’Art_Plaza’ by the two young Danish architect firms SEA and EFFEKT has been awarded 1st prize in the international competition for the new Academy of Arts building in Tallinn, Estonia.

The new academy building is situated in the heart of Tallinn. The building contains facilities for the departments of art, architecture, design, and art history. In addition to the academic programme the project includes a library, gallery, shop, conference facilities and a public plaza. A total of 30.000 square meters. The competition had 96 entries from 26 countries.

Quote from the Jury Report:
‘The Jury voted Art Plaza as the winner of the competition because it is by far the best proposal when it comes to architectural concept, outer qualities and inner life. The project is stunningly simple and at the same time fascinatingly complex.

The outer shape is a beautifully proportioned square tower. Tallinn’s downtown is dominated by visually “noisy” buildings screaming to each other. In this chaos Art Plaza suggests erecting a quiet, calm and perfect tower with only half the footprint of the site, liberating a 4000m2 plaza in the heart of Tallinn. This plaza will stand out as a unique place in downtown Tallinn, filled with students and art. Art plaza will become the new living room of Tallinn.

The heart of the building is a spiral void. The corkscrew movement connects the entire building and creates 4 public plazas with stunning views of the entire city. The sky plazas open up the building from within, creating an art academy in constant dialog with the city - a modern open academy, which interacts with society and the world.

The project has potential of becoming an international masterpiece, the beckon of Estonia, attracting people from all over the world to see the art academy of the future - a calm sculpture in the roar of downtown Tallinn. ‘

Art_Plaza is an equal cooperation between the two Danish architecture firms SEA and EFFEKT.