Top Architects Crowding the Arvo Pärt Center Design Finalists
The design contest for the building of the International Arvo Pärt Center near Tallinn has moved to the second stage after narrowing the field to 20 architects, including award-winning Zaha Hadid.
The competition attracted some 71 architects from all over the world, and the shortlist included 20 of them, ETV reported.
The first stage of the contest aimed to pick out the architects whose previous works would best fit the concept and needs of the Pärt Center in the seaside Laulasmaa village, located 30 kilometers west of Tallinn.
The shortlist includes architects from 11 different nations, and is available on the websites of the center and the Union of Estonian Architects. Seven of the competing firms are from Estonia.
According to Peeter Pere, head of the Union of Estonian Architects, Pärt’s special music requires a special building and the competition stands out for the competence level of the entrants.
“We have a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize or the Nobel of architecture, so that’s some indication of the international level,” Pere said, alluding to Zaha Hadid's firm from the United Kingdom.
The winning project will be announced on 20 June.
The Arvo Pärt Center will be opened in Laulasmaa in four years' time, when Estonia will celebrate its 100th independence.