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 ...
– 3 June 1993
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 ...
) was an award-winning
Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
architect active in the mid-twentieth century.
Early life
Tõnu Mellik graduated from Tallinn Secondary School in 1952. He went on to study
film direction
A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in ch ...
at the Moscow State All-Union Institute of Cinematography. In 1953 he went on to study at the State Art Institute of the Estonian SSR (ERKI) and ultimately graduated in 1959. After graduation he worked 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 ...
from 1959 to 1962 and became a member of the Union of Architects in 1960. From 1964 to 1968 he worked as a senior engineer and junior researcher at the Institute of Building and Building Materials. Thereafter, he worked as an architect for the "Estonian Land Reconstruction Project" until 1975. From 1975 to 1987, he was a senior lecturer at ERKI. In 1981, he was the chief architect of the private company, "Esmar".
Tõnu Mellik designed industrial, commercial, and residential buildings. He assisted in the development of the towns of
Kiili
Kiili (before 1977: ''Veneküla'') is a borough of Harju County in northern 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 w ...
,
Kohila
Kohila (formerly also Kapa-Kohila, ) is a Populated places in Estonia, borough () in Rapla County, northern Estonia. It is the administrative center of Kohila Parish. Kohila has a population of 3,505 (as of 1 January 2006).
Kohila has a railway ...
Haabneeme
Haabneeme is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Viimsi Parish, Harju County, in northern Estonia alongside Viimsi. It's located about northeast of the centre of Tallinn, on the eastern coast of Tallinn Bay. With a population of ...
, and
Padise
Padise () is a village in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County in northern 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 ...
.
Mellik participated in developing the Tallinn General Plan and in the reconstruction of the city center in 1968. Arguably the most impressive building he worked on is the Otepää ski base, built in 1978.
Soviet-era architects like Tõnu Mellik were, by convention, simple practitioners. Soviet strictures did not permit architects to freely create their own works by exercising their own vision.
More Tõnu Mellik Buildings:
* Männiku experimental base of the
Estonian Academy of Sciences
Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences (, ) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and develo ...
(1962)
* The "Volta" factory technical building (1965)
* "Ühistare" cooperative house (1966)
* Keila-Joal Sanatorium Boarding School training building (1976)
* Three-story twelve-apartment terraced apartment building (1979)
* Tamsalu Culture House (1980)
*
Viimsi
Viimsi () is a small borough () in Harju County, Estonia, about northeast of the centre of 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 ...
office building (1991)
Awards won
* In 1958 Ants and Tõnu Mellik won the first and second prizes for the Mustamäe residential area plan.
* In 1971 Mellik won first prize for the Saha-Loo area plan and buildings.
* In 1972, together with Peep Jänse, he won the first and second prizes for the opera and ballet theatre at
Tõnismägi
Tõnismägi (Estonian for ''" St. Anthony's Hill"'') is a 36-metre high hillock adjacent to Toompea hill in Tallinn, Estonia.
From 1945 to 1996 the central portion of the hillock was called Liberators' Square ().
External links
* Padise Koidula collective farms terraced houses, https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2628716
* Otepaa ski base, https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2634897
* Kiili in the 1970s, http://entsyklopeedia.ee/galerii/kiili_vald
* Keila-Joa sanatorium school, https://www.e-varamu.ee/item/ZN26PR4F7ZDVT7ZEHCCURQJ625TISNL3
* Apartment buildings in Padisel, https://www.muis.ee/museaalview/2636777
* The exhibition "Estonian Architecture" at the Tallinn Art Hall, prepared by Arvo Niineväli, Tõnu Mellik, and Peep Jänes in 1972., https://kultuur.postimees.ee/3081275/galerii-ja-intervjuu-peep-janesega-modernisti-loometee
* Tamsalu cultural house, https://kultuur.postimees.ee/3081275/galerii-ja-intervjuu-peep-janesega-modernisti-loometee