THE LEISURE FACTORY. Soviet-Era Mass Tourism and Architecture | Summer exhibition in Pärnu Museum

Kuvaus

THE LEISURE FACTORY

Soviet-Era Mass Tourism and Architecture

21.06-27.09.2026

While Pärnu served as an elite summer resort during the first period of Estonian independence, the Soviet occupation quickly undertook the city’s development into a year-round rehabilitation and recreation zone for the working class. Sanatoriums and holiday centres literally functioned as 'leisure factories', forming small, overall environments where individuals exhausted by their professional lives were reprocessed into rested and relaxed workers, invigorated with renewed productivity.

A large-scale, complex infrastructure took shape to serve thousands of vacationers. The expansion of leisure to the masses thus had a prominent spatial and architectural dimension, which remains clearly obvious in Pärnu’s cityscape and surrounding villages to this day, forming a unique layer of the county's recent architectural heritage.

Exhibition team

Curated by: Svea Volmer-Galland

Content creation by: Epp Lankots ja Triin Ojari

Design and graphics: creative collective Inimesed Vaatavad Merele (People Look to the Sea) - Indrek Mikk, Villu Plink and Kristjan Sisa

With contributions by: Indrek Aija, Tiit Kask, Margus Tomp, Triin Tammann, Merilin Mäe, Katrin Suu

Many thanks to: Eesti Arhitektuurimuuseum, Sanatoorium Tervis AS, Luisa Keelelahendused, Kaija Velmet, Jaak Valge, Aivar Merila, Metsä Wood

The exhibition was supported by the Estonian Cultural Endowment and the City of Pärnu.