Open today 11–18
Collection’s diary

Mart Port, 1956. EAM 10.4.12

Visit to the Building Ceramics’ Factories in Kyiv

The aim of Mart Port’s creative business trip (1956) was to study whether it would be possible to increase the quality and speed of industrial construction in the field of intensified mass housing construction. During the month-long trip, he passed various cities on his way from Tallinn to Ukraine and back: Riga, Kaunas, Vilnius, Lviv, Ushgorod, Kyiv. In the report of the business trip, the architect concludes that in Latvia and Lithuania, for example, the construction methods related to the construction of mass housing are quite similar here, but the tiles used for the exterior façades, which were produced in Kyiv, deserve special attention. From there he took detailed pictures for the report. He was particularly impressed by the lining of local clay tiles of the “Kabanchyk” type, developed at the Kyiv Academy of Architecture. The “kabanchyks” were light tiles, partly hollow, which were installed on the wall using small and hanging scaffoldings. The architect already knew that in Estonia it is possible to obtain the white clay needed for its production from the Joosu quarry in Võru County. During the trip, he visited the Keramik and Keramblok ceramic tile factories and the red clay mine of the latter. The Ukrainians, who have a long tradition in the clay industry and building ceramics, also introduced him to a experimental ceramics plant under construction at the Kiev Academy of Architecture, where new prototypes used in construction were completed. In the report, he pointed out that knowledge was shared bilaterally. The builders of Kyiv, Minsk, Vilnius and Riga had got acquainted with the method of covering the walls with granite plaster used in Tallinn and praised the innovativeness of this method. Text: Sandra Mälk

Alar Kotli, 1933–1936. EAM 2.11.15

Reconstruction of the Toompea Castle and the castle garden

The aspiration for representability that began in the second half of the 1930s made its way to architecture via state buildings, manifesting in the use of traditional forms and details. The Estonian government, which had centred around Toompea, reconstructed the southern wing of Toompea Castle and the Governor’s Garden in front of it, opting for a Neo-Baroque style that harmonised with the 18th-century Late Baroque look of the front of the castle. The supporting wall of the Governor’s Garden also received a fresh look. The Coloured copy in watercolour technique was added to the museum collection in 1991. Text: Sandra Mälk

Mart Port, 1972–1973. EAM 52.4.2

Visions of Tallinn Olympic Sailing Center

Major design work preceded the sailing regatta of the 1980 Olympic Games in Tallinn. The Pirita estuary was redesigned to serve the public and sailors. As the local architects had little experience in creating a building complex that meets the requirements of the Olympic Games, the then city architect Dmitri Bruns decided to travel to Kiel, Germany, where the 1972 Olympic regatta was held, together with Mart Port, chief architect of the Estonian Project, and Urmo Kala, deputy chairman of the sports committee. There, with the kind assistance of the German colleagues the group got acquainted with the construction of the Olympic Sailing Center in Schilksee. The knowledge gained allowed us to announce an architectural competition in 1973 to find a project for the Pirita Sailing Center in which 12 works were submitted. The accompanying visualization comes from an album of Mart Port’s works and was probably part of a set of projects submitted to the competition but not awarded. The hotel has a hotel-bar-restaurant for athletes and guests at the forefront, and of course the Olympic light tower is centrally located in the complex. Like the Schilksee sailing center, the buildings have been built in stages. While in the lower picture the pier edge is used by holidaymakers, in the upper picture the tone is set by cars, which are probably influenced by Western magazines. The design features modern American cars, including the sporty-looking Dodge Challenger. The album was donated to the museum by Heldi Toom in 2014. Text: Sandra Mälk

Tiiu Argus, 1966. EAM 4.2.3

Five-storey apartment building in Mustamäe, Tallinn

The Mustamäe district, which was erected in Tallinn in the 1960s, was divided up into microdistricts that were designed to accommodate 6,000–10,000 residents. The monolithic form of the panel apartment blocks designed for the second microdistrict is based on the development of prefabricated panels, permitting the construction of buildings with five or more storeys, not just four storeys like before. In the context of the depreciated housing options at the time and before the microdistricts became dormitory suburbs, the first panel apartment blocks that dominated the landscape looked innovative. They were thought to display a community effect and bring neighbours closer together. This ink drawing was given to the museum by design office Eesti Projekt in 1992. Text: Sandra Mälk

Lidia Pettai, 1961. EAM 15.4.150

Seaside park in Tallinn

60 years ago, the opening of the Tallinn sea border was under discussion with the intention of turning it into a green area with port facilities. Back then, In the 1960s, and primarily at Finland’s initiative, plans were made to clear up all the areas surrounding the port with regard to the reopening of the Tallinn-Helsinki seaway and the construction of the passenger port. The seaside area – in the immediate proximity of Old Town – was partly in the military zone and opening it up to the city became a lively issue. Although, only a handful of buildings were fixed up during the Soviet era. New buildings were due to be constructed in the densely built-up industrial area together with the main park road that was in the direction of Mere Boulevard (No. 1), such as the beach café (7), the port building (3) and children’s playgrounds (8).  A team of architects worked with the design at the Eesti Tööstusprojekt. Kalju Vanaselja designed the buildings and H. Parmasto behind the schemes of coastal reinforcements. The plan was designed by architect Lidia Pettai, whose watercoloured work was given to the museum in 2012 by Reet Priilaht. Text: Sandra Mälk

Valve Pormeister, 1979. EAM MK 248

EMA 30 / Tiny tour of models: Estonian Agricultural Academy (currently Estonian University of Life Sciences) in Tartu

The construction of the new building complex for the Estonian Agricultural Academy in Tähtvere at the north-western border of Tartu was already launched in the 1960s. The Faculty of Forestry and Agricultural Mechanics building, designed by architect Valve Pormeister, was completed in 1983. This was one of the largest new buildings in Tartu, and the one with the most complex layout. The building consists of two contrasting structures intersected by three trapezium-shaped courtyards. The stepped main facade is articulated by round windowless stairwell towers, while the part of the building facing the river has a more laconic design. The massive circular auditorium was never built. The model was handed to the museum by the Estonian University of Life Sciences in 2019. Text: Anne Lass

Anton Klevchshinsky, Feodor Yenakiyev, 1892–1893. Scale model: J. Kangro, K. Asik (woodwork), Krasimoshev, O. Sakker (metalwork), 1899. EAM MK 61

EAM 30 / Tiny tour of models: Tallinn harbour grain elevator

In 1893, a huge 6-storey limestone grain elevator with a 30-metre tower was completed on Viktoria quay at the harbour in Tallinn. At the time it was one of the largest and most modern in tsarist Russia, holding more than 3,000 tons of grain that could be mechanically loaded directly from wagons to ships. The elevator was designed by architect and academic Anton Klevchshinsky and engineer Feodor Yenakiyev, both from St Petersburg. A model of the building was completed in 1899 and was shown a year later at the 1900 Paris Exposition. The model is extremely detailed, there are various mechanisms in the interior that were originally able to move. The scale model’s journey to the Museum of Estonian Architecture has been a long one. After the exposition in Paris it was given to the Museum of the Ministry of Transport in St Petersburg. In 1971, the model came to Estonia and for 30 years was on display at the Railway Museum in the main building of Baltic Station. From there it found its way to the Estonian History Museum which, in 2000, donated the model to the Estonian Museum of Architecture. The model was restored by Kanut restorers. Text: Anne Lass