Participation, Housing, and the Question of ‘Good Architecture’

The Tallinn Architecture Biennale ʻRecycling Socialismʼ, held in September 2013, is reviewed in this paper. Key themes and contradictions that crystallised throughout the event are identified and analysed. Participatory approach and its shortcomings are discussed in relation to the Biennaleʼs vision competition winning entry. What is the dual legacy of socialism and modernism for architectural and urban practices? The question is studied via the contrasting practices of raumlabor and DOGMA, two key participants in the Biennaleʼs events. Whereas participation is a goal and an answer to modernist-Fordist city in raumlabor's practice, for DOGMA it is the starting point for interrogating post-Fordist city.