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Nordic style and natural materials to be showcased at new IEC The design team for the new International Estonian Centre (IEC), led by Estonian-Canadian architect Alar Kongats, has been digging deep into Estonian culture to source beautiful and sustainable materials that reflect our heritage for the building’s interior and exterior finishes. The team is looking for two key characteristics when choosing these materials: they must be natural, and connect strongly with the outdoors. “The new Centre is not an interiorfocused building,” Alar explained. “It’s very much an extroverted space that will have an easy flow with the out doors. This includes the public plaza right outside the building, the rooftop garden and the green spaces on the middle floors.” “Estonians’ relationship with the outdoors is key and we intend to re flect this with natural finishes in the Centre’s design.” Exterior finishes protect the environment and reflect Northern landscapes Building cladding: While much of the new building will be clad with glass, it’s not just any glass, aka “glazing”. The design is for this glass wall to be triple-glazed, which means it’s highly energy efficient, and helps with sound attenuation. The glass panels are con structed so that a half-inch of air is between them. The result will be an
EESTI ELU reedel, 14. veebruaril 2020 — Friday, February 14, 2020
airy, light-filled space as attractive and welcoming on the outside as it is on the inside. Another key feature is that the glaz ing is bird-friendly; it has a delicate pattern that is not discernable to the human eye, but is visible to birds and acts as a warning to them so that they don’t fly into it and become injured. The design team is looking at incor porating a unique product on the nonglass verticals on the exterior of the building consisting of textured alumi num panels. It is being considered since this material references an Estonian New Year’s tradition to pre dict the coming year known as “õnne valamine”. The textured finish is creat ed when air is added to liquified alumi num creating a bubbled surface. Curiously, despite its open matrix it attract neither dirt nor insects. It has been used as an architectural solution for exterior cladding at illustrious build ings like the Prada Museum in Milan and the 911 Memorial in New York City. Plaza paving: Rugged grey granite is proposed for the public plaza outside the building, which is also the main entryway for the IEC. This material, which will likely come from the Muskoka region of Ontario, a reminder of time spent at Kotkajärve, and reflects the landscape of the North. “It has texture and life,” remarks Alar. “It’s a perfect complement to the Nordic design style we are capturing.” A grove of birch trees will be planted in the plaza, further referencing Estonian nature. Green roof areas: Buildings must play their part in environmental protection, something also mandated by the City
of Toronto for new construction. The Centre’s green roof, with its native spe cies plants, will not only be a beautiful respite but also an inviting space to hold special events. The environmen tally friendly solution help absorb storm water and reduce runoff. “Water management is a serious issue in cities, and our building will incorporate the latest strategies to handle storm water properly,” Alar said. In addition, green spaces will grace the small balconies and on the low roof area connecting the #9 and #11 Madison Avenue buildings. This will provide garden views from key indoor areas, such as the soft seating in the North and South Galleries outside the Grand Hall. Interior finishes echo the natural world Flooring, walls and ceiling: The interior design choices will incorporate materials that have a natural associa tion. A light wood will finish most of the walls and ceilings throughout, and
An Introduction to Estonian Literature (III) Interview with Hilary Bird by Doris Kareva Q. What is it about Estonian literature that makes it special or different from others – is it language or mentality? Or maybe it does not differ from others at all? A. I can only speak about what makes Estonian literature special for me. First, I love the sound of the language. I don’t hear well but I can hear rhythm and musicality. I love Estonian poetry and it does not surprise me that the word for “poem” and “song” is interchangeable in Estonian. As a feminist, I am intrigued by the role that women have played in our poetry. Scholars such as Toivo Raun and Cornelius Hasselblatt agree that oral folk poetry and song was probably mostly written by women because it addresses traditionally feminine themes – marriage, children, work, nature, ilo meel – the celebration of joy. And how splendid some of this poetry is! “Venna sõja laul” (“Brother’s war song”) so im pressed Berthold Brecht that he called it the perfect pacifist poem and I agree. This was also the poem that Pastor Hupel chose to represent Estonia in Herder’s “Voices of the Peoples in Their Songs” (1773). For our written literature think Koidula, Under, Alver, Luik, Kareva …
As for my view of the n ational mind-set – that is diffi cult to answer. There is always a danger with stereotyping of over-simplification, but, on the other hand, stereotypes are usually, in my experience, half true. I have heard popular talk about a “slave mentality” and about the gentle nature of Estonians. I am sure that there are Estonians with a gentle, submissive character but I cer tainly don’t think of all Esto nians at all times as being sub missive. History tells me other stories that do not quite fit the peaceful model. Estonians, for example, successfully fought off Novgorod and Kiev Rus for centuries before the Northern Crusades. The oral tradition has songs that celebrate flight from serf dom and the hated manor. The Tsarist Russian army had to, quite often, protect the Baltic Germans against peasant rebellions. Pastors preached obedience non-stop (see O W Masing’s “Päts”) indicating a pressing need for it. And, in recent years, if there had been no revolt in the 1980s, we would not be having this inter view at all. Estonia to me is a success story, albeit long and painful, about a people who never gave up on autonomy and freedom. I feel very at home with the Pietist-revivalist Moravian Hern hutt traditions of Estonia. My
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this will create warmth and grounding in the indoor space. The floors will contain a cushioning material to make it both sound-absor bent and comfortable to walk on. This is especially important in areas such as the Grand Hall, the location for con certs and performances. The ceiling for the Grand Hall will have the same wood boards but these will be microperforated to manage acoustics and will further contain sound absorbent materials. In the Grand Hall, certain walls will be of plaster that has a per forated surface to aid in sound absorp tion. Grand Hall: The back wall of the Grand Hall is proposed to be lined with “blackened” wood, which utilizes a Japanese preservation method, to accentuate the texture of the wood grain. It will provide a beautiful con trast to the lightness on the ceiling and floor. “It’s somewhat reminiscent of a suitsusaun (smoke sauna), something Estonians can certainly relate to,” Alar said.
