Tallinn’s Freedom Square as a heterogeneous public space

The paper looks at the mental and physical transformations of Freedom (Vabaduse) Square, the main square of Tallinn, in the 1980s–1990s transition period, analyzing developments that were at times antagonistic and conflictual, and at times a mutually supportive dialogue of architectural and artistic projects with the everyday space. In these dialogues, the square appears as an important locus of the construction of the public sphere and a place for the formation and negotiation of different publics and counter-publics. The analysis also reveals the developmental dynamics of the period, with the beginning of the 1990s manifesting more openness and more social antagonisms but also more pragmatic and commercial attitudes, and the end of the decade showing a shift to concerns about representational and symbolic issues.