SUUR-TALLINN 2024 : reconsidering Eliel Saarinen’s integrative plan

Abstract

Tallinn was undergoing various tremendous changes since the start of its rapid industrialisation 150 years ago. The following topic is the reissue of the city’s historical ties in terms of spatial planning. 101 years ago, the Finn Eliel Saarinen planned a Great Tallinn, not only in size and population, but as an integral concept and unity, following logical considerations as well as economic, environmental and aesthetical rules. Is it possible to once more picture the city’s future, this time in 10 years from now and 111 years from Saarinen’s estimable vision? Precisely in this regard, the aim is to reconsider the 1913 plan for present-day Tallinn, concurrently widening the paper’s range by emphasising spatial issues of the later 20th and the ongoing 21th century. Hence, the leitmotif is the thought of looking to the future, being rooted in the past. Following this reasoning, the aim of the conceptual section is to complete the circle and come up with a grounded strategy for Tallinn’s positioning in a world characterised by polarisation as well as the rising need of distinctiveness, networking and competitiveness.