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TAGASI
Faced with environmental crises and resource shortage, architects are trying to find new hope in old materials. With the principles of circular economy on the rise, local solutions to global problems are sought in the reuse of both buildings and materials. Such an approach is often based on a global technocratic vision that material is a neutral element – an abstract and exchangeable resource – with no regard of the cultural baggage encoded within it. The Estonian construction practice, however, has shown that circular economy is not hindered only by technical challenges but primarily by the values of material culture. The reuse of materials requires a central vision that the resource is worthy of a new life cycle, however, what constitutes value? What if its constructional potential is overshadowed by generational social stigma? In search of answers, the exhibition focused on one of the most widely used yet also controversial materials in Estonia – silicate brick.
Its story sheds light on the darker aspects of material circulation that do not often come up in our Western-centric design discourse. The exhibition juxtaposed the history of the material and its reputation – in a kaleidoscopic view, narratives from material science, the history of Estonian architecture and cultural anthropology intertwine to explain the despised status of silicate as well as its future possibilities. The aim was to encourage the audience to consider if and how the material so deeply saturated with Soviet stigma could be reborn anew.
