An exhibition of the interior architecture of the embassies, residences and other representative offices of the Republic of Estonia is open at the Estonian Museum of Architecture, compiled by curator Karin Paulus together with the Estonian Association of Interior Architects.
Foreign diplomatic missions are a vital investment for Estonia and the interiors of the country’s “foreign missions state who we are, where we belong, what matters to us”, Epp Alatalu, the marketing and communications director of the Museum of Architecture, said in a statement.
The first embassy building in the history of the Republic of Estonia opened in Helsinki, Finland; it was designed by Konstantin Bölau and completed in 1933. New embassies in Vilnius, Lithuania, and Beijing, China, have helped introduce contemporary Estonia, a country with a modern, bold and educated culture of spatial design, according to the museum.
The curator of the exhibition, architecture researcher Karin Paulus said she was pleased by how consciously the interior architects have brought out what is typical of Estonia with the help of furniture, carpets, materials, art and atmosphere.
“According to the context, completely different techniques are used – 3D printed buckles in Abu Dhabi (the United Arab Emirates – editor), bark and mycoplastic benches in Singapore, chic Europeanness in Brussels (Belgium – editor),” she said. “Really, everyone talentedly captures the essence of this small, delicious and best wild strawberry-like land, as the former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves once described Estonia.”
According to the museum, the designs of Estonia’s embassies speak of a love for nature, European culture, innovation, humanity, respect for the host country, good taste and relevance.
The exhibition is open at the Rotermann Salt storage from 16 August to 15 October 2023, and curator’s tours and a seminar will take place as part of it. On 15 October, the museum will host a presentation of the publication “Diplomacy of Space”, published in cooperation with the Estonian foreign ministry.
