Call and response

Nobody in the architectural domain still regards Contextualism still in terms of mimicry or imitation. A good building is not designed by doing like the neighbors do, by keeping up with the Joneses. There is no such thing as contextual authenticity. On the other hand there is little believe anymore in the power of the iconic building. The contextual designer seems to be caught in the paradox of the personal creation of something that is recognized as local and impersonal.I will not try to rewrite the critique of contextualism in architecture. Rather, what I will try to do is say something about working methods. I will speculate on a ‘knowhow’ of contextualism, much rather than a ‘knowwhy’.

Fotografiska in Tallinn

In the building reconstructed by Salto, the space definitely does not compete with the content as it tends to happen in the exhibition venues built during the so-called museum boom in the 1990s, such as Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Guggenheim art museum. The adjustments here are highly refined and tasteful. It might be even said that a little boring, surprisingly neutral for Salto’s work. The red building is still red with the characteristic red brick kind of retained but in an ornately polished way.

Imavere Rapeseed Oil Factory—Things that matter

Here in front of us is according to the plan “a simple and practical” factory building1 and we are chatting with the designer: “The architect has nothing much to do in designing a rapeseed dryer and storage depot. The engineers prepare the main drawings. For the rapeseed processing factory building, the architect only had to conceive the walls around it. The entire complex can be controlled also from a mobile phone.”

From A Funeral Home to A Ritual Building

Rannamõisa funeral home has taken a highly interesting path since its opening. Namely, the opening of the building was accompanied by a change of identity. Was the change of identity brought about by the author through the architecture or the client through the functions of the building? What does this say about our culture of death and the development of the respective architecture?

Who Made This?

Balta is a hybrid of a silk screen printshop and a bar for close friends. Its spatial use and construction logic is closely tied to its founders and changing needs: it is a place whose structure is a co-creation of the entire community. To best describe the project architecturally, it is reasonable to regard the establishment as a flow; an accumulation and recycling of materials. Such a dispersion of authorship and, above all, a material-based point of view is rather a matter of spatial aesthetics, one that provides a visible, perceptible experience of sensuosness and physicality. How is a community bound to its space?

An Oeuvre on a Potato Field

On tavapärane, et kui eemaldutakse inkubaatorilaadsete tüüpprojektide ehituse ideest, säilib eramu projekteerimisel autori omapära. See, et 1965. aastal kehtinud riigikorra nüansid ei arvestanud individuaalelamute projekteerimisel autorlusega, oli üks põhjustest, miks levisid tüüperamud ja looming oli varjus.

Autumn 2019 (98): Author

UNKNOWNSpatial Poetry Spatial Illusion Spatial Design Poetry Design 〉 Mariann DrellWho Made This? 〉 Roland ReemaaAn Oeuvre on a Potato Field 〉 Diana Drobot, Päär Keedus PERSONASAcknowledging Unnoticed Architecture 〉 Merle Karro-Kalberg PROJECTSImavere Rapeseed Oil Factory — Things that Matter 〉 Kristel Niisuke, Margus TammFotografiska in Tallinn — Matured End of Season Berries with Champagne