Growing up in Kaunas, Lithuania, he loved to spend time drawing and painting. Some of his work featured in exhibitions. The urge to combine creativity with his talent for maths and his interest in 3D structures led him to study architecture in Vilnius.
An Erasmus plus grant enabled him to work as an intern at an architectural firm in Madrid, Spain. Moving to Delft for a master at the TU rejoined him with classmates from Vilnius. He chose to focus on the design of public buildings and for his graduation project he took part in a studio working on the concept of ‘border conditions’. The studio picked Armenia and Yerevan city as a location of study. He focussed on the theme of privacy and perpetual surveillance, which was present due to the presence of military vases throughout the city. Rather than solving the problems the design drew attention to it. The titel was:“An apparatus to seclude and unveil”.
After a few years working for two firms in Rotterdam where he designed mostly housing and high-end residencies, Mantas chose to look for a firm that built for the public sector, ending up at ZJA.
‘What really pleases me is the open and friendly atmosphere in which the work is done. It is a perfect place to learn about things that are new to me, like buildings for sports facilities or bridges for example.’
As a hobby Mantas is interested in 3D visuals and often creates 3D visualisations for interiors and architecture. Currently his spare time is spent renovating his new home on IJburg, Amsterdam. He likes to run and workout as he finds it as a way to clear the mind and stay active.