An umbrella-shaped fountain, created by blacksmith artists Risto Tali and Rainer Kaasik-Aaslav, was opened today in Ülemiste City. The fountain inspired by Von Bomb, or the Estonian stencil artist Indrek Haas’s “Ülemiste girl”, is located in front of Viktor Palm’s house (Lõõtsa 1A) on Viktor’s Square.

“The new fountain significantly enriches the environment of the Ülemiste campus, adding here a moving and living element characteristic of cities,” said Niko Pulli, CEO of Technopolis Holding OY. “There must always be something going on in a proper town square – flowing water symbolizes life and vitality, from which the local people and visitors of the campus can draw inspiration from now on.”

“From today, you can choose in the campus whether you want to watch flowing water or people working, you can watch both of them endlessly,” said Gert Jostov, chairman of the board of Technopolis Ülemiste AS. “Viktor’s Square also has flying flags, so the only thing missing from perfection is the living fire. The latter is difficult to bring to the campus, but luckily the fountain is illuminated and it gives the best aesthetic and emotional effect in the evenings.”

According to the artists, work on the fountain began already in February 2021, and during that time both the concept and the location changed. “This work is a monumental sculpture for us. Previous works have been completed all over Estonia, but now we can say that we have also gained a foothold in Tallinn,” said jewelry artist Rainer Kaasik-Aaslav.

According to Risto Tali, they first tried to create an ideal iron girl, but it turned out that it could not be done. “Now, all women can compete with the “Ülemiste Girl”, because the fountain becomes interactive when you dare to grab the handle and pose,” said Risto Tali, master of the jewelry and blacksmithing workshop of the Estonian Academy of Arts.

“Ülemiste Umbrella” is a fountain weighing 2.5 tons and 4.5 meters in diameter, the highest point of which is 3.5 meters above the ground. The umbrella is attached to the ground with two foundation elements, and the handle of the umbrella is attached to the 7-meter-long pool, which represents the Lake Ülemiste.

The inspiration for the fountain came from the “Ülemiste Girl” created in 2015 by the artist Von Bomb. The 33 x 60-meter mural depicts a young woman with a red umbrella, with binary code raindrops in the background. From the code, you can read Debora Vaarandi’s poem “Ülemiste’s elderly and young city builder”.

The concrete needed for the construction of the fountain was obtained from Nordecon Betoon, the steel was supplied and given the right shape by First in Service, the water was set in motion by Basseinitehnika. Koko architects helped to find the architectural solution.