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Collection’s diary

Ernst Kesa, 1970. EAM 12.1.1

Nauru House in Melbourne

The design for the 52-storey skyscraper was commissioned by the government of the small island country of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean after rapid increase in wealth thanks to the phosphate industry. The building became an international investment project which was also due to house the residency of the president of Nauru. The skyscraper on the presentable Collins Street in Melbourne was the highest building in the city in 1977 and was designed by the largest architecture office in Australia – Perrott Lyon Timlock & Kesa. The managing architect of the Nauru project was Ernst Kesa, who emigrated from Estonia during the war and also drew up a perspective view of the building. Ernst Kesa donated this drawing on the tracing paper made with ink to the museum in 1992. Text: Sandra Mälk 

Leila Pärtelpoeg, 1973–1978. EAM 4.3.7

Interior design of the Tallinn Town Hall

During the renovation of the oldest Gothic town hall which has been preserved in Northern Europe (completed in the beginning of the 15th century), a competition was held to find a fitting interior design for the historic surroundings. Some of the decision-makers believed the winning solution by interior architect Leila Pärtelpoeg with its heavy black furniture, high gloss doors and copper lamp globes to be much too competitive with the historical legacy. Others, however, saw the tension between new and old as an expected means to invigorate the room. The drawings depict medieval festivities in the trading hall and the guild-hall with historical chandeliers and side reliefs. Leila Pärtelpoeg donated nearly 50 drawings of the furniture and interior design to the museum in 2000. Text: Sandra Mälk

Harald Krannhals, 1926. EAM 1.2.43

Album of Villa Ammende

The newest addition to the museum collection is related to the well-known Art Nouveau villa in Estonia. The album of Villa Ammende in Pärnu (architect Frithiof Mieritz, 1904) is exceptional not only for its photos of large variety of exteriors and interiors but as well as for some of the pictures taken from unusual places such as the kitchen with its staff, backyard and greenhouse depicting fruity grapes. The album shows the life and living manners of the family of a prosperous merchant displaying splendid furniture, textiles and items.

The album, lately owned by Irina Mirkov – the grandchild of Hermann Leopold Ammende – was put together for selling the house. Mr Ammende, an established merchant from Pärnu, commissioned the building from an architecture office in St Petersburg called Mieritz & Gerassimov for the wedding party of his daughter Ellen. After the festivities, the family used the luxurious house as a summer cottage until moving back to Germany in 1927.The pictures taken in 1926 are made by Harald Krannhals, the photographer from Pärnu. Addition to his work are pictures taken by Mihkel Õnnis some years later. Altogether 21 photos show some typical deteriorations happen in time. The dim areas of the photos have spots of silver coating. The album was given to the museum by Aivar Roosaar, who was involved in restoration of the villa (1995–1999). The gift shall be a befitting addition to the original project previously given to the museum (EAM 1.2.11). Text: Sandra Mälk

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Mart Port, 1962. EAM 52.2.11

Competition entry for the observation and water tower in Mustamäe

The quality of the entry submitted for the competition for the observation and water tower that was due to serve the Mustamäe district in Tallinn lies in its pure technically engineered form. The modern concave roof of the lookout platform was possible thanks to the use of reinforced concrete. The area was under intense development at the time: the ski jumping tower on top of a hill slope in Mustamäe had been completed a year earlier and there were plans to build the campus of the university of technology at its foot. The perspective view shows an architectural drawing style that was common at the beginning of the decade where the classical watercolour and ink drawing has been completed using a wide dark-coloured felt-tip pen. The tower was never built. The drawings from Mart Port´s home archive were given to the museum by his family. Text: Sandra Mälk

Kalle Vellevoog, Velle Kadalipp, 1994. EAM 5.4.76

Competition entry for the Art Museum of Estonia

Based on the location of the project, the authors of the entry “Pont du Parc” saw an opportunity to bring the two districts – Kadriorg and its Baroque park and Lasnamäe with its Soviet-era panel apartment blocks – closer together. The main volume of the Art Museum stretches across the limestone clint in Lasnamäe, thus bridging the two districts with different historical narratives. The elongated main building houses the majority of the exhibition spaces, whereas the round part was designed for storage and service rooms. An axonometric bird’s-eye view of the building in its topographically unique location highlights the “bridge” message between the two areas. The museum was built according to the winning entry by Pekka Vapaavouri, nevertheless the idea of carving through the limestone has leaked to the design of the memorial to victims of communism in Maarjamäe (Kalle Vellevoog, Jaan Tiidemann, Tiiu Truus). The collage was donated to the museum in 2015 by architect Kalle Vellevoog. Text: Sandra Mälk

Eesti Maaehitusprojekt (Estonian Rural Design), 1980s. MEA

Standard designs of Eesti Maaehitusprojekt

Like previously introduced “EKE Projekt” the design institute “Eesti Maaehitusprojekt” (EMP, Estonian Rural Design) also prepared plans for rural settings, starting from 1951. Designs for this widespread bureau included dwellings alongside with greenhouses and sheds. A summer cottage with a shed and a greenhouse named “A85-8” by architects Ado and Niina Eigi was part of a larger collection from series “A-85” by various architects. This 25,5 m2 building with rectangular layout came with a storage-attached greenhouse. It consists mostly of a kitchen and a living room with sleeping area. There is also a small bedroom on the upper floor below the narrow angled roof. A possibilty is offered to build either a veranda or a terrace on the shorter side of the house. Family dwelling “Puravik” (named after Boletus mushrooms) from the same period was designed by architect Priit Kaljapulk in 1989. It has a fully built basement and consists of six rooms for living, in addition of such spaces as pantry and sauna. Other models designed at the same time were named in a similarly interesting style such as “Bruce”, “No-Spa” and “Programm”. The museum has collection of over 20 leaflets made for “EMP”. Text: Maria Pöppönen

EKE Projekt, 1970–1980. MEA

Standard designs of houses and summer cottages

The “EKE Projekt” was founded by inter-collective-farm construction company in 1966; it was based on co-operative ownership that lasted for 1992. The bureau was focused on rural architecture. Here on four hand-outs are some of the buildings designed by “EKE Projekt” to help homeowners and cooperatives pick a house. The project’s plans varied – from dwellings to shops and root cellars.
One of the main ideas of the prefabricated cabin Raul was to be easily built (engineer Rein Randväli). Known for its triangular structure, this small building had two levels: lower of which included living room, kitchenette and a toilet, and a small loft as the second floor. The family house and shop Raja-3 (architect Ants Mellik) had two functions combined. On the plan, the shop – along with the kitchen, family room, and garage – were situated on the ground floor, whereas the basement was used for storage space, sauna and utility rooms and the upper floor for bedrooms. Standard project for the one-family dwelling Ants-5 with five rooms comes from a rather popular series in the 1980s (designed by Ants Mellik). The façade of the house was covered by a combination of silicate and wooden lining. Ants-5 had various models, which differed – for example – by the structures of their basements. The vegetable cellar for one-family building (Toomas Lukk, Ants Mellik and Jaan Mõttus) was designed to be partially underground. This cement built cellar came in five variable sizes, smaller models meant for families to use and larger to store root vegetables also for sale. The roof could be covered with humus soil or grass. There are about 100 of these hand-outs of designs made in “EKE Projekt” in the museum collection. Text: Maria Pöppönen