Visit to the Arvo Pärt Centre, Laulasmaa.

Composer Arvo Pärt has an international reputation in the world of classical music and is one of the most played living composers. Maestro who is celebrating his 86th birthday this year, moved permanently back to his home country in 2010 when also Arvo Pärt Centre was founded. The new building amid a pinewood forest next to the sea was designed by Spanish architecture office Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (opened in 2018). It houses a visitors’ centre, Arvo Pärt’s archive-library and a concert hall fine-tuned to perform chamber and choir music.

Please note that the additional fee of 6€ per person is required for this visit.

Aerial view of the Arvo Pärt Centre. Photo: Tõnu Tunnel, Arvo Pärt Centre

Thriving startup scene in Tallinn, guided by Mirko Känd, alumnus of EKA, interaction designer.

In 2021 there are more than 1,100 active startups in Estonia and the largest number of unicorns (startup companies valued more than 1 billion USD) per capita in Europe – 7 companies with 5 having headquarters in Estonia. One could say that it all started with Skype because many of the global startups with Estonian roots like Wise (formerly TransferWise) or Bolt have founders who used to worked for Skype. The tour gives an opportunity to look into the work environments of these companies which are employing thousands of people worldwide and having hundreds of millions of euros in revenue.

Services provided by the mobility platform Bolt. Photo: Bolt

Collective farm architecture from the Soviet era, guided by Mihkel Karu, architectural historian, alumnus of Estonian Academy of Arts.

During the Soviet era collective farms (or kolkhozes) in Estonia produced remarkable architecture designed by some of the best local architects. Acting more like private enterprises with relative financial independence compared to the state farms, collective farms endeavoured to provide better working, housing and leisure conditions for their workers. The tour visits two collective farm settlements close to Tallinn, Saku and Kurtna, in which different building typologies from dwellings to administrative offices have been compactly preserved (mainly Scandinavian-influenced modern architecture from the 1960s–1970s).

Main building of the Kurtna experimental poultry farm, architect Valve Pormeister, 1966. Photo: Martin Siplane