Events

EKA Research Cafe:

What do urbanists do? From urban research to practice

Urban Studies have been taught at the Estonian Academy of Arts for sixteen years, 48 students have altogether received a master’s degree. Urbanists educated in Estonia work in research, in public and private sectors, here and all over the world. We invite you to take part in an evening of discussions where we will explore expressions of this interdisciplinary speciality situated at the border of theory and practice and talk about what do urbanists do.

We ask, what are the most relevant research directions on the field today, is there anything specific about Estonian Urbanism and what is the role of the urban studies curriculum in understanding and developing the field.

The head of the curriculum, Prof. Maroš Krivý will talk about his own research, including Marie Skłodowska-Curie early stage researcher grant for contemporary urban history. Lecturers Keiti Kljavin and Kaija-Luisa Kurik will give an insight into their practices as educators and urbanists. Additionally, Mattias Malk and Sean Tyler, both PhD students of urban studies, will join the discussion.

We offer coffee and snacks!

The event is in English.

The event is supported by the European Regional Development Fund.

The presentation of the book “Displaced Time” on February 11 at 6 pm in Lugemik book shop.

Compiled by Aap Tepper and Annika Toots
Graphic design: Kert Viiart and Carl-Robert Kagge
Publisher: National Archives of Estonia

The book “Displaced Time” deals with the dark potential of archives, focusing on the restricted collections and classified archival materials that existed during the Soviet period. The book is based on Aap Tepper’s exhibition project “Displaced Time: 10 Photographs from Restricted Collections”, which was held at the Film Archives of the National Archives in 2018, and used nature and landscape photography to reveal how the Soviet authorities used archives as a repressive mechanism.

Students, academics, curriculum leaders, study support specialists and management are welcome to join the Feedback Seminar of EKA graduates (2019–2021) on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 from 1 to 3 pm in room A501.

What does the EAA graduates say in the feedback? What is valued and how can we get better? How and what do our current students want to say about this?

What to learn from it? How to?

Register (required for snack planning) by ​​January 21st.

Paljassaare time capsules: hiding, making, stalking, digging, hopping, skipping, crawling, barking, hawking, hoping, expecting, lingering, sludging, metabolizing, digesting, dismantling, defending, demolishing, augmenting, building, intending, archiving, recreating … (etc never-ending)

Paljassaare, a place of wonderment in the periphery of Tallinn’s imagination, a nature’s reserve, a utopian paradise, a blessing in disguise, a magic potion, a myth, a cradle of birds, so green, so much green and so much peace. On the other side, Paljassaare has a disturbing presence of a parallel reality of illusions of all kinds that makes this peninsula a multiplicity of time capsules. It invites us to break beyond the realms of past, present, and future, and to peel through its endless secrets and triumph over this highly contested land.

Armed with warm clothing and winter boots, we invite you to join the group of first-year Urban Studies Master students at the Estonian Academy of Arts for the final critique of their works developed in the framework of the Urbanization Studio, tutored by Keiti Kljavin and Andra Aaloe.

The exhibition-expedition will take place in situ all across Paljassaare and includes ten individual project stations (audio-walks and talks, immersive projections and installations, parties and screenings, exhibitions) approachable by foot. Be prepared for crispy cold temperatures, a lot of walking and long hours spent outside and bring along an extra pair of warm socks, snacks and a mug for tea refills along the way.

We kindly ask you to bring along your own earphones and devices with a data connection. If possible, take along a charger and/or a power bank to make sure your device can successfully endure this expedition.

Practicalities:

We will meet on Saturday, the 18th of December, at 10.45 (bus nr. 59 arrival time) at Pikakari bus stop, where, followed by a short introduction, we will collectively move towards the first project location of the day. The tour will end around 17.00. The event will be held in English.

The authors exposed: Kush Badhwar, Khadeeja Farrukh, Christian Hörner, Nabeel Imtiaz, Luca Liese Ritter, Paul Simon, Nora Soo, Katrin Tomiste, Paula Kristiāna Veidenbauma, Friederike Zängl.

Studio leads: Keiti Kljavin and Andra Aaloe

** FOR EMERGENCIES: if you get lost during the day you can call Paula Veidenbauma +37128642280**

More information and programme here!

EKA Interaction Design MA programme invites prospective Master’s students to join the online info session on Monday, January 24, 2022 at 17:00 (Tallinn time, GMT+2).

The info session will be hosted online over Zoom.

If you would like to attend, please register online through the form below. A link to attend will be e-mailed shortly before the event begins.

Registration is now closed.

Recording of the info session available here.

More information about the Interaction Design MA (IxD.ma) programme:

• https://www.ixd.ma
• https://www.artun.ee/ixd
• https://www.facebook.com/IxD.ma
• Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/977797089758108

Admissions period starts on the 1st of February 2022 and application deadline is 1st of March 2022.

https://artun.ee/admissions

Please join us on the 7th of December, 15:00 for the final evaluation of “Fitness and the City,” a research studio course by Urban Studies. The evaluation takes form of an exhibition opening in A500 (the open space near the terrace).

