The River and Its Industrial Ghosts

Spatial Dialogues Between River and Mill

Master Thesis (2026)
Author(s)

Daryln Sia En Lyn Daryln (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

Contributor(s)

K.M. Havik – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

P.H.M. Jennen – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)

Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
More Info
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Publication Year
2026
Language
English
Graduation Date
26-06-2026
Awarding Institution
Delft University of Technology
Programme
Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences, Methods and Analysis
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
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Abstract

Tallinn is a city of varied landscapes. From the lake Ülemiste which provides the city its water, to the river Pirita as an important ecological asset, and Tallinn Bay that opens the city to the greater Baltic Sea. Various infrastructure and architecture of Tallinn are built to respond to these varied landscapes, forming a tangible dialogue between the landscape and the anthropocene.

This project delves into the exploration of one of these landscapes, albeit intangible today: there was once a river running from the lake to the sea, called the Härjapea. Its history reveals the industrial roots of Tallinn in the past, but it also tells of its eventual demise -- as industrialisation eventually polluted the river and was filled in. Traces of the river only exists in the urban form of Tallinn today, with some residual buildings from its industrial past and some residual landscapes in the form of topography.

Starting with an unused paper mill situated adjacent to the central business quarter of the city teeming with skyscrapers, the project looks into the reintroduction of the river and the reintepretation of its exploitive industrial past.

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