with subtle details, “ Alar said. One thing is for certain: the new IEC will be a modern, captivating home for the local – and global – Estonian community for generations to come.
The design and selection process are continuing
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The design team is working through the final choices of what will be used and who the suppliers will be. They are considering Estonian suppliers where appropriate and economically feasible. “There are some cutting-edge Estonian businesses doing significant work throughout the world,” Alar noted. “There very well may be some economic advantages to showcasing Estonian suppliers to a North American audience. The Centre is, after all, envi sioned to be our Estonian calling card in North America” “Overall we are creating a space that will have a minimalist, yet warm and inviting design that relies on com binations of colour, texture, and light
Police launch Cybercrime information website
mother was a Pietist-revivalist Welsh Methodist and, as a child, I went to a Methodist Sunday School in Bristol. This ERR, February 2020 didn’t make me into a Christian Recently the Central Criminal but it did help instill me with Police launched a cybercrime certain values – self-respect, information and notification honesty, egalitarianism, self- website that provides cyber reliance, a love of learning. I crime information and advice have often met these values in on how to recognize phishing Estonia. Traditional music is attacks or restore access to familiar too. Estonian brass their personal accounts. bands remind me of Sundays in “In cyberspace, there is our Bristol when the Boy’s Brigade personal, but also sensitive ifor Brass Band would march down mation, which is attractive to our street and we would come criminals and it is important to out of our houses to listen. report it when you are a victim Methodists don’t go to a church of a crime. Contacting the – they go to a “chapel”, an police may not be the first Estonian “palvemaja.” thought. A fresh website will The important Methodist help provide information quickly John Wesley (1703-91) who and conveniently stated Oskar preached in Bristol, spent some Gross, head of the Central time at Hernhutt, the Moravian Criminal Police’s cybercrime headquarters in Saxony. Both bureau, in a press release. the Methodists in Britain and In the case of computer and the Hernhutt Moravians in cybercrime, the investigator Estonia emphasized the impor needs to know the details, tance of renewal. The historian which may not be immediately Mati Laur, among others, em communicated to people. “The phasizes the importance of the site has different scenarios and revivalist concept of renewal: we ask people to answer speci “It is significant that many fic questions and describe their influential Estonian leaders of actions. For example, we can let the 19th and 20th centuries you know if you have received (Kreutzwald, Jakobson, Hurt, a suspicious email, your ac Willem Reiman, Tõnisson, count has been taken over by a Suits) had a Moravian back stranger, or a website has been ground and the Estonians and attacked,” Gross described some Latvians accepted the Moravian scenarios and added that you term ‘awakening’ as a synonym can also send a hint to the for their national movements.” police via this page. “We also (To be continued) provide preventive tips on how
Get involved and help support our future Are you interested in helping build this spectacular new home for the global Estonian community? Please join our growing list of capital campaign donors! The International Estonian Centre’s donor categories are Kalevi poja Laud for gifts over $100,000 (in cluding naming rights for specific ar eas), Viru Vanemad for gifts over $10,000, and Kungla Rahvas for gifts up to $10,000. Stay tuned for the launch of the Kungla Rahvas campaign in 2020. To make a donation, please contact Urve Tamberg at donations@estonian centre.ca. Donations may be made as a family gift, or in honour of an individual or family. All Canadian and U.S. donations will be issued a tax receipt.
Quotes • I haven’t failed at anything, I’ve just found all the wrong ways of doing it!! • The universe contains pro tons, neutrons, electrons and morons. • You’ll never be old and wise if you weren’t young and crazy.
to avoid becoming a victim, as well as information on what to do if you are already a victim,” Gross added. According to Tõnu Tammer, head of the CERT-EE Depart ment of Cyber Incident Manage ment of the State Information System Agency (RIA), the problem is the lack of informa tion or the speed of transmis sion of information. “We know from other countries, and from our own experience, that cyber bullying is increasingly being fought with bad intentions, but that information is not always passed on to government agen cies who can do something. That’s why cyber.politsei.ee is a good place to leave a mark on what happened to the police and the National Information System Agency,” Tammer said. “With the data we collect, we can better anticipate the whole picture of what is hap pening in Estonian cyberspace, and thus prevent or warn when new types of fraud and crime are spreading,” Tammer added. The information provided helps the police to gain an over view of what is happening in the digital world and, in addi tion to helping a person who is a victim of cybercrime, it also helps protect other people from cybercrime. This can mean working with partners to inform the public about new crime schemes, but also to help inves tigate cases. Reports have also made it easier to link cases and get a better overview of the activities of criminals.
