On 13 August 2021, the staff of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia were officially given the keys to the refurbished museum building, so now the museum’s experts may continue putting on new exhibitions. The historical building located in Rīga’s Strēlnieku Square 1 has acquired a new, light extension dubbed the House of the Future.

As a result of the reconstruction, the Occupation Museum has acquired almost twice as much space, including new exhibition space, modern offices, specially equipped storage and archive rooms. The reconstruction project was based on the famed late architect Gunārs Birkerts’ concept—to add a light extension to the existing black museum building, finishing it off with a glass wall, creating a metaphor on Latvia’s history—from the dark past to the bright present to enlightened future.

The new complex will also include a new majestic 10-meter-high and 18-meter-wide memorial named The Touch of History commemorating the victims of the Soviet occupation—a symbolic link between the present-day Latvia and the tragic events of 1941, when 15,000 Latvian people were deported to Siberia.

The memorial features audiovisual effects designed by the artist Voldemārs Johansons. The information technology company Tilde provided an AI solution for the victims’ names to be synthesised and played back at the memorial. In front of the House of the Future facing the River Daugava, a small grove of birch trees has been planted—representing a common feature of Latvian landscape.

Overall, the redevelopment of the site saw investments worth €10,434,869 million, which included the reconstruction of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, erection of the memorial for the victims of the Soviet occupation, and an overall improvement of the Riflemen Square. The museum building and the memorial have been assigned a status of a sight of national interest, and the construction was supervised by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. Skonto Būve carried out construction works following the project designed by the architectural firm 5. iela. The authors of the artistic concept behind the memorial dubbed The Touch of History are Kristaps Ģelzis, Ilze Miķelsone, and Voldemārs Johansons representing the firm Taktila. Their sketch design was chosen as best by an international jury back in 2007.