In this series, we introduce the people behind the B.Green project. Now we would like to introduce Architect Kaidi Põldoja, a team lead of the Spatial Design Competence Centre of the Strategic Management Office.
Kaidi, what topics are you working with at Tallinn Strategic Management Office and what kind of expertise do you bring into the B.Green project?
I joined the B.Green team as an architect and urban planner; during the course of the project, I have changed positions from an architect to the head of the spatial planning team of nine architects, urban planners and an urban art curator. Our team is an in-house architecture and urban planning office for the city of Tallinn that drafts comprehensive plans and urban visions, organizes architecture competitions and designs public space. Pollinator Highway is currently one of our flagship projects.
What have been the most important learning points for you during the project?
The complexity of the challenges that we are facing: climate change, loss of biodiversity, rapid urbanization etc. also means that as a municipality we have to think, and operate, beyond the bubble of mindsets and habits that have defined urban planning for the past decades. Changing prevailing mindsets is the biggest challenge there is.
Which B.Green activities are you the most excited about?
Transforming the existing transmission towers into landmarks is a unique concept of adding value to objects that seem architecturally worthless at first glance. If successful, this project could have a bigger impact on how we see soviet-time legacy – something that we have plenty of – in the long run.
