Kaidi Org

• Community integration - out of the space and into the space on the example of Keila youth
• Tutor: Tüüne-Kristin Vaikla (PhD), Kaja Pae (MA)
• poster, audio, photo
• 4 x A1; 2 x A0

At the beginning of my Master’s thesis, I set myself the goal to study the discrepancy between the residents of the Mäe-Liiva Street apartment building block and the young people who used the area – how to resolve the street space noise problem caused by young people without choosing a side.

In my Master’s thesis, I analyse the leisure opportunities for young people in Keila and the specific area related to it – the Mäe-Liiva Street block. The location is the crucial factor for this block, as it is located between large apartment buildings, next to two school buildings, and in the centre of the block is Keila Youth Centre, which is visited by up to 60 young people every working day.

During the development of the design solution for this Master’s thesis, I found that the building of Keila Youth Centre is a part of the former building complex, which is located in a closed territory. Keila Youth Centre uses the interior of the building and the open street space in front of the building, but the closed territory complex is not open to city residents. The closed area is unused and dilapidated.

In the course of my research, I gathered the opinions of young people and the local communities of Keila and found that the Mäe-Liiva Street block (street space, buildings and courtyard) along with Keila Youth Centre is an area with ideal density that can be developed to enhance community activities.

The idea of the project is to open a closed area that runs through the block to the large apartment buildings, to move the noisy street elements away from the apartment buildings, to expand the activities of the youth centre and to provide a more flexible space for the community. The main goal is to find a way for people of working age to stay in Keila and to create an environment that develops young people and integrates community members from different age groups into activities.

The output of this Master’s thesis is to offer a new meaningful spatial solution for today’s closed area of the Mäe-Liiva Street block as a community centre and more precisely to create a flexible space for community groups that could be used uniquely considering the needs of each interest group. The main goal is to provide services related to the learning process of individual interest groups and to provide the opportunity to adopt the do-it-yourself method.

Active meeting places can be created between the apartment buildings as an outdoor area – a skatepark, bike parking, an outdoor cinema, a community garden. Considering the peculiarities of the buildings, in addition to the existing Keila Youth Centre, additional spaces can be created for the community, such as a learning centre, an information centre, co-working space, a children’s playground, cafés, an indoor skatepark and a community house.