New exhibition explores how the 1980 Olympic Regatta Shaped Tallinn
This summer marks the 45th anniversary of the Tallinn Olympic Regatta for the USSR's Olympic Games in 1980. A new exhibition looks at how the event changed Estonia's architecture.
Alongside the sailing, the event was accompanied by large-scale urban planning and development throughout the 1970s, making the decade particularly significant in the history of local architecture, the Estonian Museum of Architecture says.
In total, over 120 architectural projects were planned as part of the Olympic urbanism, which the exhibition"Sailing Forward. How the 1980 Olympic Regatta Shaped Tallinn" outlines.
These include the Linnahall, Olympic Yachting Center, TV Tower, Hotel Olümpia and the new airport terminal, while the "architectural scars left by the destruction of World War II" were redeveloped.
"Despite the conditions of Soviet occupation, local initiatives – led by Estonians – sought to improve the living environment in the momentum of the regatta. The summer of 1980 felt to many like a fleeting moment of freedom, but the Iron Curtain would remain closed for many more years," the museum says.
"Sailing Forward. How the 1980 Olympic Regatta Shaped Tallinn" is open at the Estonian Museum of Architecture until September 25, 2025.
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Editor: Helen Wright
