Revived Archetypes of Summer Houses in Estonia

A wooden cottage was designed by KUU Arhitektid and built in the village of Mura, Estonia.

Koda is one of the oldest Estonian words, originally meaning "a place for life," linguistically very close to the words kodu ("house") and koht ("place"). The original archetypal form of koda is still used, although its primary purpose has changed. Over time, completely new variants of the concept koda emerged: a place for gatherings and music, blacksmithing, worship; all of this shows how deep the roots of this phenomenon go in Estonian culture.

The concept of the cottage is based on the archetypal koda, modernized in form and function. The building in Mura consists of three blocks: sauna, living room with kitchen, and bedroom with bathroom. The latter two are adjacent to each other and directly connected. There is a large terrace between the main block and the sauna, connecting all functions of the summer house and creating appropriate external "nests" for each function.

Large openings face north, offering a captivating view of the Baltic Sea, and south toward the sunlight. The interior, in light tones with converging ceiling vaults, is illuminated by triangular dormer windows oriented toward the sun.

The cottage is a wooden frame structure finished with natural larch both for walls and roof. The sauna is impregnated with resin.

Photography: Tonu Tunnel