The annual award of the Architectural Foundation, a subdivision of the Estonian State Cultural Foundation, was established in 1995. Its purpose is to recognize the outstanding achievements of Estonian architecture, encourage the development of architectural life and increase its prestige in society. The nominees for the award may belong to the fields of architecture, interior design, urban planning, landscape architecture, environmental design, restoration and reconstruction, architectural community service, and architecture criticism. The number of awards is different each year, and the prizes are the same. In addition to the main prize awarded by the Cultural Foundation, the prize of the Estonian Union of Architects (EAL), the Prize of the Estonian Interior Architects Union, the National Union of Landscape Architects, and the prize for the best critical article and exhibition are also presented on this day.
This time 200 candidates applied for the prize. Of these, the jury selected 70 nominees, 20 laureates were awarded, including two student prizes. A special feature of the 2020 architecture prizes is a very wide “area” of the awardees: the laureates represent different parts of Estonia, including the most distant ones - from Saaremaa to Narva and from Tallinn to Vastseliina, Võru and Valga.
According to researcher and architect Triin Oyari, in the modern world, where there is a race between technical progress and the climate crisis, the key words are scattered development, energy independence and full cost accounting. We are rediscovering concepts such as community, work and homeschooling, and homemade food. “We need collective solutions that improve the quality of our coexistence equally for all, and architecture plays an important role here,” said Ojari.
“The works, which are nominated for an architectural award every year, are a kind of puzzle pieces that form a picture of the living environment as it should be if it is conceived for a person. The focus is on renewable natural materials (for example, the common building of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the College of the University of Tartu in Narva - the largest public building in Estonia built of wood); new use of historical heritage, represented, for example, by renovated fortress-museums; green areas and squares as places of a kind of recharging, making the urban environment more comfortable for life; and new school buildings, which are known to represent one of the best investments in the future,”commented Ojari on the list of this year's laureates.
According to her, new city squares, courtyards, school buildings, cultural sites and even a designer power transmission tower affect the quality of public life. “They create a space for spending time together, allow us to be proud of our city, strengthen ties with the historical heritage, bring nature closer to us, so that we can observe the change of seasons and feel the peace and quiet around us, and somewhere inside us, the knowledge that all is not lost yet,”said Oyari.
This year, Narva won three prizes at once, including the main prize of the Estonian Cultural Foundation:
The main award in the field of architecture of the Estonian Cultural Foundation is the common educational and residential complex of the Narva Training Center of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Narva College of the University of Tartu
3 + 1 Arhitektid, T43 Sisearhitektid (interior), TajuRuum (landscape)
The shared educational and residential complex for the Narva Training Center of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Narva College of the University of Tartu, the largest public building made of timber in Estonia, serves several purposes at once. Cadets, students and employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs received a training base and a hostel, and in a broader context, a high-quality public building and, finally, a modern swimming pool appeared in Narva. The building amazes guests of Narva with its positive integrity. “The structure, to which strict safety requirements are imposed, is imperceptibly inscribed in the environment by means of landscape architecture. A very holistic solution has been prepared. Of course, the symbolic significance of this building is no less important - the beautiful architecture marks the presence of the Estonian state in Narva,”the jury comments on the awarding of the main prize.
Cultural Capital Award for the best reconstruction and the Year Award of the Union of Interior Designers - reconstruction of the convent house of Narva Castle
Kalle Wellevoog (JVR), Tiiu Truus (Stuudio Truus)
"The historical building and its new content form an organic whole, and, frankly, it is now impossible to imagine that there was something else here before," the jury said. How to make the castle meet modern requirements while preserving its historical value? The authors of the reconstruction project proceeded from two important principles. Firstly, everything new should be distinguishable from older layers and represent modern architecture in the best sense of the word. Secondly, everything new should not violate the original design; the project must be reversible in case the restoration principles change in the future.
And here is the prize for the best solution in the field of landscape architecture received new promenade and main street of Elvalocated 20 kilometers from Tartu.
AT HOME, NU Arhitektuur, ubin pluss, TEMPT
The jury considered that the new promenade and the main street of Elva are one of the most successful examples of the design of small town centers within the framework of the EV 100 program [
improvement of urban centers for the centenary of the Republic of Estonia - approx. Archi.ru]. The center of Elva is now integrated into the structure of the city, taking into account the existing realities, while emphasizing the best features of the landscape, which are made available to the townspeople. Thanks to the targeted intervention, ideal for the small town environment, the urban space is now clearer and more functional. The new design of the main street all the way to the railway station enhances the cohesion of the space, including the lake, a rare landscape component for a small Estonian town. “The lively urban landscape of Elva skillfully, taking into account the human dimension, connects the main street of the city with the lakeside central square,” the jury noted.
VÄIKE Award - Swamp Fox
Sille Pihlak and Siim Tuxam (PART)
The "winner" of the award in the field of small architectural forms is unusual. This is the corner tower of the Bolotnaya Fox high-voltage power line - a 45-meter high corten steel infrastructure design - serves as a noticeable landmark at the road junction near Risti and informs travelers of their arrival in Lääne County. An object of complex branched shape from different points looks different and changes its appearance depending on weather conditions. The Swamp Fox weighs 38.5 tons.
The first Estonian design power transmission tower was manufactured at a plant in Romania, and it was delivered to Estonia by three trucks in the form of 11 prefabricated elements. The support caused a lively discussion in the jury. “For the first time we saw an object in the dark, under a starry sky, which made it appear to us as a gigantic astronomical instrument. It was impossible not to notice the combination of such an unusual creative experiment and utilitarian goals,”the experts shared their impressions.
