Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Architects of the Tallinn School and the critique of Soviet modernism in Estonia

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602360802705171

1466-4410

Andres Kurg,

Urban Development and Cultural Heritage

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Conversation between Andres Kurg and Toomas Rein, 9th October, 2007. The participants in the exhibition were: Leonhard Lapin, Ju¨ri Okas, Toomas Rein, Veljo Kaasik, Avo-Himm Looveer, Jaan Ollik, Tiit Kaljundi, Andres Ringo, U¨levi Eljand, Harry Šein, Vilen Ku¨nnapu, Ain Padrik, Matti Õunapuu and Tõnis Vint. Lapin, Ku¨nnapu, Looveer and Eljand had studied architecture together in the same class at the Estonian State Art Institute (graduating in 1971); Šein and Kaljundi graduated from the same Institute a year later. A manifesto from 1972, ‘Programme for an Exhibition of New Architecture’, declaring that ‘in architecture, everything is permissible’ and that contemporary architecture had to represent new democracy, was signed by Kaljundi, Ku¨nnapu, Lapin, Looveer and Eljand. In 1976 Lapin had put together an exhibition on monumental art in the Tallinn Art Hall, including also a section on experimental environmental design that included Kaljundi, Lapin, Okas, Ku¨nnapu and Vint. Padrik, Rein, Ku¨nnapu, Okas, Ollik, Šein, Kaasik and Eljand worked together at the Collective Farm Design Office ‘EKE projekt’; among other works Looveer, Kaljundi, Lapin, Õunapuu and Šein were in 1973–1975 involved in the design of the Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre (for the 1980 Moscow Games). Leonhard Lapin (b. 1947) worked after graduation in the State Office for Heritage Protection and Restoration. This institution was influential for his interest in early modernist art and architecture. In 1975 he became a freelance artist and architect, exhibiting mostly print-works, but also paintings and ‘architectons’. He has designed single-family dwellings, been active as an exhibition designer, poet (under the name Albert Trapeež), art and architecture critic. From the late 1960s onwards he became interested in Kazimir Malevich's work and Suprematism; he was also in close contact with Malevich's student Pavel Kondratev during the 1970s. Leonhard Lapin, Pimeydestä valoon. Viron taiteen avantgarde neuvostomiehityksen aikana (Helsinki, Otava, 1996), p. 122. Preparatory protocol for the exhibition at the Academy of Sciences library, I meeting, February 1978. (Leonhard Lapin's archive.) Tõnu Karu, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, Sirp ja Vasar (9th June,1978). Ju¨ri Arrak, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, Sirp ja Vasar (9th June, 1978). Paul Härmson, ‘Kas tõesti tu¨hjusest?’, Sirp ja Vasar (23rd June,1978). Mart Port, ‘Ettekanne “Arhitektuur ja arhitektid arenevas u¨hiskonnas” ‘, Ehitus ja Arhitektuur, no 2/3 (1981), p. 18. Tiit Kaljundi mentions that the seizure of power in the Union was a conscious one, using all legal means to change things and that they did not want to adopt the dissident's position. Interview between Andres Kurg and Tiit Kaljundi, 17th July, 2007. Veljo Kaasik, ‘Mida arvata Venturist?’ in Arhitektuur. Kogumik ettekandeid, artikleid, vastukajasid, dokumente ja tõlkeid uuemast arhitektuurist (Tallinn, Leonhard Lapin's manuscript collection, 1979), p. 74. In 1973 Vilen Ku¨nnapu introduced Louis Kahn, James Sirling and Archigram, among others, under the title ‘Complex architecture’ in the cultural weekly Sirp ja Vasar. See: Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Keeruline arhitektuur’, Sirp ja Vasar (5th May,1973). A longer article by Ku¨nnapu on Louis Kahn was published in 1974 in the Estonian Art Review Kunst. See: Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Louis Kahn’, Kunst, no. 1, (45) (1974), pp. 48–52. A translation of an interview and article by Aldo Rossi is found in the