venice architecture biennale 2010 preview: estonia pavilion

‘100 houses’, estonia pavilion, venice architecture biennale 2010 ‘villa v’ in pääskülas by markus kaasik, andres ojari, ilmar valdur of 3+1 arhitektid all images courtesy of estonian centre of architecture

at this year’s venice architecture biennale, estonia will present an exhibition entitled ‘100 houses’ which explores local architectural practices, introducing estonian architectural life through the narrow sphere of private residential dwellings.

in local architecture literature, private residences have repeatedly been affectionately called ‘the quality mark of estonian architecture’. the country’s local building practices differ greatly from the rest of europe in regards to the proportion of special commissions and standardized projects. while preparing the estonian exposition, one of the objectives became highlighting the ratio between the number of ‘catalogue houses’ and residences based on specially commissioned project. the result in estonia was a small percentage of standardized projects – approximately 10 percent of local private residences are ‘catalogue houses’. one cannot assume that the remaining 90 percent represent first-class residential architecture, but a number of high-quality architecture still emerge from such a large number of projects.

‘villa v’ exterior and interior shots

‘villa v’ (top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

there are many young architects working and residing in estonia, where it is easier to enter the labor market in comparison to older european countries. this is one of the reasons why there is a large number of specially commissioned residences in the country – based on the population and construction activity. there are also many young clients who are open to experimentation, freed of run-of-the-mill concepts and opposed to cookie-cutter housing. of the hundred residences included in the exhibition, at least half were designed by architects under the age of 40 at the time in which the buildings were designed. private commissions are also encouraged by the one-sided, young and still totally undeveloped standardized housing market.

as a means of demonstrating historical continuity and the position of private residential architecture within the local architectural scene, ‘100 houses’ includes private residences with iconic meanings from the period of the first estonian republic and soviet era.

‘private residence in nõmme’ by jaan ollik completion date: 2000

‘private residence in nõmme’ exterior and interior shots

‘private residence in nõmme’ (top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘villa in miiduranna’ by emil urbel and indrek erm of AB emil urbel completion date: 2001

‘villa in miiduranna’ exterior and interior shots

‘villa in miiduranna’ (top) second floor plan (middle) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘villa in rohuneeme’ in pringi village by raivo puusepp completion date: 2002

‘villa in rohuneeme’ exterior shot

‘villa in rohuneeme’ (left) ground floor plan (right) first floor plan

‘architect’s residence’ by kalle rõõmus completion date 2002

‘architects residence’ interior shot

‘architect’s residence’ (top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘villa behind the monastry’ in padise by indrek allmann completion date: 2003

‘villa behind the monastry’ interior and exterior shots

‘villa behind the monastry’ (top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘private residence in nõmme’ on kiige street by jüri okas completion date: 2004

‘private residence in nõmme’ exterior shots

‘private residence in nõmme’ ground floor plan

‘private residence in laulasmaa’ by andrus kõresaar compeltion date: 2003

‘private residence in laulasmaa’ interior and exterior shots

(top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘villa locator’ in paldiski by siiri vallner and indrek peil of head arhitektid completion date: 2007

‘villa locator’ exterior and interior shots

‘villa locator’ (top) first floor plan (bottom) ground floor plan

‘insuburb’, private residence in pirita by markus kaasik, andres ojari, ilmar valdur, kalle komissarov, merje müürisepp, indrek tiigi of 3+1 arhitektid completion date: 2001