All roads lead to Tallinn

Estonia The debate on what kind of country Estonia is - Scandinavian or Baltic - continues to rage, but when it comes to architecture the answer is clear: both. Between September 8th and 11th the first international Tallinn Architecture Biennale took place, offering a variety of events, such as exhibitions, a vision competition, a symposium, lectures, discussions, workshops and guided tours of various quarters of the Estonian capital. Contemporary Estonian architecture is often regarded these days as one of the most remarkable to watch, but interestingly enough it is still keeping a low profile. But the message is clear: things are now starting to change.
Fresh start
"One and a half years ago I became the vice-chairman of the Union of Estonian Architects. My responsibilities included the organising of events and publications. Estonia lacked an international architectural event back then. This year the Union of Estonian Architects also celebrates its 90th birthday," explains Villem Tomiste, the curator of TAB. The anniversary, amongst others, was a good occasion to start work on a somewhat bigger event. The leading force behind TAB is the Estonian Center of Architecture, a relatively young organisation devoted, amongst other activities, to promoting Estonian architecture internationally.
Interestingly enough, the Biennale somewhat carries on the tradition of the Triennial that started in the 90s, but was discontinued six years ago. Its ambition is to become the most important architecture forum for the Baltic and Nordic States. With TAB the Estonian Centre of Architecture aimed to establish an architectural forum that would take place alternately with the Venice Biennale. The aim is on the one hand to offer a broad-based discussion platform for architects on currently prevailing topics in the world and on the other hand to bring architecture and architects closer to a wider audience in Estonia.
The first TAB concentrated on the issues of architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism, gathered under the title ?landscape urbanism'. The Biennale was divided into three main events: the Landscape Urbanism symposium, 11FLIRTS (the main exhibition) and the STREET 2020 vision competition. Invited guests and lecturers included architects from the UK, France, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Estonia.
Handing out the business cards
What do the guests of the event have to say? "The programme was very intense and interesting," says Jan Skolimowski of the Tallinn-based KAMP Arhitektid design practice. "The nice thing about TAB," he adds, "is that the various events took place in locations that are not in active use anymore, but yet are very interesting architecturally. The Linnahall (The Townhall) and the industrial sites by the sea are just a few examples. I liked it that TAB is promoting Tallinn as a sea city, bringing more people to the Baltic. I found TAB very useful for me as an architect. People were networking and talking and new ideas emerged out of these casual conversations at the end of the day."
According to the organisers, TAB is not just a business mixer for architects and investors. In the opinion of Katrin Koov, the curator of the symposium: "The Biennale is concentrated more on being generally educative and professional development - we don't do trade fair-style business here. Many exhibitions are connected to the Biennale, as well as installations and lectures that explore the boundaries of the subject and look into how cities, villages, houses and landscapes will develop in the future. The business component is important to discourage architects from acting alone and instead work together with clients, so that the discussion on future trends takes place on a wider scale rather than just between a small circle of professionals."
And what of the future? For the organisers freshness, not only in terms of the unusual locations for the various events, will remain crucial. "In the opinion of the current team, TAB should each time be organised by a different group of people who would present a new vision for the project. This would be interesting, sustainable and should ensure the necessary contemporariness," believes Villem Tomiste.
Mladen Petrov