Siiri Vallner

Siiri Vallner is a quiet, very determined Estonian architect with an impressive CV. And yet she is not the only female among the younger generation of architects in Estonia because together with two colleagues she started an architecture firm called Kavakava (yes, it shares its name with a toxic tropical plant and a British psychedelic band), which employs only women. Working as part of a team is important to her; so important in fact that in addition to Kavakava she is also co-partner with Indrek Peil of Head Arhitektid (this is a play on words: in Estonian 'head' means good). All her work is done with either Indrek Peil or her colleagues at Kavakava.

Even though Vallner and her partners were emphasizing the importance of the feminine in the design process when they founded Kavakava, I do not wish to pursue the feminist aspect of her work any further here. Yes, her buildings are sensitive, they emphasise the importance of the relationship between body and space, they display a fine sensitivity to materials and they do not impose themselves. Siiri Vallner feels an affinity with the generation of young architects who began actively to design and build around 2000, architects for whom the social aspect of architecture, the users and the space between buildings are important. Vallner is well known for her thoroughness and for a tendency to reticence. The following 'interview' is the fruit of many conversations with Vallner, often in the presence of Indrek Peil who is closest to her creative wavelength.

Much to her discomfort, this reserved architect has recently been the focus of a media storm. In February, she was awarded the first Young Architect Prize. Inaugurated by the Union of Estonian Architects and sponsored by two businessmen enamoured with architecture, the prize – a substantial travel grant – is awarded to an architect under 40.

I am not sure how they will find a winner next year because Siiri Vallner's work sums up everything about young Estonian architecture in the new century: in the 1990s, as a student of Professor Veljo Kaasik at the Estonian Academy of Arts, she embodied a new, more urban planning-oriented approach. She has won several architecture competitions (between 2000 and 2008, in collaboration with various colleagues, Vallner has won at least nine architectural contests). Thanks to this she has been able to design many architecturally interesting social projects unfettered by commercial pressures.

Indeed, Vallner has designed only one private house and one row-house complex. The remainder of her work is in the public sector – what better proof do we need of the state's ability to commission good architecture through competitions. In this sense, Siiri's architectural mission has been very European and focused around 'good old architecture'. After all, in our culture the positive role of the architect is primarily associated with buildings of social relevance – the creation of public and educational buildings. This is architecture with a capital A.