We can assign rights to Ole Wiig, partner and professional leader in NSW Architecture. Architect invited as guest of honor at Thursday night’s book launch about NSW have impressive resume.

69-year-old Janis Dripe, interviewed in the book, has not only been an architect in her professional life. He was also Minister of Culture in the newly released Latvia, then ambassador to Sweden and the United Kingdom, before in 2006 he got a job as the architect of the city of Riga and then dean of the private school of architecture of Riga. He has also been president of the Association of Latvian Architects and has written more than 300 articles on Latvian architecture, in both international and Latvian media.

We met Dripe at the NSW office on another day marked by Russia’s war in Ukraine. So it’s only natural that war comes first in our conversation.

– The social aspect is a good part of the job as an architect, so to see how Russia is attacking cities, and for example the university in Kharkiv, is completely incomprehensible and just very cynical of Putin, said Dripe who resigned and shook his head slightly head.

He attacks with his hands.

Slightly safer Latvian

– As a former Minister of Culture and diplomat: How do you understand what happened?

– Of course it’s hard to understand, but we Latvians know about Russia from the Soviet era. It’s a lot about the fact that too many Russians don’t have enough correct information. Even when we talk to fellow Russian architects, we experience this. Many of them were very wise and felt responsible, but others came up with strange and untrue stories about Ukraine’s role in the war.

He believes that what we are facing now in Ukraine is a huge challenge for all democracies, for Europe and the world.

– Ukraine is now fighting for all of us neighboring countries and in a way for you Norway too. Latvia has Russia as a neighbor, just like Norway, but when Russia entered Belarus, its borders widened by 136 kilometers, he explained.

– How is the atmosphere in Latvia now?

– At the start of the war, we thought Russia’s military capacity was greater and they would succeed in Ukraine in a few days. Then we started to think about who they should take after. Baltic? But now that Russia seems to be struggling and the world is reacting, it seems safer. As a NATO country, we are also relatively safe. I myself was a London ambassador when we managed to persuade West to become a member in 2004. It wasn’t easy, but thank goodness for it today, he said and sighed.