Elmar Lohk (15 June 1901 – 11 February 1963) was an

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 and tennis player. Many of his buildings 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 ...

are now valued as great examples of 1930s architecture, for example, the prominent Scandic Hotel Palace on Freedom Square. His creation can be categorised as functionalism with some influence of Chicago school and traditional art. He also played tennis and has won Estonian Championships titles in doubles.

Biography and career

Elmar Lohk attended school in Vladivostok and worked in Shanghai. He then studied architecture in

Darmstadt University of Technology Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

1921-1925 and started to work in Tallinn in 1926. In 1930s, he designed several significant and visually impressive buildings in Tallinn: „EEKS-house“ 10 Vabaduse square (1937), Palace hotel (1937), National Health Service Building in Tõnismäe (1939), and the Kopli Community Centre (1937). The best example of this kind of representative architecture was the reviewing stand at the

Kadriorg stadium Kadriorg Stadium () is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Opened in 1926, it is one of the oldest stadiums in Estonia. It is currently used mostly for track and field competitions, but also serves as a home ground for JK Tallinna Kalev. ...

(1937 with August Komendant, an engineer who later became a constructor for

Louis Kahn Louis Isadore Kahn (born Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky; – March 17, 1974) was an Estonian-born American architect based in Philadelphia. After working in various capacities for several firms in Philadelphia, he founded his own atelier in 1935. Whil ...

). In addition to larger buildings, Lohk designed a number of remarkable villas: 24 Kase str, Maasika str 4/6, Lahe str 6. Among his well-known buildings are the „Kalev“ club in Kaarli Avenue (1932), dwelling houses 12 Raua str and 14 Raua str and the chapel of Pühavaimu parish in the Rahumäe Cemetery (1932). Lohk won several prizes for architecture in international competitions: the Officer's Casino in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

, Tallinn Town Hall and the Tallinn Art Museum. In 1940, during the Soviet occupation Lohk's wife Ilse and his parents were deported to Siberia, he himself had to seek refuge abroad. In 1943, Lohk worked in Finland at

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

's bureau, in 1944 he moved to Sweden. In 1944, Lohk won the first prize in the competition for Sahlgrenska University Hospital in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. He was involved in the project work of the hospital until its completion in 1959. Elmar Lohk died in 1963.

Gallery

File:Elmar lohk - hotell palace - pilt 1.JPG, Scandic Hotel Palace in Tallinn, built in 1936. File:Elmar Lohk - Palace.JPG, Scandic Hotel Palace from a different angle. File:Elmar lohk - vabaduse väljak 10 - pilt 1.JPG, An office building on Vabaduse Square in Tallinn, from 1936. File:Elmar Lohk - EEKS building Tallinn.JPG, Closer look at the Chicago-influenced façade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohk, Elmar 1901 births 1963 deaths Modernist architects People from Vladivostok 20th-century Estonian architects Technische Universität Darmstadt alumni Academic staff of the Tallinn University of Technology Estonian male tennis players Architects from Tallinn Estonian World War II refugees Tennis players from Tallinn