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Architect
Elina Amann, last edited on 17.10.2022
Name:
Mai Shein / EST: Mai Šein
Life Dates:
b. 1946
Country:
Employers:
Tallinn branch of the design institute Tsentrosojuzprojekt (1970-1990)
Rovaniemi City Council, Lapland, Finland (1990-1992)
Field of expertise:
Architectural design
Education:
Awards:
1st place in the Union-wide competition for kiosks (1972)
Prize of the union for the best collective canteen in ALBU (1973)
Mai Shein is an Estonian architect who was born in the village of Räägi on the main Estonian island of Saaremaa on May 10, 1946. She began her studies at the National Art Institute of the Estonian SSR at the Faculty of Architecture in 1965 and graduated in 1970.
Promptly after graduation, she worked as an architect at the Tallinn branch of the design institute Tsentrosojuzprojekt. In 1990, Shein worked abroad for a short period of time. She worked in the city administration in Rovaniemi, Finland, and later in the construction company “Rovakete”. She returned to her homeland in 1993 and became a member of an architectural firm in Triograaf.
In her designs and projects, the architect places great emphasis on sustainability, efficiency and characteristic design, inspired by geometric shapes and the purpose of the buildings in question.
Shein received the union’s award for the best collective canteen in ALBU in 1973. A year earlier, she won the union-wide competition for kiosks. Within the next 40 years, she was nominated several times for the Culture Prize.
Shein designed residential buildings as well as educational and tourist facilities. Many shopping centers by her are located in Estonia and Finland. She also embellished the open spaces of the cities where she worked with street furniture and sports equipment.
During the Estonian independence, the architect designed the main building of the Customs and Border Agency in Koidula – a neighboring village on the island of Saaremaa, where she was born. Built in the 1990s and completed in 1999, Shein designed the building according to her architectural features. The building consists of a prism and a cylinder that merge into each other. She also designed the headquarters building for the company “Rovakate” in Rovaniemie.
The work that made the name of Mai Shein famous is the Tallinn Golf Club in Niitvälja. It is the first 18-hole golf course in the Baltic countries. The course was opened in 1997 and was created in cooperation with architect Jaan Tiidemann. In 2014, she expanded with him the building of the Social Club on the golf course. The shape reflects the golf club movement of a player and how the ball flies in the air after hitting it. The technical system for heating and hot water of the building relies on sustainable energy production. The building is powered by thermal energy and solar energy – a significant part of Shein’s work.
The building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (TTÜ Energeetikateaduskond) of Tallinn University of Technology is also based on an even more advanced energy supply system. In 2002, the project started by the architect with Andrus Padu. The building was completed in 2004. In addition, there were many other projects in the spirit of sustainability, but they were not realized.
Main image: By Reio Avaste – Reio Avaste, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14851897 (last accessed on 17.10.2022)
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