Model collection

There are just over two hundred models in the Museum of Estonian Architecture’s model collection, one third of which are displayed as an open collection in the first-floor exhibition hall of the museum, giving a cross-section of 20th-century Estonian architecture.

The oldest and most valuable models in the collection are a roof-construction model of Tallinn’s St. Charles’ Church (engineer Rudolf Berhnhard, ca 1862), and a model of the Port of Tallinn elevator (architect A. Klevshchinski, engineer F. Yenakiyev, 1892–93; destroyed), which was made for the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. During the 1920s and 1930s, most models were made of cardboard, and as a result, relatively few of them have been preserved. The Museum of Estonian Architecture’s collection has only three models from this period, including two models of dwellings designed by architect Robert Natus.

There is a relatively copious amount of models from the years 1960–1980; both design plans and single structures. One of the most effective post-modernist models from the 1980s is a competition entry for the LA West Coast Gateway (architects Vilen Künnapu, Ain Padrik, Andres Siim; 1988; model Vello Liiv).

Representing the newest Estonian architecture is a reconstruction of the Rotermann Carpenter’s Workshop, which was selected as a candidate for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture (architects Andrus Kõresaar, Raivo Kotov; 2009; model Tanel Saar).

The Museum of Estonian Architecture has also independently ordered models for exhibitions.

 

Anne Lass (archive)
anne@arhitektuurimuuseum.ee
tel +372 625 7004

Sandra Mälk (researcher/archivist)
tel +372 625 7004
sandra@arhitektuurimuuseum.ee

 

    Opening times:
    Tue – Sun 11 a.m – 6 p.m
    Mon closed

    The museum is closed on March 29th and 31st!

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