Open AccessViivikonna – Formation of a Ghost Town Amongst Other East Estonian Oil-Shale Mining and Industrial Town
Author(s) -
Siim Sultson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
baltic journal of art history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2346-5581
pISSN - 1736-8812
DOI - 10.12697/bjah.2020.19.06
Subject(s) - estonian , brownfield , oil shale , architecture , industrial city , value (mathematics) , archaeology , geography , civil engineering , economic geography , engineering , industrial zone , geology , redevelopment , paleontology , computer science , philosophy , linguistics , machine learning
The central Stalinist urban ensembles in East Estonian oil-shale mining and industrial townsKohtla-Järve, Ahtme, Sompa, Jõhvi, Kukruse, Kiviõli, Kohtla-Nõmme and Sillamäe areprotected by comprehensive plans and regarded as built-up areas of cultural andenvironmental value; Viivikonna, although similar to these towns, does not boast suchpatronage. Compared to other oil-shale mining and industrial towns, Viivikonna has becomea brownfield nearly completely. What could be the reason for such a difference?Someanswers may be found in history (1946–1980). Viivikonna is the only East Estonian oil-shalemining and industrial town that follows urban planning principles and a pattern, establishedby the Department of Architecture of the Estonian SSR, led by Harald Arman, to this day.However, it is necessary to decide the purpose of Viivikonna in the near future: whether partsor whole of the town are worthy of preservation–both in the economic and aesthetic sense.