self-published collection of articles from 1979: Arhitektuur. Kogumik ettekandeid, artikleid, vastukajasid, dokumente ja tõlkeid uuemast arhitektuurist, (Tallinn, manuscript collection, 1979), pp. 54–57. A translation of Rob Krier's article on city space was published in a manuscript collection in 1980. See: Rob Krier, ‘Linnaruum’ in Tallinna Seminar, ENSV Arhitektide Liit (Tallinn, manuscript collection, 1980), pp. 101–107. A longer overview of American Postmodernism of the 1970s including Michael Graves, Charles Moore, Peter Eisenman, Robert Venturi, is in: Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Keerulise ja vastuolulise arhitektuuri probleeme’, Ehituskunst no 1 (1981), pp. 48–52. Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Ku¨mme arhitekti Tallinna kunstisalongis’, Kunst, no 2 (62) (1983). In a text from 1972, ‘A Proposal’, that describes the possibilities of decorating the city through spontaneous interventions, Vilen Ku¨nnapu and Juhan Viiding write: ‘There is no point to forbid your kids from writing on the pavement and the walls of the houses. The network of lines by a child's hand is a property of the street and the house.’ See: Vilen Ku¨nnapu, Juhan Viiding, ‘Ettepanek’ in V. Ku¨nnapu, U¨le Punase Jõe. Valitud tekste 1972–2001 (Tallinn, Tallinna tehnikakõrgkool, 2001), p. 12. The text was initially published in Sirp ja Vasar, but this sentence was omitted: see: V. Ku¨nnapu, J. Viiding,. ‘Ettepanek’, Sirp ja Vasar (1st September, 1972.) The term ‘Postmodernism’ emerged in architectural discussions in Estonia at the end of 1970s. In a diagram from 1979, on the development of architectural styles in the twentieth century, Lapin uses Postmodernism as a common term for architectural currents at the end of the twentieth century (combining neorationalism, neofunctionalism, structuralism). The diagram was published in 1981 in the Estonian architectural journal Ehituskunst: Leonhard Lapin, ‘Arengujooni Eesti seitsmeku¨mnendate aastate arhitektuuris’, Ehituskunst, no. 1 (1981), p. 10. In the same issue Vilen Ku¨nnapu explained ‘Postmodernism’ in a footnote to his review of American architecture as a term that has been ‘interpreted in different ways. Recently its meaning has broadened to include all neo-historicist architecture’. See: Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Keerulise ja vastuolulise arhitektuuri probleeme’, Ehituskunst, no. 1 (1981), pp. 48–52. In a recent interview, Juhani Pallasmaa dated the intense discussions on Postmodernist architecture in Finland to 1979–80; he points out the exhibitions in 1980 at the Museum of Finnish Architecture that contributed to the discussions: ‘Creation and Recreation. America Draws’, an exhibition of American architectural drawings and ‘Symbol and Interpretation’, an exhibition of Cranbrook Academy design students' work, curated by Daniel Libeskind. According to Pallasmaa the catalogues of the exhibitions were studied also by the Tallinn architects. See, Andres Kurg, interview with Juhani Pallasmaa regarding his relationship with the Tallinn architects: Andres Kurg, Mari Laanemets, eds, ‘Environment, projects, concepts. Architects of the Tallinn School 1972–1985 (Tallinn, Museum of Estonian Architecture, 2008). Ku¨nnapu also mentions the exhibition of the Cranbrook Academy students in his article in Ehituskunst, op. cit. For overviews of the Tallinn School see:Yhdeksän arkkitehtia Tallinnasta (‘Nine Architects from Tallinn’), ed., Markku Komonen (Helsinki, Museum of Finnish Architecture, 1984); Tio arkitekter fran Tallinn, ed., Karin Winter (Stockholm, Museum of Swedish Architecture, 1990); ‘Neuf architectes de Tallinn’, Architecture d'aujourd'hui (September, 1984); ‘Neun Architekten aus Tallinn’, Werk, Bauen+Wohnen No. 6 (1985); Silvia Milesi, ‘Fra integrazionalismo e regionalismo. Alcuni giovani architetti di Tallinn’, Casabella, 529 (1986); Benedikt Loderer, ‘Tallinner Schule’: Aufbruch