Wall (1W)

Tallinn city wall surrounding the old town

Most of Tallinn's medieval city wall still stands, inlcuding 26 defensive towers. Inside the protection of the wall one can also found his/her way to DM baar (= Depeche Mode)... hmm...

Old Town (2W)

Olde Hansa building in the centre of the old town of Tallinn

Tallinn the capital of Estonia is named after Taani Linnus (which means Danish Castle)... or is it? Some say it could also have come from tali-linna (winter castle or town) or perhaps from talu-linna (house/farmstead-castle/town... Hmm. Wherever the name comes from the place is worth while visiting as it is full of medieval buildings, romantic alleyways and personal signs.

Designed by a Finn (4W)

The view from KUMU courtyard towards the building

The view from KUMU top exhition floor towards the city of Tallinn (in bad weather!)

KUnstiMUseeum (KUMU) was a result of an open international architectural competition that was held in 93-94, in which architects from ten countries took part. The winner of the competition was the Finnish architect Pekka Vapaavuori. Construction started in 2002 and the Kumu Art Museum was opened to the visitors in February 2006.

The new museum site is located on four hectares in Tallinn, on the limestone bank of Lasnamägi next to Kadriorg Park. The building has seven floors (including technical floors) and the total area is 23 900 m². It is a modern multifunctional art building, which contains exhibition halls, a lecture hall offering diverse facilities, and an educational centre for young visitors and art lovers. The scale difference between the new building and the surrounding old villas (Russian type) is vast. You kind of wonder if the building should have been located outside Tallinn - but for the visitors like us the distance from the Vana Tallinn is walkable - even if it's raining cats & dogs (+ all sort of animals).

Network problems (3W)

Tram going towards Viru Keskus

Tallinn's public transportation system seems a fairly straightforward network of buses, trollybuses and trams, all of which use the same tickets. Still getting on a tram from Kumu wasn't that straightforward... there didn't seem to be any tram stops nearby...

Rotermanni Kvartal (6W)

One of the features at the Rotermanni Kvartal area, Tallinn

Rotermann Centre near the old town and Viru Keskus in Tallinn is the vibrant new 'architectural experiment' that includes restored and new buildings from various architects/designers, such as HG Architecs & KOKO Architects.

 

 

Note: It's worthwhile checking out the website as it offers lots of information on the buildings & architectural ideas for the area's development: www.rotermannikvartal.ee/eng/

Estonian sculptor Jaanisoo (5W)

Ms Estonia Memorial, Tallinn

Estonian sculptor Villu Jaanisoo designed the Ms Estonia memorial Katkennut Linja (= Broken Line) together with architect Jorma Mukula in 1996 for the memory of the 852 victims of 24 Septeber 1994 disaster.

Salt storage (7W)

Exhibition Boom/Room 2000-2008 at the Estonian Architectural Museum

Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum in an old salt store near the harbour (1st floor exhibition hall pictured above) features Boom/Room exhibition until 3 November featuring most of the 'worth while mentioning' buildings built in Estonia during 2000-2008.

The bizarrely laid exhibition includes buildings for all sort of purposes, from living, working, shopping to education etc, and for purely showing off purposes like some of the large scale residential monstrosities. Exhibition gives a good overview of the economical growth that Estonia has seen in the past years - but shame the museum had no catalogue for the exhibition though.

Seven 'wonders' of our Southern neighbour Capital

Complete the above and you might find out what is coming...

Not pyramids or hanging gardens - no statues or temples... no new wonders of the world either... but the 'architectural wonders' of Tallinn, capital of Eesti/Viro, the place we visited last weekend... Wonders are coming to you starting tomorrow in no particular order:

Wall & DM

Old Town (Vana Tallinn)

Network problems

Designed by a Finn

Estonian sculptor Jaanisoo

Rotermann Centre

Salt storage