Proposal for the Design of Areas in Central Tallinn

This work is Sirje Runge’s diploma project, which she defended in the field of product design at the Estonian State Art Institute. Originally consisting of nine panels and 80 slides, the series is inspired by the functions of the modernist city and playfully reinterprets the urban space of Tallinn. The piece is also featured in Andres Kurg’s article in the MoMA publication Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology (2018).
Panels 4 and 5 depict audiovisual and modular objects that the artist envisioned as building blocks of the modern city. These concepts were inspired by Russian Constructivism and the futuristic visions of the Archigram architects, aiming to transform unused areas into unique meeting places. Panels 6 to 9 (with the sixth panel now missing) present conceptual ideas, including a proposal for a clock on Freedom Square, an installation evoking an industrial landscape through scent and colour, and a vision of domesticated nature. Since Runge worked with specific locations, some pieces in the series may evoke a sense of recognition, while other spaces perceived as voids by the artist in 1970s Tallinn might now seem unfamiliar to us.