{{for|another place which was named Lazdynai|Krasnoznamensk, Kaliningrad Oblast}}
{{Infobox settlement <!--more fields are available for this Infobox--See Template:Infobox Settlement--> |name = Lazdynai |settlement_type = Eldership |image_skyline = Lazdynai by Augustas Didzgalvis.jpg |image_caption = Aerial view of Lazdynai |image_map = Vilniaus lazdynai.png |pushpin_map = Lithuania |pushpin_label_position = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none --> |pushpin_map_caption = Location of Lazdynai |coordinates = | |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = {{LTU}} |subdivision_type2= County |subdivision_name2= 20px Vilnius County |subdivision_type3= Municipality |subdivision_name3= Vilnius city municipality |established_title= |established_date = |population_total = 30,945 |population_as_of = 2021 |population_footnotes = <ref>[https://osp.stat.gov.lt/en/gyventoju-ir-bustu-surasymai1 gyventojų ir būstų surašymas]</ref> |area_total_km2 = 9.9 |population_density_km2 = auto |timezone=EET |utc_offset=+2 |timezone_DST=EEST |utc_offset_DST=+3 }}
'''Lazdynai''' ({{langx|lt|Lazdynų seniūnija, Lazdynai}}) is an eldership of Vilnius, Lithuania, situated on the right bank of the Neris River. It covers a area of {{convert|9.9|km2}} and has a population of 31,097 (according to the 2011 census). The word means "hazel bushes" in Lithuanian.
==History== [[File:Leszczyniaki.png|thumb|left|1893 map of the area from the Russian Empire ]] Since the 1950s, the Baltic states experienced fast population growth and faced housing shortages. When Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev put forth his program of fast residential construction, based on prefabricated panel buildings dubbed ''khrushchovkas'', it threatened the integrity of the well-preserved historical style of Vilnius. A group of architects struggled against the intrusion of ''khrushchovkas'' into the historical city center. Eventually they were awarded with the project to build a satellite city outside Vilnius. The chosen area was close to a Polish village of Leszczyniaki or Lazdynai in Lithuanian,<ref name=bt/> situated southeast of old Vilnius.<ref group=notes>Both names, Leszczyniaki and Lazdynai apparently derive from the word for "hazelnut tree": Polish ''leszczyna'' and Lithuanian ''lazdynas''. In Polish the term ''leszczyniak'' (singular for "leszczyniaki") also means "a person from Leszno or Leszno Voivodeship", see, e.g., the usage [http://polskalokalna.pl/wiadomosci/wielkopolskie/leszno/news/leszczyniacy-oklaskiwali-kaczynskiego,1237901 here]).</ref>
The architects decided to go against the Soviet architectural style and based their design on study of the architecture of Finland. Initially the authorities monitored the project with suspicion, but eventually it was accepted, and in 1974 the leading figures of the Lazdynai project (architects Vytautas Čekanauskas, {{ill|Vytautas Brėdikis|lt}}, {{ill|Vytautas Balčiūnas|lt|Vytautas Kazimieras Balčiūnas}}, and Gediminas Valiuškis and engineers {{ill|Algimantas Kleinotas|lt}} and Vincentas Šileika) were awarded the Lenin Prize in architecture.<ref name=bt>Becker, Sven (November 23, 2005). [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/14075/ "The architectural battleground for Lithuanian independence"], The Baltic Times</ref>
==See also== *Vilnius Minties Gymnasium
==Notes== <references group="notes"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Vilnius elderates}}
Category:Neighbourhoods of Vilnius