Tallinn Art Hall brings change and bright pink to the Estonian capital
The Tallinn Art Hall has a bright pink, brand-new home, courtesy of Estonian architecture studio Salto
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

From Soviet-era bunkers and mediaeval fortifications to Gothic churches and glass skyscrapers, Tallinn pulls in many directions. On the streets, heritage-inspired trams and on-the-spot rental cars (available via transport app Bolt, a local invention) jostle at traffic lights; words of Estonian, some Russian, and English carry a Baltic breeze. A first glance reveals a dynamic population, a booming tourist trade and thriving start-up culture, but behind these scenes lie some familiar East-West tensions, age-old antagonisms that the Tallinn Art Hall is addressing head on.
Tallinn Art Hall: the history
The local Artists’ Association – still thriving with 1,000 members today – built the original Art Hall in 1934. With its cube-like, Functionalist facade, it was a prominent presence on Freedom Square. A Stalinist extension was added in 1953.
Many creatives have passed through the institution’s doors, among them leading lights Flo Kasearu, Jaan Toomik and Marge Monko. Now, closed for a two-year renovation, it is decamping to a temporary pavilion in the suburb of Lasnamäe – opening to the public on 19 November 2022.
The two locations could not be more different. While Freedom Square sits on the edge of Tallinn’s Unesco-listed Old Town, which is crammed with medieval monuments preserved in a Disney-like aspic, Lasnamäe is a sprawl of built-but-never-finished Soviet housing, where a 120,000-strong, mainly Russian-speaking Estonian population lives. One bustles with boutiques, bars and tourists, the other is residential and distinctly more modest – if not downright neglected. What prompted such a move?
Paul Aguraiuja, director of Tallinn Art Hall, explains: ‘Many people believe Lasnamäe is a ghetto; they’re afraid they might get beaten up if they go there. In fact, the opposite is true. Likewise, people who live there don't come to the city centre, because they believe it’s full of rich people and they don't belong.’ If people weren’t keen to come to the Art Hall, then the Art Hall would go to them.
‘We could have collaborated with any district in Tallinn,’ adds curator Siim Preiman, who lives in Lasnamäe, ‘but that didn’t feel special at all. We wanted to use this temporary freedom to give the district our undivided attention.’
With freedom comes responsibility. Says Aguaraiuja: ‘We want to show that culture can be sustainable, that you can host international exhibitions in a space that does not cost millions to build (the estimated cost is €500,000), and does not go to waste after use.’
Tallinn architecture studio Salto’s 500 sq m pavilion was constructed over two weeks in Lasnamäe’s main square. It is made of Estonian wood and sits next to the 200-seat theatre – the only cultural institution in the area. How long it stays there depends on how it is received. Salto founding partner Maarja Kask says: ‘It’s important the pavilion is not just a pop-up and that locals feel it is theirs.’
Kask grew up in Lasnamäe ‘in a happy family in unhappy surroundings’, one of many who lived in the standard-issue five-, nine- and 16-storey high-rises. Since 2004, she and Salto partner Ralf Lõoke have built an international profile and created many landmark projects in their city, among them the Tallinn Cruise Terminal and Fotografiska gallery. They also collaborated with Aguraiuja on the temporary Straw Theatre structure in 2011 (also in Tallinn), a project that led to this commission. The pavilion is no more than 7m high, so residents can ‘look down on it’. The hope is that when the building goes on tour, all parts will ‘have an afterlife’ and a permanent cultural institution will take its place.
The renovation of the listed building in the city centre will be equally challenging, for different reasons. Estonian architects Kuu and Pink, led by Juhan Rohtla, will work on it, adding 400 sq m of new gallery space, a pedestrianised back courtyard that is currently a car park, and a light-filled top-floor space accessed by an elegant outdoor ramp. The adjoining 20-plus artist studios and the cult basement bar KuKu Klubi will also be renovated.
In a bid to make the project as sustainable as possible, solar panels and ground source heat pumps will provide energy and all original details will be preserved. ‘It’s a beautiful example of 1930s architecture. We will keep everything,’ says Aguraiuja.
This has not been the general approach since Estonia declared independence in 1991, where only Tallinn’s Old Town has been protected from a rip-it-down-and-start-again building frenzy. ‘So many great examples of Soviet architecture have been destroyed,’ says Preiman. ‘That era is traumatic for the older generation. But if you take away all the places and markers that allow you to discuss a certain period of history, you lose something.’ Tallinn Art Hall wants to make sure those discussions can continue.
Emma O'Kelly is a contributing editor at Wallpaper*. She joined the magazine on issue 4 as news editor and since since then has worked in full and part time roles across many editorial departments. She is a freelance journalist based in London and works for a range of titles from Condé Nast Traveller to The Telegraph. She is currently working on a book about Scandinavian sauna culture and is renovating a mid century house in the Italian Lakes.
-
‘A crossover of ideas and emotion’: Simone Rocha on introducing menswear to her label
As the collection arrives at London’s Dover Street Market with a special installation and zine, Simone Rocha speaks about the roots of the menswear offering, the art of collaboration, and a campaign which subverts ‘the archetypes of masculinity’
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Colour Clash is a bold compendium of dazzling supergraphics and logos that pop
Polychromatic perversity in graphic design is celebrated in Colour Clash, a monograph that looks at the new wave of visual expression
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Arctic conditions shape pared-down house in northern Sweden by Claesson Koivisto Rune
Claesson Koivisto Rune’s new pared-down house makes a bold sculptural statement on the banks of Sweden’s Lule River, shaped by building regulations and its location’s Arctic conditions
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
The Bolder lodges by Snøhetta embrace a Norwegian cliff-edge view
The Bolder project comprises four elevated cabins, enveloped in a Norwegian fjord view, designed by Snøhetta in collaboration with Tom Bjarte Norland and Vipp
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
Hampshire home for a sailor makes for a sustainable domestic haven
Sailor's House by OB Architecture is a Hampshire home that combines minimalism and sustainability
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
A minimalist Mexican home has rocky roots
Echegaray, a minimalist Mexican home by Pérez Palacios Arquitectos Asociados, draws on its rocky site, which peeps out from its lower levels
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
This tiny house is the perfect lookout towards the Seto Inland Sea
A tiny house by Schemata Architects looks out towards the Seto Inland Sea
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Home and art gallery Maison Colbert is a London transformation story
Maison Colbert by Chris Dyson Architects reimagines a row of London houses into a single home and artist's gallery in the East End
By Marwa El Mubark • Published
-
This slim Condesa house in Mexico City blends rawness and nature
Casa Parras, a Condesa house in Mexico City, is the brainchild of two studios – Alberto Kalach’s TAX and Emilio A Cohen's Tow Va Bow
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Modernist architecture: inspiration from across the globe
Modernist architecture has had a tremendous influence on today’s built environment, making these midcentury marvels some of the most closely studied 20th-century buildings; check back soon for new additions to our list
By Ellie Stathaki • Published