One of the standout off-site pavilions at this year’s Venice Biennale, the Estonian pavilion occupied an unassuming yet heavy-traffic position on the waterfront: an appropriate spot for an exhibition tackling a topic as universally relevant as the way we insulate and regulate heat in our homes.
This essay was excerpted from “Let me warm you” the official publication accompanying the eponymous Pavilion of Estonia, published by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and Estonian Museum of Architecture on the occasion of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025.
How Did We Get Here?
After World War II, Europe was struggling with a major housing shortage. When Nikita Khrushchev came to power in 1953, the Soviet Union launched a massive building boom to tackle the crisis and improve living conditions. To keep up with the demand, construction had to become more efficient — architectural details were simplified, costs were cut, and buildings were built up faster than ever before. Private property was eliminated and all land was in control of the central state. In urban space, the Soviet ideology led to the free planning principle as opposed to perimetric planning.
In Estonia, one of Tallinn’s first Soviet residential districts, Mustamäe, was designed to house 60,000 people and address the city’s housing shortage. Its first apartment building was completed in 1962.
The district was meant to be a symbol of a better life. Having a private apartment with hot water, central heating, sewage, electricity, and a telephone was an enviable dream for many. Happiness was believed to be achievable through technical quality and the lifestyle of the resident was scripted into the apartment plan. Everything was optimised, from the ceiling height to compact furniture. With tiny kitchens, the ideal Soviet citizen was expected to eat at the canteen. Individual withdrawal was seen as a sign of bourgeois mentality and therefore criticised. Everything was carried by the belief that all people are equal, with predictable needs and interests.
"Happiness was believed to be achievable through technical quality and the lifestyle of the resident was scripted into the apartment plan. Everything was optimised, from the ceiling height to compact furniture."
Under this strong Soviet regime, many residents treated their homes as private sanctuaries — the only safe zone from public life where they could feel at least some sense of privacy. But the home never truly belonged to the resident. Everything changed when the socialist ideology was overturned with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the restoration of Estonian independence. The desire to have a home of one’s own led to a large-scale privatisation process in the 1990s.1
Broadly speaking, since that time, 95% of real estate in Estonia has been in private hands, while only 5% remains in public ownership.2 The aftermath of the Soviet era, combined with privatisation, has made Estonians deeply attached to the idea of ownership. Security and stability are associated with property, shaping a private ownership culture that provides both emotional and financial protection.
Over the past 20 years, the desire for homeownership has reinforced individualism, limiting a resident’s sense of home to the walls of their apartment. However, to get to the apartment, residents have to pass through a corridor where they might smell their neighbour’s roast meat or hear a child crying. Water reaches the apartments through a shared pipeline, and heat flows through a common vertical pipe shaft. The stroller has to be pushed through the shared courtyard, hoping no parking car has blocked the entrance. Although physically residents are sharing common space, responsibility is neglected, and the spaces do not have a clear manager. Buildings that once belonged to everyone now lack a caretaker. Residents only look after their apartments, while the buildings themselves are managed by the apartment association, often led by unpaid chairmen who now bear the responsibility for renovations.
As a result of such a strong culture of private ownership and unawareness of how to collaborate, a sequence of issues have emerged. Pre-fab panel buildings are part of a larger chain of problems that brings together housing acces-sibility, suburbanisation, and environ-mental issues. Property prices in Tallinn and Tartu, Estonia’s two largest cities, have consistently risen, making housing unaffordable for many with average incomes. Usually there are two affordable options — either buying property in a badly connected new development in the suburbs or move to a Soviet-era residential district. Even though the suburbanised outskirts often lack good transportation and infrastructure of public services, which makes residents dependent on their cars and distances them from public spaces, the first option is often chosen. Soviet-era districts are not chosen because the apartments are small, there are many neighbours, and there is no certainty about the building’s future. However, this triggers an even greater snowball effect with an exponential impact on the climate.
A Quick Fix?
In the early 2000s, a concern emerged in Estonia that the lifespan of panel buildings, designed for 50 years, was coming to an end. Intense debates took place about whether to demolish or renovate them. At the time, the climate crisis was not as widely recognised, and demolition was believed to be a good solution. In light of multiple crises, it has now been understood that the lifespan of panel buildings can be extended if they are properly maintained. Against the backdrop of climate change, renovation has become essential, not just an additional comfort measure.
"In light of multiple crises, it has now been understood that the lifespan of panel buildings can be extended if they are properly maintained. Against the backdrop of climate change, renovation has become essential, not just an additional comfort measure."
