Ruuben-Jaan Rekkor

• FOUNDATIONAL STRENGHTENING OF LANDSCAPES, BUILDINGS AND COMMUNITES - ACTIVITY ON THE PÄRNU RIVER
• Tutor: Laura Linsi and Roland Reemaa

Things change. At a certain point in time, phenoma that seem impervious suddenly end. Predicting these changes are impossible, and at the precise moment of change, the thing that was is forever lost. The vacuum must be filled with something new. This master thesis stands at such a point – it attempts to momentarily bind these threads from the past to create a catalyst for new processes and the remembrance of others.
The analysis tries to identify these agents and shifts in the context of a large natural object – the Pärnu River – chosen for it’s capability of being at the same time, as an object, completely imaginable and understandable at a moments notice, but alternatively hiding within itself many subjective themes and secrets.
How to plan into the rural? Copying methods and processes of city-planning is a dangerous route and disqualifies a possible set of tools and planning practices which have to be identified site-specifically. The questions of practicality and economic profits stem from short-term vision and the convergence of the architectural scene into the Estonian capitol, Tallinn.
Through identifiyng key processes in the area the project aims to introduce different communities and interests into a singular being thus creating a community that can sustain the long term goals in the area. These goals range from planting new forests to increase species-migration in the area to rehabilitating a peat-quarry.
The experience of nature is deeply personal. Bound into the large-scale interventions and symbioses are human-scale activities and experiences. The sensation of soft clay and the achievement of creating something, the tired body relaxing in a sauna.
One of the main methods of analysis was the empirical collection of data. For this I visited the sites at different times of the year and also cayaked through my area of interest. Secondarily, I analysed and compared different layers of historical maps and data provided by Maa-amet. Thirdly, I scoured the internet for everything to do with the Pärnu river – from Facebook posts to old newspapers.
The goal of this project is to introduce a foundation on which future actions take place on. Building foundations are also extremely important in the architectural project, as most of my constructional concepts have to do with impoving ground conditions – such as stabilizing the water system of Kavasoo bog or the repurposing of a soviet animal barn.