Roman Koolmar

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Roman Koolmar , until 1935 Koolman (n) (born May 8, 1904 in Sindi ; † February 1, 1971 in Detroit ) was an Estonian - American architect .

Life

origin

Roman came from a family of optimists . His father, Andrei Koolman, worked in the Sindi factory in Russian-ruled Estonia . The family was involuntarily delegated to Vologda in the Russian Empire in 1905 to take an active part in the revolution . Ernst Kesa claimed in the 1990s that Koolmar knew how to use his flawless Russian and red father in his first year in the Soviet Union. He became chairman of the newly established municipal project.

career

Roman Koolmar does not belong to the canon of Estonian architectural history. He visited the Railway Primary School , before moving to the School I. Alexander , a real school, changed.

After the First World War , Estonia became independent during the October Revolution and in 1921 a member of the League of Nations . In the same year the family returned to the present republic and settled in Viljandi .

At the Viljandi Real Gymnasium of the Estonian Education Society , Koolman graduated from high school in 1923. He used his talent for drawing and made caricatures for the music magazine Muusikalehti . In addition to studying traditional costumes , he also drew comics . His caricatures and cartoons first appeared in the daily newspaper Sakala in 1926 under the pseudonym Koo .

From 1928 Koolman studied architecture at the Technical University in Tallinn , the largest Estonian city, and after graduating from 1933 worked first for the construction department of the Ministry of Transport and then for the state construction company " Ehitaja ". It had to deal with "public procurement". Koolman, known as Koolmar from 1935, designed apartments for workers in Lasnamäe (demolished), civil servants in Kloostrimetsa , ministers and members of the military, including the barracks and officers' apartment of the guard battalion in Kadriorg , chalets and the presidential palace.

Oru Castle (late 1930s)

Koolmar's largest project was the renovation of the Oru Castle . It was once designed for the Russian wholesale merchant Grigor Yelseev by the architect Gavril Baranowski . Estonian industrialists acquired the property in 1934 and gave it to Konstantin Päts , the Estonian head of state, who used the barely organized complex, which after its completion in 1936 was regarded as a symbol of the then nationally representative architecture, as a summer residence . It was only allowed to be nationalized after additional rooms had been added to the basement and was intended to demonstrate the castle's "historical power". New outbuildings became a synthesis of Koolmar's tradition and modernity. Designed by Koolmar Commander's House, which strongly rounded beaches and airy terraces with park pavilion with a wooden roof union, was thanks to frequent reporting by the press to a symbol of the time. The interiors were designed by Olev Siinmaa . The complex was destroyed during World War II .

The legendary Keila-Joa huts had an architecture similar to the Oru command house and were called ministers ' houses. A modern but natural inclusion of the forest was the use of plywood panels to cover the interior walls.

Due to great media interest, the huts (summer houses) went into private ownership years ago . Since the houses were already under monument protection , they have been preserved to this day. Just as Päts forcibly civilized the Estonian people with his national campaigns , the law on cultural heritage forced the Estonian elite to preserve monuments .

Together with Artur Jürvetson , Koolmar designed Tallinn Airport in 1939 . The building is now known as the Old Terminal and was modified in the early 1950s . The Pirita bus station was designed by him in 1940 instead of by Jürvetson, as was mistakenly assumed.

Two houses in Pirita , the Pirita bus station and the officials' holiday home , testify to the modernization of the state . The concept of a holiday and the construction of a relaxation architecture were in the 1930s, a great social upheaval . For holidays in Pirita on the beach or in the forest , Tallinn had to be within easy reach of them. For this purpose, the traffic junction was combined with other modern facilities such as a telephone switchboard , post office or restaurant in the form of the bus station. Its streamlined curvature of the canopy is considered to be one of the most beautiful interpretations of motor transport in Estonian architectural history . The nationally functional architecture of the bus station and the holiday home with its sunny terraces indicate that the hierarchical architecture at that time was not limited to the representative necessity of leisure architecture .

From 1940 to 1941 Koolmar was head of the design office of the People's Commissariat for Public Economy .

The Baltic States were first occupied and then annexed by the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Second World War . The invading Wehrmacht ousted them and was welcomed by their inhabitants as their liberators . When the Red Army returned to Estonia in 1944, numerous Estonians fled from it to avoid alleged persecution . That year, the refugee worked as an engineer for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Government (UNRRA) and as an art history and drawing teacher at the Estonian high school in Geislingen in East Prussia .

Estonian war cemetery

After the war, Koolmar was a Displaced Person in the Pöppendorf DP camp near Lübeck . Along with the living there at the time also architect Richard Wunderlich he designed in 1947 by the Estonian national community -funded Estonian military cemetery on the Vorwerker cemetery for reminder to the in exile in Schleswig-Holstein deceased Estonians from the civilians .

Koolmar was one of many Estonian architects who continued their careers in exile. He emigrated to the United States and lived in Detroit. In addition to designing, he also worked as a hobbyist .

literature

  • Mart Kalm: "Koolmar, novel, architect." In: Biographical Lexicon of Estonian Art and Architecture. , Estonian Encyclopedia Publishers, Tallinn 1996. p. 200

Exhibitions

In 2015 his designs were exhibited for the first time in the Estonian Architecture Museum. From here it went to the Viljandi City Gallery , at the beginning of 2016 it was shown in the National Archives of Estonia and in September 2016 in the Exile Museum of Toronto .

Web links

Commons : Roman Koolmar  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

credentials

  1. ↑ a b c d Mart Kalm: "Roman. April Koolmari avastamine." In: Sirp of April 17, 2015
  2. ↑ Roman Koolmar in memorian in Vaba Eesti Sõna from February 11, 1971
  3. ↑ Jarmo Kauge: curator of the Estonian Architecture Museum
  4. ↑ a b c d Exhibition of the Creation by Roman Koolmar - National Archives press release, January 6, 2016
  5. ↑ If you enter the Bear Gate of Oru today, you will find the foundation of the house on the left.
  6. ↑ Mart Kalm is an architectural historian and has been the rector of the Estonian Academy of Arts since 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Koolmar, Roman
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koolman, Roman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian-American architect
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Sindi
DATE OF DEATH 1st February 1971
Place of death Detroit