So far, we are talking about a competition of ideas, since due to the difficult economic situation in Estonia, the new municipal building necessary for the city is still in the distant future. As a task, the participants were offered an area of 35,000 m2 near the Linnahall Sports Palace, near the border of the Old Town.
BIG architects placed the idea of bilateral transparency and openness in relations between authorities and residents at the semantic center of their project. Not only the decision-making process should be clear to the citizens, but also their desires, aspirations, needs and difficulties should be well known to the city administration.
To achieve this ideal state of affairs, employees of city departments will work in crystalline volumes located above the space of the new market. Thanks to their free arrangement and an abundance of glazed surfaces, the population will be able to observe the work of officials, and they will never be able to forget about who they are working for. Also, such a solution will make it possible to actively use sunlight for lighting both the market and offices.
The City Council will sit in the tallest "crystal" - a tower that echoes the historic verticals of Tallinn. Its hall will be equipped with panoramic windows and a balcony for visitors and the press, but its main feature will be a sloped mirrored ceiling. It will reflect the views of the city below, which will again remind the "servants of the people" of their responsibilities. The ceiling will also be visible through the windows of the tower to pedestrians below: to them it will reflect the view of the hall under it, with working deputies. As conceived by the architects, the town hall tower will become a kind of “democratic periscope”, allowing people and authorities to see each other and maintaining a direct visual connection between them.
