Jüri Okas (born 26 August 1950 in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific art, site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior intervent ...

ist, and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand processed technique ...

. From 1957 to 1968, Okas attended Tallinn Secondary School No. 46 (today's ). From 1968 to 1970 he studied at the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute (today's Tallinn Technical University). In 1970, Okas enrolled in the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (today's

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonian language, Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, Media (communication), media, art history and conservation ...

) in the architecture department. He graduated from the institute in 1974. From 1974 to 1989, Okas worked in the design bureau EKE Projekt. From 1989 he has worked in the architectural bureau Okas&Lõoke OÜ. The most notable works by Okas are the gas station in Paide, the main building of Forekspank bank, the modern farm in

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

, and the Delta Plaza office building in Tallinn. Artistic creations by Okas include numerous performances, photo collages, prints, installations, book designs, and sculptures. Exhibitions of his works have been held in many Estonian and Finnish galleries, and his works have been part of exhibitions in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

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Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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, and

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. Jüri Okas is the son of the painter Evald Okas.

Works

*Astlanda business center, 1992 (unbuilt, with Marika Lõoke) *Main office of the Forekspank bank, 1997 (with Marika Lõoke) *Estconde business center, 1999 (with Marika Lõoke) *Office building in the city center of Tallinn, 2001 (with Marika Lõoke) *Modern farm in Saaremaa, 2002 *Apartment building on Kaarli Road, 2004 (with Marika Lõoke) *Apartment building on Rävala Road, 2005 (with Marika Lõoke) *Delta Plaza business center, 2008 (with Marika Lõoke)

Art

*Reconstruction O, print, 1974 *Reconstruction M, print, 1976 *Environment, installation, 1976, Tallinn *Untitled, land art, 1979, Vääna-Jõesuu *Perspective, installation, 1979, Harku *Landscape II, print, 1982 *Torn I, sügavtrükk, 1986 *Nest, installation, 1987, Tallinn *Cross-roads, installation, 1995,

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

*Drench to Heaven, installation, 1996,

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

References

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Union of Estonian Architects, members
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okas, Juri 1950 births Living people Tallinn University of Technology alumni Architects from Tallinn