Due to differing economic and social backgrounds, apartment owners often struggle to reach common decisions related to the building’s upkeep. The Soviet-era residential districts that were originally designed as new-generation projects for young and active professionals have now become the areas with the oldest population in Tallinn. The micro-districts are socioeconomically homogeneous, as majority of the housing was built around the same time and is relatively equal in real estate prices. While the residents may change, they still mostly belong to the same social group. Districts that do not keep up with the present day are no longer attractive and only draw in residents with similar incomes.
Modifying, improving, and renovating buildings is discussed everywhere. In order to cope with climate change, one half of the world is installing ever thicker insulation layers, while the other half is using increasingly powerful cooling systems. The European Union has set a major goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, which has led to developing national strategies for upgrading our existing building stock. According to the current practice, it means insulating buildings and adding new ventilation and heating systems to increase energy efficiency. In recent years, this has been further driven by the support from the EU structural funds, which have been distributed across Estonia, reaching up to 170 million euros annually. It allows us directly to observe the reduction in the operational carbon footprint of buildings while the spatial experience and social issues largely remain unchanged. Energy efficiency is just one parameter of climate change. Our home and surrounding environment have a significant impact on our lifestyle, which is directly linked to our footprint and consumption habits.
"Energy efficiency is just one parameter of climate change. Our home and surrounding environment have a significant impact on our lifestyle, which is directly linked to our footprint and consumption habits."
Ambitious goals have been set by the state — to renovate nearly 14,000 apartment buildings. However, a major challenge in achieving the desired renovation scale is that the process is often held back by economic, cultural and social factors. As a result, buildings either remain unrenovated or the cheapest solution is chosen, with little consideration of quality. There is a lack of awareness that this is a major investment and not just a temporary solution. We are currently facing the need to renovate buildings. Residents should consider that these decisions have a long lasting effect and it is not likely that they would undertake similar large-scale changes to their buildings in the near future again. Therefore, the buildings and the surrounding space created during renovation should meet contemporary living quality criteria. This raises the question: do the renovated spaces carry qualities that we would appreciate also in 50 years?
Lack of Community
An apartment association, which could represent a functional form of cooperation, is often a tense and unpleasant structure in the Estonian context. They are associated mainly with raucous meetings and clauses in meeting agendas. Once a year, up to 300 households from the same building with little awareness of each other’s values and needs must meet in a classroom in a nearby high school or in the corridor of their building to reach common understanding and make decisions, even if their worldviews may be completely different. It is a far cry from a gathering where people sit around a common table to discuss problems and try to understand them in order to find the best solution.
"Once a year, up to 300 households from the same building with little awareness of each other’s values and needs must meet in a classroom in a nearby high school or in the corridor of their building to reach common understanding and make decisions, even if their worldviews may be completely different."
With effort, the necessary quorum of apartment owners is gathered to take a quick vote before going back to their everyday chores. Decision-making is often challenging, residents with different economic and social background hesitate to invest in renovation. Depending on the size of the association, a general meeting is something where discussion may not even fit in, because by law, the purpose of the meeting is to make a decision. This reflects a strong lack of cultural understanding in communal living. Everyone stands up for themselves and does not know how to act with common interests in mind. This format creates apathy and, at worst, mistrust and does not empower people to try participating in discussions or practicing democracy. Socially homogeneous areas that are segregated from the rest of the city have created an environment where making changes is extremely challenging. While it is often assumed that the primary obstacle is financial capacity, this is only one part of the story. Investments and renovation subsidies significantly ease the situation, yet there remains a surprising lack of interest and initiative. Financial incentives alone may not be enough to overcome the inner barriers within some apartment associations, which are influenced by the complexity of the renovation process and the residents’ social backgrounds.
"Financial incentives alone may not be enough to overcome the inner barriers within some apartment associations, which are influenced by the complexity of the renovation process and the residents’ social backgrounds."
Who is Responsible?
When talking to the various parties involved in the renovation, it is clear that there is no one to take responsibility. A resident’s sense of home generally ends at their apartment door. Apartment associations lack the resources and organisational capacity to reach high-quality renovation solutions. There are no community initiatives or shared understanding among residents. Local governments have not yet taken clear stances to guide their actions and tend to focus on more urgent topics. State organisations that assist with the renovation process mainly contribute through financial support, offering little else. Architects currently play a minor role in renovations as Soviet housing renewal projects do not offer creative challenges and there is no demand from clients. Real estate developers are willing to invest in Soviet district developments, but only after the residents have moved out. Banks will not change their systems unless state or central bank regulations force them to.
No one is taking responsibility; instead, everyone is pointing fingers at each other. Since the responsibility for renovations falls heavily on apartment associations, other stakeholders — such as local municipalities, architects, cities, and real estate developers — should take a broader view and offer support, as they are less personally invested in the process and better positioned to recognise the larger implications on climate crisis and social problems.
