On 10 June 2021, we will be opening the exhibition “The Houses That We Need” in the Rotermann Salt Storage and celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Museum of Estonian Architecture.
“The Houses That We Need” is an unprecedented group exhibition, the theme of which is nothing short of all of humankind and its future. The exhibition talks about global dangers that are becoming ever more real – whether self-inflicted or beyond our control.
The Museum of Estonian Architecture asks: What kinds of houses do we need? The 16 architects and artists invited to take part in the museum’s 30th anniversary exhibition were asked to design a notional house with the aim of ensuring a more beautiful, secure and peaceful future on planet Earth. What kinds of fantastic, utopian, ironic, or, conversely, critical and pragmatic solutions do architects and designers propose when someone gives them a chance to think without restrictions?
These are the houses that we need.
You can see a selection of images here.
According to Triin Ojari, the director of the Museum of Architecture, the museum cannot escape the subject of houses – what should houses be like so that our desire for a better world could come true? “We have not heard from any architect-visionaries for a long time, so we gave them the task of just dreaming,” Ojari said of how the exhibition titled “The Houses That We Need” came to be. “The title can be seen both as a serious affirmation that (ever) new houses are necessary, while also doubting whether the houses are needed or whether those that are offered are really necessary. Fantasies cannot be commissioned, they are born when our inner fascination and the outer world clash; we wanted to capture this creative moment and exhibit it,” opines Triin Ojari.
According to Jarmo Kauge, the curator of the exhibition, the content of this game of thought is the entirety of humankind in its current and future space-time – and one imaginary building, notionally a house, which, via the rules of the game, we give an unrealistic ability to direct the future of humankind to a considerable extent.
Taking part in the exhibition are Anna-Liisa Unt, The School of Architecture, b210, Elina Liiva and Helena Rummo, Johanna Jõekalda and Artur Staškevitš, Kadarik Tüür Architects, KUIDAS, Leonhard Lapin, LLRRLLRR, Margit Mutso and Inke-Brett Eek, molumba, PART, Raoul Kurvitz, and Stuudio Tallinn.
The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, where animal ecologist Tuul Sepp and architect Kalle Komissarov also discuss the same topic.
Curator: Jarmo Kauge
Interior designers: Eva Kedelauk and Kristel Niisuke (NIKITA ATIKIN)
Graphic designer: Margus Tamm
Supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia
The exhibition is open until 21 November 2021
