Sirje Runge’s urban renewal proposal for central Tallinn, 1975

With her diploma work, completed in the design department of the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR, Sirje Runge (b. 1950) wanted to transcend the monotony of the modernist city. Incorporating communications systems into urban design, she presented site-specific proposals for intervening in dilapidated urban spaces, restructuring them as more humane living environments. Reflecting the spirit of a post-industrial leisurely society, her design proposals fell into three categories. Firstly, there were easily applied colourful supergraphics that would breathe new life into courtyards and enhance the views. Secondly, there were modular structures to fill gaps in the urban space, with their flexibility allowing them to be installed in various places. These structures could also operate as communication and information centres, with television and cinema screens, automated music systems, billboards, and advertising kiosks. Thirdly, there were her ‘urban fantasies’, designed to highlight the specificities of a site by offering conceptual and symbolic solutions for its renewal. One proposal was to establish a park near Tallinn’s former power station, with ‘symbolic chimneys’ recalling the area’s industrial character in the early twentieth century. The chimneys would emit harmless, fragrant smoke, thus inviting us to think about ecological issues.
The work comprised eight boards of one square metre each (a standard presentation format in the design faculty), as well as three technical drawings. Accompanying the work was a slide presentation showing abstract fragments of the boards.