in Estland’ in Hochparterre. Zeitschrift fu¨r Design, Architektur und Umwelt, 6 (June, 1989). The second national awakening refers to a period from 1987, when together with the overall liberation of Soviet perestroika demands for local autonomy and independence emerged in Estonia, to 1991 when the country was declared independent. It also implies a continuum with the first national liberation movement from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, leading to the independent Estonian Republic of the interwar years (1918–1940). Leonhard Lapin, ‘Funktsionalism Eesti uuemas arhitektuuris’, Kunst, no 1 (55) (1979). The name Tallinn School was given by Arkkitehti's editor Markku Komonen, in his introduction to the article. See: Leonhard Lapin, ‘Funktionalismi Eestin uudessa arkkitehtuurissa’, Arkkitehti, no. 3 (1980), pp. 53–58. This is how Lapin calls official architecture. See, eg: Leonhard Lapin, ‘Arengujooni Eesti 1970. aastate arhitektuuris’, Ehituskunst, 1 (1981). This critique owes much to the contacts of the Tallinn School with the generation of young Finnish architects in the late 1960s and 1970s. See: Andres Kurg, interview with Juhani Pallasmaa regarding his relationship with the Tallinn architects; Andres Kurg, Mari Laanemets, eds, Environment, projects, concepts. Architects of the Tallinn School 1972–1985 (Tallinn, Museum of Estonian Architecture, 2008). Leonhard Lapin, ‘Funktsionalism Eesti uuemas arhitektuuris’, Kunst, no. 1 (55) (1979). Ibid. This is how Vilen Ku¨nnapu characterises the architecture of James Stirling, Alison and Peter Smithson and Archigram, amongst others: see, Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Keeruline arhitektuur’, Sirp ja Vasar (5th May, 1973). Leonhard Lapin, Arengujooni Eesti 1970. aastate arhitektuuris, op. cit. Krista Kodres, ‘Valged majad on midagi muud’ in Teisiti. Funktsionalism ja neofunktsionalism Eesti arhitektuuris (Tallinn, Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, 1993). Arhitekt Avo-Himm Looveer, eds, Jaan Ollik, Karin Hallas-Murula (Tallinn, Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, 2003), p. 20. Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Tänav’, U¨le Punase Jõe. Valitud tekste 1972–2001 (Tallinn, Tallinna tehnikakõrgkool, 2001), p. 62. Krista Kodres, Valged majad on midagi muud, op. cit., p. 28. Ibid., p. 31. Harry Šein, ‘Tu¨hjusest, millest siis muust’, Sirp ja Vasar (25th August,1978). Ibid. Alan Colquhoun, Modern Architecture. Oxford History of Art (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 222. The title ‘People's Architect of the Soviet Union’ was an honorary rank, given to selected architects in the USSR; in Soviet Estonia the title was given to Mart Port. A lower and more common honorary rank was ‘Soviet Estonian Merited Architect’. Harry Šein, Tu¨hjusest, millest siis muust, op. cit. Mati Heidmets, ‘Linn inimeses’ (‘City inside the Human Being’), Looming, no 4 (1978), p. 630. Ibid., p. 631. Ignar Fjuk, ‘Inimeselinn ehk edasiviivast alalhoidlikkusest’ (‘The Human City or On Progressive Conservatism’), Ehituskunst, 1 (1981), pp. 22–27. Krista Kodres, ‘Valged majad on midagi muud’, op. cit., p. 29. Leonhard Lapin, ‘Masinaajastu ja kunst’, Kultuur ja Elu, no. 9 (1973), p. 56. Leonhard Lapin, ‘Arengujooni Eesti 1970. aastate arhitektuuris’, op. cit., p. 21. This is how Simon Sadler has described Archigram: see, Simon Sadler, ‘Archigram and Technocracy’ in Universal versus Individual. The Architecture of the 1960s, eds, Pekka Korvenmaa, Esa Laaskonen (Alvar Aalto Academy, 2002), pp. 86–89. Mati Unt, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, Sirp ja Vasar (9th June,1978). Vilen Ku¨nnapu, ‘Keeruline arhitektuur’, op. cit. Veljo Kaasik, ‘Mida arvata Venturist?’, op. cit., p. 75. Veljo Kaasik, ‘Venturi ja Me’, Ehituskunst, nos 2–3 (1982–1983), p. 60. Ibid. The work presents the exchange of letters with corresponding dates: client's