The foundations for the museum’s photo collection were set with exhibition activity in early 1991, when photographs ordered for a Eugen Sacharias exhibition became the collection’s first items. Over the years, the collection has expanded by way of ordered works, donations, and purchases.
The main part of the photo collection has been assembled according to location and address; pictures of projects, furniture, exhibitions, and events, as well as architect portraits have been put together on the basis of a different system. The oldest part of the collection comprises early-20th-century postcards. Also of value are original photographs dating back to the 1920s and 1930s – one exceptional pearl is an album of state structures of the Republic of Estonia, which was drafted in the late 30s in a luxury binding. One can also find impressive albums from the early Soviet era in the collection. The ESSR period indeed forms the most extensive part of the photo collection, greatly made up of materials from the massive bureaus of the time: RPI Eesti Projekt, SDI Eesti Maaehitusprojekt, and Tsentrosoyuzproyekt. Much has also been received from, for example, the Union of Estonian Architects, the editorial staff of cultural newspaper Sirp, the Museum of Finnish Architecture, as well as from acting architects and individuals associated with the field, including Leonhard Lapin, Ignar Fjuk, Leo Gens, Martin Siplane, and others.
Pictures have been ordered systematically for use in various exhibitions. A large part of the collection is indeed compiled of target orders from Peeter Säre, Rein Vainküla, Toomas Kohv, Kaido Haagen, Toomas Tuul, and lately, Martin Siplane and Reio Avaste.
Over 18,000 items have been registered in the photo archive, and this number grows strongly with each year.
In addition to the photo collection, a large amount of photographic materials can also be found in the archive collection’s personal funds.
Jarmo Kauge (photo collection)
jarmo@arhitektuurimuuseum.ee
tel +372 625 7002
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- (ENG) An aerial photo from the mid-1920s of the then Tallinn Power Plant, Ilmarine Factory, and Kalarand. EAM fk 10747
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- Main gate of the Tallinn Hippodrome, architect Karl Burman (1923); destroyed as of present day. Photo from the Eesti Terpentini Tehaste A/S album, 1939.
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- Old Suur-Munamäe viewing tower, completed in 1925. Photo postcard from the 1930s. EAM fk 3104
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- (ENG)Tartu’s Uspenskiy Church and St. John’s Church, with the Schell petrol station designed by Arnold Matteus in the background. Late 1930s, photo postcard of Osvald Haidak. EAM fk 16261
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- Reproduction of a vista of the Narva-Jõesuu resort (1954, completed in 1956; architects Nikolai Kusmin and Manivald Noor).
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- Summer theatre on Skoone Bastion: opened 1948, destroyed 1997. Photo by unknown author after its completion. EAM fk 16202
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- Asphalting work in the Mustamäe residential district. Unknown author, 1965. EAM fk 12505/39
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- Construction on the Tallinn Olympic Yachting Centre. Photo: Johannes Külmet, late 1970s. EAM fk 17775
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- Ühispank office building in Tallinn, completed 1999; architect Raivo Puusepp. Photo: Peeter Säre, 1999. EAM fk 5422
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- Rotermann Quarter in Tallinn, completed 2007; Kosmos architecture bureau. Photo: Martin Siplane, 2008. EAM fk 14827
