Triin Juhanson

The master’s thesis explores the possibilities of using virtual architecture on the surface of physical, existing architecture, as well as the possibilities of protecting privacy as an important part of the virtual world. Understanding people’s digital twins and creating and developing digital twins for buildings may help to better understand this. This is especially true for high-value buildings which for example makes it easier to understand and test potential new features. The Tallinn City Hall can be considered as a high-value building. So perhaps it is worth preserving and why not in a digital form that can keep pace with the time. In this master’s thesis the City Hall becomes Metahall.
The design project started with a creative task with an unknown medium where I made a dress with one side private and the other exposing. On the one hand it is important how the narrative of Metahall serves the interests of privacy through its functions. On the other hand, both physical and digital space are important, for they provide the framework and opportunities to play with space and create new narratives. Physical and digital space can be visually similar, but are actually very different. If you look into the various architectural elements and their properties, those interested in architecture can also see the value in the slightly worn elements of the City Hall.

The City Hall and the Metahall are connected by impressive walls, functional doors and screens that all tell their story. The same goes about other interior elements, each of which stimulates the imagination and invites you to look for new features in the virtual world. In addition, simple and educative etudes make the users to realize the ways to increase their security and protect the privacy. This can be done in a certain unpredictable environment that determines the future or leaves it undetermined for time being. Given the initial research questions about understanding the nature of privacy and the digital space, and how to translate concepts related to basic human needs into the language of space, it can be concluded that this is not an easy task. Psychological needs are human and not space-specific. Even meeting these needs through spatial opportunities probably requires further investigation. Time and technology provide opportunities for this. If the effect of time can be seen in the case of Tallinn City Hall, then Metahall will probably not escape it either. In this way, both rooms end up in the same place, where the attention disappears and the room acquires a kind of anonymity and thus also privacy. So, it seems that privacy is ultimately inevitable.