preliminary sketch is followed by the architect's proposal, followed by the client's critique. The architect answers by ‘making twists and turns’ (in order not to follow the critique directly; but also to make the programme more complex). The house was built in Tartu, Nisu 48; according to Veljo Kaasik the choice of the experimental façade bricks was by the client (who was a physicist by training) and Kaasik himself did not supervise the completion of the project. Hal Foster, The Return of the Real (Cambridge, Mass., The MIT Press, 1996), p. 60. Enn Siimer, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, Sirp ja Vasar (9th June,1978). Mihkel Mutt, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, Sirp ja Vasar (9th June,1978). Interview between Andres Kurg and Tiit Kaljundiga, 17th July, 2007. The book of opinions and inscriptions on the Architectural exhibition, 1978.(Tiit Kaljundi's archive.) Ibid. Mati Unt, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’, op. cit. My attempt here to find a way out from the binary is a paraphrase from Felicity D. Scott: ‘To refuse the dualism of melancholy versus uncritical techno-optimism, I want to adopt a central lesson from these interconnected theoretical lineages: capitalism can be understood to resolve all contradictions only if we continue to regard the dialectic itself as the sole mechanism of historical transformation.’; Felicity D. Scott, Architecture or Techno-utopia. Politics after modernism (Cambridge, Mass., The MIT Press, 2007), pp. 10–11. Ibid., p. 265. The Japan Architect magazine was available for readers at the Estonian State Library in Tallinn from 1971; in 1975 Tiit Kaljundi submitted a project for the magazine's competition ‘House for a Superstar’, where the participants had to design a residential building for a celebrity of their choice. Kaljundi's proposal was a house for the popular American paediatrician Benjamin Spock whose theories were a radical contrast to the ones prevailing in the Soviet Union. Through translations he became known and extremely popular in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s. Baby and Child Care was the first title available in Russian; in 1976 it was translated into Estonian and became an instant bestseller. Kaljundi used a parallel between the different stages of human life and the different parts of space: the house was meant to grow out of the landscape, symbolising birth, childhood, youth, self-definition, the era of deeds, memory, eternity. The winners of the 1975 Japan Architect competition were chosen by Arata Isozaki; the first prize went to Tom Heneghan for his conceptual project ‘Raquel Welch House’, where the house of the superstar, herself a product of the mass media, existed also only in a media form, as a press release and images in a journal; the second prize went to Hans Hollein who, significantly for the context of Lapin's work, proposed a mausoleum for Aristotle Onassis. Conversation between Andres Kurg and Ju¨ri Okas, 4th August, 2005. Conversation between Andres Kurg and Leonhard Lapin, 28th July, 2005. Lapin's reference to Pruitt-Igoe as well as his diagrams (see Note 15 above) show his familiarity with Charles Jencks's influential book The Language of Post-Modern Architecture (1977); there are, however, no direct references to Jencks in the writings of architects before the 1980s. Mati Unt, ‘Su¨gisball’, Looming, no. 9 (1978), p. 1433. Interview between Andres Kurg and Tiit Kaljundi, 17th July, 2007. Mati Unt, ‘Arhitektuurinäitus’ (‘Architectural exhibition’), Sirp ja Vasar (9th June, 1978). Triin Ojari, ‘Modernismi parameetrid: Mustamäe kujunemisest’, in Ku¨mme. Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseumi aastaraamat (Tallinn, Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, 2000), p. 61. Sigmund Freud, ‘The Uncanny’ in Art and Literature. The Pelican Freud Library Volume 14 (London, Penguin Books, 1985), p. 345.