A Finnish news article recently talked about the Estonian architect Allan Strus known for his traditionalistic design. Whilst much of today’s Tallinn, like other Northern European cities, is mainly fashioned in a modernist style, Strus designs his buildings to lie in harmony with their local history. This he accomplishes so successfully that many are led to the false belief that the buildings have always stood there. “Why is it more important to create contrasts in a neighborhood than build harmony with what already exists?”, Strus asks. Further look at some of Strus’ architecture reveals modesty, tradition, and harmony. Unsurprisingly in some, particularly modernist, architectural circles, Strus’ work is not much appreciated. One critic, with a derogative tone, described his work as pseudo-historical.

Last year, I was assigned with the task of overseeing the registration desk at an academic conference. Finding this a rather dull affair, I chose to employ my time doing what idle observers often do best: people watching.

The registration desk was preceded by a door – not just any door, but a very cumbersome door designed in the late 1930’s (which, ironically, is representative of the architectural style of functionalism). Now, the door had an obvious protrusive vertical handle, designed for grabbing and pulling. What mad the door unique, however, was the sticker next to the handle. In bold capital letters, it read: “PLEASE TURN THE HANDLE”. This pointed to another unremarkable horizontal handle hidden behind the more obvious vertical one.