Estonian National Museum

Tartu, Estonia

Drawing © Studio Franzina

Visualization © Studio Franzina

Architects: FPA Franzina + Partners Architettura

Location: Muuseumi tee, 60534 Tartu, Estonia

The project has been designed for an international competition for the new Estonian National Museum in Tartu. The project proposal is to consider the building as a landmark: the museum develops longitudinally with a simple and clean volume, consisting of a long cuboid crushed in the middle to increase the slenderness of prospects.

The volume stands out clearly for the bright red color that characterizes it, entering in contrast to the muted colors of the natural surroundings. The building is suspended for almost all its length above a small lake, the supports are positioned at the ends of the volume. Large windows, as deep vertical cuts, mark the longitudinal sides of the building allowing users of the museum to enjoy the surrounding landscape along the exhibition.

The entrance is from one of the two short sides through a glass base on which rests one of the two ends of the volume. The volume itself on that side opens onto the landscape like a big telescope. In the basement level there is a large triple-height lobby with reception desk, cloakroom and other services for the visitors, including restaurant, bar and bookshop.

On the first floor, above the entrance block, there are the museum service spaces and rooms for educational activities, such as open-plan offices, meeting rooms and research laboratories. At the second floor there are workshops, classrooms and an auditorium. The museum's collections are housed in the longitudinal body with spaces for the display of temporary exhibitions.