“Fitness” is most commonly thought of as a sculpting of the body through training and exercise. But when considered through the lens offered by the field of urban studies, “fitness” raises broader questions about who we are the and the cities we live in: What are the structures, urban and otherwise, that shape us? What makes life survivable? Is it norms, habits, routines of self-care? It is our environment? Or is it the fear of what we might become? In this exhibition, EKA students Daria Khrystych, Mira Samonig, Luisa Fernanda Ayala Torres, Alexander Nenenko, and Dorothea Müller combine theory, research, and design methods in order to offer a series of unique answers to these questions. The course is part of the Masters of Urban Studies, and is taught by Maros Krivy, Leonard Ma, and Helen Runting.

Event on FB.

Image source: https://nypost.com/2020/09/25/hudson-yards-edge-yoga-by-equinox-is-an-elevated-outdoor-class/

Within the framework of the Open Lectures Series of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design of EKA, architect David Sim will take the stage in the hall of EKA on 2nd December at 6 pm with lecture “Soft City”.

This fall, all the lectures in the series revolve around the issue of health in one way or another. We have already looked at whether architecture as a process can be therapeutic or in its own way improve the person in the room, as well as whether and how architects can contribute to the healing of the construction world or improve the environment around us.

On 2nd December, David Sim will give a lecture at EKA, in which he will look at the main issues of his book “Soft City” – now also available in Estonian – from the perspective of health. In the book, Sim addresses today’s biggest challenges – how to ensure and improve the quality of life of people in a growing city, in the context of the climate change and the digital society through creating a quality living environment. We’ll be talking about Scandinavian human-centered and human-dimensioned urban planning, which aims to support a local, functional and sustainable – healthy – living environment. Sims addresses in parallel both social, spatial and environmental issues, juxtaposing theory and ideals with real-world examples and solutions from existing environments around the world. Listeners and readers do not need to have prior knowledge of urban planning, but on the other hand, this book makes for an effective tool for professionals dealing with the design of the built environment at different levels. Both Thursday’s lecture and the book are particularly timely because of climate change issues, offering modern solutions to make the urban environment more resilient and at the same time serving the community and people: everyday urban lives in our climate can still offer pleasure, health and joy.

NB! The lecture is preceded by public book presentation at 5 pm at EKA cafe lobby.

David Sim worked for Ralph Erskine in Sweden for many years and moved on to Jan Gehl’s architecture office in Denmark, where he also worked as a partner for many years and where the book “Soft City” was born. David Sim believes that creating a good city is like organizing a great party; the author takes a simple, humane and apt approach to complex topics.

In order to minimize the risk of the virus spreading, we will broadcast the lecture on EKA TV and it can be viewed along with all previous lectures at www.avatudloengud.ee as well as the faculty’s Youtube channel. The lecture can also be attended in-person – we do ask you to carry your COVID vaccination certificate or proof of having had COVID and cover your nose and mouth with a mask. Academy students are subject to the usual in-house rules. NB! You can’t ask questions via EKA TV, so it’s worth coming to the hall to participate in the discussion! The lecture is free and in English.

Curators: Sille Pihlak and Johan Tali.

The season of open lectures is supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment.

On Monday, November 29, at 4 pm, Dr. Kadri Ukrainski, Professor of Research and Innovation Policy and Head of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Tartu, will give a public lecture on “Basic Concepts of Innovation: Theory and Practice” in the hall of EKA (A-101).

Innovation is a word that runs through all walks of life today, ambitiously encompassing the readiness to innovate, the creation of new values ​​and the management of these processes. In the Academy of Arts, too, innovation is something we encounter on a daily basis, but can we also make sense of its various aspects and the conscious orientation of its possibilities?

Kadri Ukrainski is an Estonian economist and professor of research and innovation policy at the University of Tartu. With her research on innovation policy, she has supported the development of research policy both in Estonia and in international organisations.

The lecture is open to anyone on presentation of a valid Covid digital certificate.
It is mandatory to wear a mask in the EKA building.
The lecture will be in Estonian.

The lecture is organised by the Estonian Association of Architects.

On November 3 at 3 pm, the results of the three-year Unfinished City research project will be presented in the form of a thorough 400-page publication of articles, interviews, maps and projects, titled “Unfinished City. Tallinn’s urban visions”. The parties who have contributed to the completion of both the research project and the book, will gather for event at the lobby of EKA, where you will also see a selection of scaled models and an animation which were prepared for the Unfinished City exhibition at the Estonian Museum of Architecture this spring. Both the research project and the book were completed with the support of the real estate company Kapitel.

The publication summarizes the discussions held during the three-year research project and is intended for everyone interested in thinking about Tallinn’s potential as a city of the future – what we expect from Tallinn in the future, what the city needs and what problems it has to overcome in order to be attractive both as a place to live and work.

25 authors from Estonia and elsewhere look at Tallinn’s potential from the perspective of architects and urban planners, dissecting the city as a whole and paying attention to key places. Separate chapters deal with the spatial future of Lasnamäe and other similar residential areas of the Soviet era, the potential of the bastion belt area surrounding the Old Town, the green areas of Tallinn and the blue/water network. In more detail, it is examined in which background system of rules, permits and statistics urban planning in Tallinn takes place, in comparison with other cities in Europe with a similar profile and size – Vilnius, Helsinki, Zurich, Copenhagen, Prague and Riga. In addition, it is asked how we could plan a better Tallinn using all the numerical data that can be collected about the city today with the help of technology.