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M rs Leitaru, you have German-Estonian roots, have grown up in Germany A yoga class was offered and two parties were organized – once at Christmas, tradi-
and are studying architecture at RWTH Aachen University. Which are your
tionally on the site of an almost completed construction, and then a farewell party
connections to Estonia and when did the wish arise to live in Tallinn for some for a long-standing colleague. Both parties are fond memories!
time and do an internship there?
My grandparents are from Estonia and Latvia and had fled to Germany in the 1940s. r In which projects were you allowed to participate during your internship?
The Estonian culture and language were always highly significant in our family. We I participated in various competitions in urban development and structural enginee-
were raised bilingually and we spent most of the family holidays, in summer as well ring, sometimes in the sketches, then again in the representation and in model ma-
as in winter, in my grandparents’ native country. Many of my childhood memories king. One projects which kept me busy for a longer period was the conversion of a
are connected with Estonia. After graduating with a bachelor at RWTH Aachen Uni- small building complex consisting of a workshop and a pump station. I developed
versity, I wanted to gain practical experience in an architectural office and also to ideas and concepts for a conversion and also designed different variants of a new
live outside Germany. I thus decided on to Estonia to be able to discover Estonia not roof construction. In the end, these served as the basis of a presentation at the de-
only as a holiday destination but also as my homeland, to experience daily life and partment for the protection of historical monuments. When I was there, Koko
to get to know the people. started to actively participate in German competitions. Here I was in charge of ad-
ministrative tasks. I sought out interesting German competitions, translated the re-
r Thanks to the economic upswing in the course of independence in 1991 and quirements and the tasks and compiled the documents for participating.
joining the EU in 2004, the “Baltic tiger states” were also able to heavily invest
in architecture. How has Koko architects developed since their first work, the r Which prerequisites should those have who are interested in working in an
Estonian pavilion at EXPO 2000 in Hanover? Estonian architectural office? One third of the Estonians speak Russian, so how
After EXPO 2000, Koko has taken on a variety of tasks and has thus continuously de- does one get along as an intern in daily life and the job in Tallinn?
veloped. The spectrum is very broad and rich in facets. It includes residential pro- My major advantage is that I speak Estonian. Yet English is also okay all the younger
jects, museums, exhibition concepts, hotels and the conversions of industrial buil- generations are fit when it comes to languages. The average salaries are considera-
dings in Estonia all the way to hiking cabins in Norway. Koko architects think outside bly lower than in Germany – the minimum wage is a little more than three euros
the box, beyond the borders of Estonia. In the meantime, the office has 40 em- per hour. Housing is cheaper than in Germany but food prices are at a similar level.
ployees. During my internship, another female German was employed and by now In addition to my salary as an intern, I was supported by the Erasmus+ programme
there are also several international project managers. The interdisciplinary team which also funds internships.
consists of architects, BIM specialists, interior designers, landscape architects, gra-
phic designers and illustrators. The workforce is continuously growing and thus Koko r And which are the modern and historic buildings and places you can specifi-
architects just recently moved into larger premises. cally recommend to visitors?
In Tallinn, I would first of all recommend the well-preserved old town. Then I sug-
r Where do you see the special quality of the projects and of the office? gest walking towards Telliskivi Loomelinnak, a creative district and, on the way, look
It is in the way Koko architects combine the old and the new. The sensitive handling at the architecture museum in the Rottermanni Kvartal as well as Balti Jaama Turg,
and appreciation of the building stock give the projects their very own character and a market hall converted by Koko architects. Also very exciting is the town hall, a
recognition value. Each project is considered and treated individually. There are no multifunction hall from Soviet era right by the sea. The Kalamaja district characte-
standard solutions. In general, at Koko architects new inputs and creative ap- rized by wooden buildings is also very attractive. North-west of Kalamaja is Nobless-
proaches are always welcome. During my internship, the work atmosphere was also ner, a former shipyard currently being revitalized. This is where modern and indu-
very communicative at all times. Even during the stressful final phases of competi- strial, historic architecture meets. Not far from Noblessner is the Estonian Maritime
tions, we held meetings regularly where issues were again and again discussed, re- Museum designed by Koko architects, a former seaplane harbour with an impres-
jected or newly planned. Overall, I would say that the hierarchies are very flat and sive concrete cupola construction, as well as Patarei prison, likewise a monumental
that the employees are also quickly assigned responsibility. I felt very comfortable building reminding of the Soviet terror. A little distant from the old town, the Ka-
since everyone got on well. After working hours as well, there were events for the driorg district with the castle is worth visiting, as are the KuMu art museum and the
team, for instance an architectural excursion to Tartu to visit various museums. stage the Song Festival.

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