Interior Architecture MA defence 2025. Photo: Evert Palmets
2024 MA THESES
Hanna Loora Arro
In the Field of Temporary Architecture. Towards a More Sustainable Stage Design
Spaces created for a short period shape user experiences, foster communal connections, and present various challenges for both designers and the environment. This master’s thesis explores the possibilities, value, and hidden layers of temporary architecture, focusing particularly on short-term festival spaces and their spheres of influence. The practical part of the thesis was developed in collaboration with the Opinion Festival and proposes a stage design for the education and economy area of the 2025 festival. Combining a scaffolding-based structure with reused wooden elements, the stage represents a flexible and sustainable approach to festival construction. The design encourages on-site experimentation with available materials during the building process, highlighting the experimental, open-ended, and exploratory nature of temporary architecture.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Silvia Ingver
The Use of Agricultural Products and Residues in Interior Architecture
Silvia Ingver’s master’s thesis explores the potential of utilizing agricultural products and residues in the field of interior architecture. The research seeks to identify ways in which the use of natural materials and traditional techniques could contribute to more sustainable spatial design practices. The project is rooted in a personal connection to the landscape and cultural heritage of Southern Estonia, placing emphasis on rural resources that have thus far been overlooked in interior architectural design. It examines the valorization possibilities of agricultural residues and analyses the properties of these materials for the creation and development of interior spaces.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Kairi Karp-Konceviča
Hospital as an educational space. Rethinking Tallinn Children’s Hospital Endocrinology Classroom Rethinking
Kairi Karp-Koncevica’s master’s thesis, “Rethinking the hospital as an educational space – a classroom in Endocrinology at Tallinn Children’s Hospital”, explores the overall development of hospitals and how perceptions contribute to healing. How can hospitals contribute through outreach and prevention to tackle the diabetes crisis? To do so, it is necessary to create a dedicated learning classroom in the hospital that is adaptable to multiple functions. In this way, we can keep the space constantly in use and avoid creating empty space.
Diabetes has reached crisis proportions, and the incidence of obesity in our children and young people is constantly rising. Healthy diet and lifestyle choices can reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes. The role of space for prevention plays an important role in ensuring that all parties can and are involved in learning.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Ville Lausmäe
Third Place – Water-Space
Ville Lausmäe’s master’s thesis investigates the underexplored potential of water-space as a distinct spatial typology within spatial design. Rooted in phenomenological inquiry and cultural analysis, the work proposes that aquatic environments—despite their geographical abundance in Estonia—remain peripheral in the collective spatial imagination. Emphasizing the “why” and “how” over the “what,” the thesis interrogates the physical, perceptual, and symbolic boundaries that separate human activity from water.
Framed as a “third place,” positioned beyond urban and rural paradigms, water-space is presented as a site of spatial ambiguity and conceptual freedom. Through this lens, the thesis critiques typological fatigue within the discipline and calls for renewed theoretical engagement with spaces traditionally outside the architectural canon. Illustrations by Karl Kristjan Nagel.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Kätlin-Karin Lond
Circular interior architecture based on the G-building in Telliskivi
The Master’s thesis explores how the principles of circular architecture can be applied in the reconstruction of a historical building. Using the author’s primarily linear interior architecture project for a bar and restaurant as a case study, a parallel design project was developed to examine how existing resources can be reused. The work forms part of a broader conversation about the role of interior architecture in the context of the climate crisis.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Anna Aurelia Minev
Normal environments for normal people
What we consider normal is what we’re used to. In built environments “normal” means the space is easily understandable and functions usable – a place where we can be independent. Independence provides dignity. Unfortunately, not everyone experiences these two qualities in normal spaces.
We have excluded people with disabilities from the concept of “us,” which means accessibility is often approached through technical requirements, “special” solutions, and clumsy add-ons to buildings. A closer look at public spaces and buildings quickly reveals that regulations alone do not automatically create user-friendly environments – we need to start thinking about accessibility differently. We are all different, and we all age, so good design should not be seen as a niche interest or someone else’s problem. It is the responsibility of spatial designers to create usable environments. We can’t only rely on rules and regulations, we need to change the attitude towards people’s differences so we can actually start actually making usable spaces. Accessibility should not be an add-on – it should be an integral part of architecture, because user-friendly environments benefit all of us.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Laura Pormeister
Adaptive Hero – Adapting an Abandoned Building to a Modern Environment: A Small Town Case Study
Laura Pormeister’s MA thesis deals with the issue of decaying buildings and seeks ways to transform an abandoned building complex into a public space that supports the development of the local community.
The research positions itself within the context of non-growing villages, where, for historical reasons, there is often an abandoned building of architectural or historical value in the village center, which could, if properly utilized, contribute to the village’s development. The thesis focuses on the former administrative building in Orissaare on Saaremaa and the former artificial silk factory in Kõrgessaare on Hiiumaa. The work informs about
why abandoned buildings should be reused, what the legal framework in this field looks like, and how building owners typically behave.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Laura Maria Tõru
The In-Between House: Co-Living in Old Town, Vana-Posti 4
Laura Tõru’s master’s thesis unfolded through several interwoven dimensions: the economics of housing and urban pressures, architectural precedents, co-living typologies, psychological needs such as privacy, safety, and comfort, and the broader role of community in mental well-being. Through academic literature, case studies, interviews, and personal reflection, the thesis formed a clear picture of the gap between what the current housing market offers and what nomadic young adults actually need.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Mari Uibo
Hairline. The Fine Line Between Human and Space
The aim of this research is to animate the materials used in spatial design by incorporating matter produced by the human body itself. This research was primarily driven by the question: how can the original, protective function of hair be restored – but on a much larger scale, by replacing synthetic materials used in spatial design?
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.
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Linda-Maria Urke
Spatial Impact. A Supportive Home Environment For A Person With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
In this thesis, I have studied how to design a home environment that supports the well-being of people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). My goal is to find ways to provide a form of preventative work through interior architecture that would help reduce the symptoms and difficulties of ADHD exacerbated by the person’s
environment. So far, this topic hasn’t been studied as much, and there are no clear interior architectural guidelines on how to design a supportive home environment for people with ADHD. The work is mainly based on neuroscience,
biophilic principles, and shared personal experiences.
Supervisors: Mariann Drell, Pavle Stamenović, Gregor Taul.
Consultants: Johan Kirsimäe, Maria Helena Luiga.