A Material and Social History 1900-2025

Faced with climate crises and resource depletion, architects are increasingly finding new hope in old materials, with processes of circularity broadly lauded as local solutions to global issues. However, these efforts are often hindered by the practical reality that the materials primarily disposed of do not match those deemed worthy of reuse. 

Estonian praxis has revealed that circularity is not only hindered by technical challenges, but a slew of semiotic complexities often overshadowed by the dominant technocratic discourse. At their core, processes of reuse stem from cultural value judgments of materials being worth using and reusing. But what constitutes value? How can a material’s social stigma be untethered from its technical potential? This inquiry focuses on one of the most ubiquitous, yet ideologically burdened building materials in Estonia – silicate brick. Coupling its material evolution with the changes in its public perception, we examine the origins and endurance of silicate’s negative connotations. We ask whether – and how – a material so deeply saturated with Soviet stigma might be reborn anew.