Villa Tammekann
{{Short description|Alvar Aalto-designed house in Estonia}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}
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| name = Villa Tammekann
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| image_alt = Villa Tammekann
| image_caption = Villa Tammekann in 2013
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| building_type = Residential
| architectural_style = Functionalism, Modern architecture
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| address = Kreutzwaldi 6, Tähtvere, Tartu
| location_city = Tartu
| location_country = Estonia
| coordinates = {{coord|58.3845|26.7047|display=inline,title}}
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| current_tenants = Granö Centre
| namesake = Tammekann family
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| completion_date = 1932
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| owner = Turku University Foundation
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| material = Brick, plaster
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| floor_area = {{convert|300|sqm}}
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| architect = Alvar Aalto
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| ren_architect = Tapani Mustonen
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| ren_awards = Europa Nostra Award
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| website = {{URL|https://www.villatammekann.fi/en/}}
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Villa Tammekann is a residential building located in Tartu, Estonia, notable for being one of few private residences designed by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, his first design to be realised outside Finland, and the only one located in Estonia or anywhere in the Baltic states.{{cite news |title=Villa Tammekann on pala Aaltoa Tartossa |url=https://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/art-2000003874258.html |access-date=25 February 2021 |publisher=Helsingin Sanomat |date=4 April 2000 |language=fi}}{{cite news |title=Alvar Aallon Villa Tammekann on nähnyt Viron historian sekä synkät että valoisat ajat |url=https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/05/14/alvar-aallon-villa-tammekann-on-nahnyt-viron-historian-seka-synkat-etta |access-date=25 February 2021 |publisher=Yle |date=14 May 2018 |language=fi}}{{cite web |title=Villa Tammekann |url=http://architecture-history.org/architects/architects/aalto/objects/1932,%20Villa%20Tammekann,%20Tartu,%20Estonia.html |website=Architecture-History.org |access-date=25 February 2021}}
Background
The villa was commissioned by the Estonian geographer, Professor August Tammekann, and his Finnish wife, Irene {{nee}} Pelkonen (m. 1925).{{cite book |title=Kuka Kukin On (Who's Who) |date=1954 |publisher=Otava |location=Helsinki |page=868 |url=https://runeberg.org/kuka/1954/0868.html |access-date=25 February 2021 |language=fi}} The couple had by accident met Aalto in Turku and asked him to design for them "a small home", which he did, according to the clients' detailed instructions.{{cite web |title=Villa Tammekan |url=https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/architecture/villa-tammekann/ |website=AlvarAalto.fi |publisher=Alvar Aalto Foundation |access-date=25 February 2021}}
The project was beset with difficulties. Especially the flat roof proved problematic: despite two attempts to construct it, the roof could not be made fully waterproof, and Mrs Tammekann refused to set foot in the house and is known to have protested heavily to Aalto. For a time, the bank even set a pitched roof as a condition of the mortgage.
There was also an issue related to wall insulation, stemming from Estonian building regulations which required thicker-than-intended walls to be built, with the result that the internal space ended up smaller than intended.{{cite web |title=Villa Tammekann |url=https://finnisharchitecture.fi/villa-tammekann/ |website=Finnish Architecture Navigator |access-date=25 February 2021}}
In 1933, Aalto threatened to sue the couple for the non-payment of his fees, more than a year after the building had been completed.
Following the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in June 1940, the Tammekanns fled to Finland, and their house was nationalised. After the war, it was converted to multi-family use, with changes to and the addition of extra internal walls and other construction features. The property gradually fell into disrepair.
Current use
In 1994, after the restoration of Estonian independence, the house was returned to the Tammekann family. They in turn sold it to the University of Turku (Turku University Foundation) in 1998. Following the sale, the building underwent extensive renovations, led by architect {{ill|Tapani Mustonen|fi}}, who specialises in refurbishment of Aalto's architecture, and supervised by the Alvar Aalto Foundation; it was restored to its original design, including removal of the hip roof which had been added in the 1950s.
The building now houses the Granö Centre (:fi), a collaborative venture between the Universities of Turku and Tartu. It provides event, meeting and accommodation facilities, mostly for purposes of promoting bilateral cultural relations between Finland and Estonia, or otherwise connected with the two universities; it is not open to the general public.{{cite web |title=Granö Centre (Villa Tammekann) |url=https://www.yliopistosaatio.fi/en/cultural-properties/grano-centre-villa-tammekann/ |publisher=Turku University Foundation |access-date=25 February 2021}}
The centre is named after the Finnish geographer Johannes Gabriel Granö, who held professorships at both universities in the early part of the 20th century (including teaching the young August Tammekann). His son Olavi Granö, also a geographer, was a driving force between the two universities' collaboration and suggested to Turku University the acquisition of the building.{{cite news |title=Granö-keskus listattiin kansainvälisesti merkittäviin talokohteisiin |url=https://www.ts.fi/kulttuuri/412791 |access-date=25 February 2021 |publisher=Turun Sanomat |date=9 November 2012 |language=fi}}{{cite web |title=Villa Tammekann (Alvar Aalto House) |url=https://visittartu.com/villa-tammekann-alvar-aalto-house |website=VisitTartu.com |publisher=City of Tartu |access-date=25 February 2021}}
The Centre was officially opened in 2000 by the President of Estonia, Lennart Meri.{{cite web |title=Speech: President of the Republic Greeting on the Opening of Villa Tammekann Tartu, April 4, 2000 |url=https://vp1992-2001.president.ee/eng/k6ned/K6ne.asp?ID=3806 |website=President.ee |publisher=Office of the President of Republic of Estonia |access-date=25 February 2021}}
Design
The minimalist, strict, cubic design of the house reflects the ascetic functionalism of the early 20th-century modernism, and gives foretaste of what eventually developed into Aalto's signature style of clean, white surfaces accentuated by light wood. The flat roof, which caused the constructors so much trouble, was an integral part of this.
A central space within the building is the large and spacious living room, with full-length windows overlooking the garden, and the dining room and study/library which interconnect with it.
A notable feature of the house is the living room's open-fire fireplace, which is unusually placed not in the core of the building (as a hearth typically would be), but instead integrated into the external wall below the large windows. This allows the occupants of the room to enjoy both the fireplace and the view at the same time. Although the fireplace was included in the original design, it was only completed as part of the late 1990s renovation.
=Recognition=
In 2001, the renovated building was recognised with the Europa Nostra cultural heritage award.
Villa Tammekann has also been included in the Iconic Houses listing of internationally notable architectural designs of the 20th century.{{cite web |title=Villa Tammekann |url=https://www.iconichouses.org/houses/villa-tammekann |website=IconicHouses.com |access-date=25 February 2021}}{{cite news |title=Aalto projekteeritud villast Tartus sai rahvusvahelise tähtsusega maja |url=https://elu.ohtuleht.ee/499393/aalto-projekteeritud-villast-tartus-sai-rahvusvahelise-tahtsusega-maja |access-date=25 February 2021 |publisher=Ohtuleht |date=12 November 2012 |language=et}}
References
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External links
- {{official website}}
- [https://www.alvaraalto.fi/en/architecture/villa-tammekann/ Villa Tammekan] on Alvar Aalto Foundation website
- [https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/05/14/alvar-aallon-villa-tammekann-on-nahnyt-viron-historian-seka-synkat-etta Feature article on Villa Tammekan] on Yle website (in Finnish)
Category:Alvar Aalto buildings
Category:Buildings and structures in Tartu