Vilen Künnapu

Vilen Künnapu (July 30 1948-) is one of the most important Estonian architect of the last three decades, among the first postmodernist theoreticians and architects in the 1970s.

He has worked on various buildings in Estonia

In 2006 he became a professor at the University of Tartu.

Vilen Künnapu sõnul kavatseb ta avaloengus puudutada kõiki nimetatud teemasid, et siis hakata hilisemates loengutes käsitlema konkreetsemaid tahke. “Ühelt poolt tegelen universaalse ehk energiaga, teisalt igapäevasega - linnad, tänavad, väljakud jne. Kindlasti räägin sealjuures päris palju ka endast ja oma kujunemisest ning muutumisest. Samuti tahan osa tundidest teha loengute ja osa seminaride vormis”, täpsustab Künnapu loengusarja sisu.

Vilen Künnapu on lõpetanud Eesti Kunstiakadeemia 1971. aastal. Alates 1992. aastast on tal koos Ain Padrikuga arhitektuuribüroo, tuntumad tööd on Metodisti kirik, Radisson SAS hotell ja Viru keskus Tallinnas. Lisaks on tema sulest ilmunud hulk kirjutisi, mis on koondatud raamatusse “Üle punase jõe”.

Style

Among the first houses Künnapu designed was the centre of the Põlva Collective Farm in Estonia. Designed in his early twenties it featrues a long staircase, inner courtyard, foyer, a small hall and back yard ran along the centre's axis resembling a Latin American ziggurat. The white walls standing on the hill contrast against the dark blue shadows of the white symmetrical prisms forming a spatial instrument that surprises with the finality of its regulation.

The Collective Farm Centre in Valgu is a composition of two white buildings in the heart of the small town. The clubhouse, with an elongated plan on one side of the crossroads, has the screen of its main façade which dates from the previous century. Across the road, a white colonnade connects the office with a standard canteen of the sixties. The club is an elongated structure, but only with a primitive plan. In the foyer stands a five-metre wooden sculpture and the long colonnade of the office block is a bow to the architecture of small towns.

Energy center architecture

The recent works of Künnapu are mainly spiritual buildings and architectonic installations for various religions and beliefs. They are described as energy center architecture or urban acupuncture. Künnapu is co-operating with a wide range of international architects and artists including Peter Cook, Nathaniel Kahn, Sakura Iso and Marco Casagrande.

See also

List of Estonians#Architects

External links

• Estonian Institute