Linnahall — Soviet Brutalism, Tallinn

LinnahallSoviet Brutalism  ·  Tallinn

Key facts

Style

Soviet Brutalism

Architect

Raine Karp, Riina Altmäe

Completed

1980

Location

Tallinn waterfront

Photos

16

Photographed

Linnahall

Linnahall opened on 19 July 1980 as the V. I. Lenin Palace of Culture and Sport, built for the Moscow Olympics — the sailing events were held in Tallinn, and this was the city's contribution. Raine Karp and Riina Altmäe designed a symmetrical, almost windowless mass in concrete and local limestone, kept deliberately low so that it would not block the view of the old town from the sea.

You do not enter it so much as climb over it: broad stairs run up and across the roof, and the whole building works as a public terrace facing the water. It has been closed since 2010 and is visibly decaying, listed as heritage, repeatedly proposed for renovation. It is one of the most photographed brutalist buildings in the Baltic states and one of the most uncertain.

Photographs and text by Dicky Chan · shot on iPhone, on foot

← Estonia

Linnahall — Gallery

16 photos

More Soviet Architecture in Tallinn

6 locations