibitions, some of his works have been purchased by Lithuanian art museums and private persons in Lithuania and abroad.
While designing and constructing Panevėžys Drama Theatre House, A.Mikėnas developed a close friendship with the artistic director Juozas Miltinis and thus became the scenographer of the majority of performances staged by this director, among them: “Macbeth“, “Outside the Door“, “Frank V“, “Dance of Death“, “King Oedipus“, and others.
The architect and watercolourist Algimantas Mikėnas died on March 10, 2006.