"No one is taking responsibility; instead, everyone is pointing fingers at each other."
The Role of the Architect?
The Architect Without a Client
When working with the existing environment and various client profiles, architects approach renovation from different perspectives. Some dive into utopian solutions, ignoring the social factors, while others take a highly pragmatic approach. One side, which is radically opposed to demolition, creates visions where micro-districts become new urban hubs with volumetric facades. On the other hand, apathy is reflected back. Renovation projects are signed by practicing architects but the quality of the renovated buildings is questionable. While we have collectively started valuing heritage-protected buildings, Soviet-era panel buildings are still searching for their place. However, in the discourse of heritage protection, there have been first publications on the criteria for evaluating also Soviet-era buildings in Estonia.
In 2024, Estonia’s apartment building renovation grant requirements were aligned with the principles of the New European Bauhaus. While renovations have mostly focused on increasing energy efficiency under the guidance of engineers, the European New Bauhaus approach emphasises material selection, reuse, accessibility, aesthetics, and the surrounding environment. This approach creates a greater need for involving architects into the renovation process. However, for an architect to come up with new solutions, the client must first approach the architect. Unfortunately, there is still a widespread misconception that architects are too expensive, which means that the project only reaches the architect in the final phase, where their task becomes limited to selecting the colours.
However, we have reason to celebrate the progress made in recent years. What was once considered a distant aspiration — comprehensive renovations — more and more apartment associations have started to recognise the importance of it. A growing number of residents want to improve their living environment, and this is also reflected in the great interest in state subsidies.
Life Beyond the Apartment
Addressing the spaces between buildings and fostering social cohesion requires the involvement of architects, local governments, and apartment associations in the process. There are opportunities beyond mere technical upgrades to create solutions that connect buildings and unify the neighbourhood.
The urban space between Soviet-era buildings was originally designed to foster a sense of community or ownership but failed to do so. As a result, these neighbourhoods are often characterised by uniformity, anonymity, and social alienation, which today requires a critical approach as a whole. This is highlighted by the fact that most micro-districts were never fully completed. The focus was primarily on constructing buildings, while public spaces, parks, and public centres were largely left unfinished. Therefore, areas with free planning can be seen as unfinished urban spaces, with great possibilities for transformation.
During Soviet modernity, residents were expected to believe in its ideology overnight. As a result, everything was reorganised. In urban areas, whole new districts emerged and became hotspots in their time. It has been a little over 60 years now since the construction of the first panel buildings. The former farmlands that became new suburbs and community centres overnight are now facing an uncertain future.
"During Soviet modernity, residents were expected to believe in its ideology overnight. As a result, everything was reorganised. In urban areas, whole new districts emerged and became hotspots in their time."
In a sense, we are once again in a situation where we must quickly implement significant changes overnight. There are only a few years left to utilise renovation grants from Europe, solutions need to be figured out quickly, and there is not much time for creativity. As young architects, we find renovation intriguing — our imagination starts working generating ideas about what could be done. However, the deeper we delve into the topic, the clearer it becomes that grand visions start to feel like distant dreams. The recreation and restructuring of existing spaces cannot be about forcing through a singular, overarching vision. To achieve high-quality and well-designed spaces, it is crucial to first learn how to foster collaboration between different stakeholders and to generate interest among the residents themselves.
"The recreation and restructuring of existing spaces cannot be about forcing through a singular, overarching vision."
Bios
Keite Lige is an architect, curator and founder of Studio TEISIK. She is a co-curator of Let Me Warm You, the Pavilion of Estonia at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025. The Pavilion explores whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a compliance measure to meet European energy targets or if they can serve as an opportunity to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing districts.
Eline Liiva is an architect and junior researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She is a co-curator of Let Me Warm You, the Pavilion of Estonia at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025. The Pavilion explores whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a compliance measure to meet European energy targets or if they can serve as an opportunity to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing districts.
Helena Männa is an architect and junior researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts. She is a co-curator of Let Me Warm You, the Pavilion of Estonia at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia in 2025. The Pavilion explores whether current insulation-driven renovations are merely a compliance measure to meet European energy targets or if they can serve as an opportunity to enhance the spatial and social quality of mass housing districts.
Notes
1 Siiri-Liis Huttunen, Riina Lii Parve, Triin Reidla, Siim Tanel Tõnisson, Standard Apartment Building Renovation Manual, manuscript in preparation, to be published in 2025.
2Estonian Real Estate Market in 2018, Statistics Estonia.
