Merko strives to create environments combining high-quality architecture, intelligent floor plans and a human-centred space into a whole. Art adds one more essential layer to the ensemble – meaning.
Parking garages tend to be dull and grey zones, like unfinished basements. To bring a splash of sprightly colour and make it safe for drivers to manoeuvre between the support columns, Merko has a tradition of enhancing the concrete walls with catchy graphics.
Mural paintings on the parking level of Tiiu 14/1
Text: Loreida Hein
Photos: Markus-Johann Viil and Siim Kingisepp
For the new apartment building at Tiiu 14/1, we decided to go a step further and add artistic value in the form of a story about the history of the neighbourhood. The Uus-Veerenni area has changed so much over the years that people tend to forget it sprang up around the legendary Luther veneer and furniture factory, which was innovative back in the 19th century. Luther’s Pop Art influenced chairs are now memorialized on the parking garage walls as visualized by young artists Sander Karjus, Kertu-Liisa Sarap, Mia Mai Seppel and Hanna Vinter in their first joint collaboration.
The project also featured the first example of cooperation between Merko and the painting department of the Estonian Academy of Arts, where four master’s degree students took a deep drive into the theme, taking on the views from the parking facility and the dark red information graphic previously developed by the architects from KOKO. The symbiosis born out of their work packs a positive emotional punch for every time someone drives into the parking garage and the patterns and the images start unfolding as the car rounds a corner. It’s a reminder that an enjoyably designed living environment doesn’t consist only of well functioning buildings but also details that make the place distinctive and give it personality.
To learn more about the artists and their work, watch the video:
More about 14/1 homes: www.merko.ee/kodud/uus-veerenni
