Confronting Tallinn
Transformation of a Tallinn Retail Shopping Mall into the Mere Keskus Mediatheque
T. Deckers (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Jorge Mejia Hernandez – Mentor (TU Delft - Situated Architecture)
F.J. Speksnijder – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / AE+T)
W.C. Vogel – Mentor (TU Delft - Teachers of Practice / A)
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Abstract
Tallinn residents were promised a new commercial landmark on the most prominent site in their harbour in the form of a new retail shopping mall: The Porto Franco Development. But after years of delay, the city and its people are left with a colossal concrete structure, blocking direct viewing lines and impairing orientation within the harbour area. In response, the original concept of a retail shopping mall was radically reimagined: its architectural typology and characteristics were repurposed into a public mediatheque where instead of consumer goods, users now browse, test, and process information. A building that revitalizes the connection between the Harbour and the City centre of Tallinn and helps to cherish the arrival at the harbour of this Baltic capital.