Starting with the hypothesis that a project concerning Patarei, a former battery fortress and prison in Tallinn, Estonia, is to be dealt with as a potential waterfront project, a comparative study was done between the waterfront of Tallinn and Patras, Greece, to define the peculiarities of the waterfront of Tallinn through difference.
The second core of investigation was the complexity of the inner structure of Patarei itself, which is a palimpsest of alterations and additions, turning the core of the complex more and more inwards, creating layers of isolation from the city around it.
This in turn led to the research of layered space, disorientation and labyrinths in architecture and urbanism. The theory found most inspiring and closer to the first personal feelings about the building was Fuhimiko Maki’s description of the concept of OKU, the innermost space, and the use of sensory depth in Japanese traditional architecture, especially to symbolize and protect sacredness.
The result was a partial project, using the concept of spatial depth as a guide to use the isolation and distance of Patarei from the city and its disorienting structure as a quality and as a tool to create a different experience of public space for the city and at the same time bridge the immaterial gap between Patarei and the people of Tallinn. A public sauna center placed as warm heart in the waterfront wing of the building.


CV