Emil Urbel
Emil Urbel
ESTONIA - Having entered the Estonian architectural scene with an array of winning competition entries in the late 1980s, early '90s, Emil Urbel set the standards in the mid-1990s with a host of white minimalist private houses that prompted a stream of imitators. Minimalist in appearance, thoroughly worked out plans, uncompromising quality, clarity of thought: Urbel is almost a brand in Estonian architecture, to a degree that his elegant works are virtually taken for granted.
Biography
Emil Urbel (b. 1959) studied architecture at the Estonian National Institute of Arts (now the Estonian Academy of Arts) in Tallinn and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. Having worked at the state design office during the 1980s, he was among the first architects to establish a private practice after Estonia regained its independence, first in partnership with Ülo Peil, and since 2000 on his own. He received the annual architecture award of the Estonian Cultural Endowment in 1996, 2000, and 2003. For the last fifteen years, he has also taught at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Tallinn University of Applied Sciences.
Profile
Ingrid Ruudi: Could it be that your architecture seems to be too simple and self-evident?
Emil Urbel: People tend to lack the necessary words for expressing either their wishes for or experiences of architecture. Speaking about architectural space requires a specific language, and ordinary people do not have a command of it. Space is a question of intuition. Even for an architect, a proper perception of space develops, say, ten years after graduation, when you can be more or less sure that the built space will really feel the way you imagined it in your drawings. And even then, there is always this thrill, a sense of anxiety when first entering the building under construction – is it comfortable, does it look the way it was drawn?
IR: You are probably the Estonian architect with the greatest experience in private housing. What changes have you noted in people's ideas, desires and problems in relation to perceiving, inhabiting and representing private space?
EU: Compared to some fifteen years ago, the clients have a better understanding of their needs and wishes. There's less mindless waste of space. A house is perceived more as a large apartment, it is actually a very functional question, and there is no need for all the extras, like a sauna, pool, garage, etc. A house does not have to enclose all activities with a fence. A house without a fence relates much better to the surrounding environment, but this is still a novel idea for a lot of clients. There's a 1950s housing area in Maarjamäe, in Tallinn, where there are no fences around the houses; it has a very pleasant, spacious feeling, which is actually all the more surprising because the area was built only shortly after Stalin's death.
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