Urban Renewal, 2022
Tallinn, Estonia
Design: ZHANG Jie, YANG Chen
Honorable Mention of Vision Competiton (Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2022)
Our research into local conditions suggests that the decline of Lasnamäe stems from multiple factors. Spatially, the immense scale of Soviet-era planning and the absence of essential public amenities have produced regional desolation. Socially, the severe shortage of educational and employment opportunities has constrained development, while linguistic divides have deepened ethnic segregation and social fragmentation.
In this divided landscape, we envision education as a potential “common language” capable of drawing Estonian and Russian groups into shared spaces and overlapping communities.
We propose an infrastructure called the educational-social network within the Laagna micro-rayon. This network is anchored by three “urban renewal colleges,” which connect scattered residential districts while establishing a convenient non-motorized transport system. At the same time, the network extends into residential buildings by transforming their underused second floors into accessible public education spaces.
With the future tram line, this network could bring new programs and resources. For example, a School of Architecture built above the channel and parking areas would provide professional training in fields such as architectural renovation, urban renewal, community development, and sustainable design—cultivating forward-looking professionals for Tallinn and Estonia. Alongside it, a complementary public education platform would serve local residents, offering language classes, vocational training, and leisure-based education. Together, these institutions would coexist and reinforce one another: students could share resources with local groups and apply their skills to improving the built environment, while residents would gain new educational and employment opportunities.
Ultimately, the project establishes a mechanism for the sustainable transformation of utopian Soviet urban planning. It treats underutilized social potential (energy) and spatial capacity (matter) as resources to be redistributed and reactivated. By channeling these latent assets and introducing new catalysts, the system allows for a transformation from “waste” into “fuel.”
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