Raine Karp (born 23 July 1939) is an Estonian architect.
Raine Karp was born in Tallinn. He studied construction at the Tallinn Polytechnic Institute (TPI) for two years (1957-1959) and went to study architecture in Tallinn State Institute of Applied Art (1959-1964). During the time of the Estonian SSR he worked at the SDI Eesti Kommunaalprojekt (1960-1963), the SDI Eesti Projekt (1963-1973 and 1978-1990) and the SDI Eesti Tööstusprojekt (1975-1978). After the fall of the Soviet Union, during the period when the economy and construction again recovered, Raine Karp founded his one-man architectural office in 1996.
Raine Karp created some of the boldest examples of 1960s–1980s modernism in Estonia. Characterised by monumentalism, his designs often have a distinct Soviet feel to them. Karp was awarded several prizes for his works, and was among the best-known architects of the now-defunct Estonian SSR.
Since 1962, the number of Raine Karp projects has exceeded 300. His designs in Tallinn include large-scale urban dominants such as the Linnahall convention center (1975–1980, with Riina Altmäe), the National Library of Estonia (1985–1993), Tallinn Central Post Office (1974–1980, with Mati Raigna), Sakala center (1982–1985, now demolished), the current building of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1964–1968, with Uno Tölpus, Mart Port and Olga Kontšajeva), apartment houses Trummi street 21 (1968–1971) and Vilde 68 & 70 (1963–1965), etc.[1]
1976 Award of the USSR Council of Ministers (as part of a group of employees of different institutions that designed and built the Mustamäe residential district)
1978 Merited Architect of the Estonian SSR
1981 USSR Medal of Honour
1983 Main prize and gold medal at the International Union of Architects (UIA) "Interarch '83" congress (Tallinn Linnahall)
1984 USSR State Prize (Tallinn Linnahall)
2006 Annual Award of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia
"Architect Raine Karp", 2006 in the Museum of Estonian Architecture
„Evenings at home. Architect Raine Karp's private houses and summer homes", Exhibition from June 17 to August 21, 2016 in the Museum of Estonian Architecture.[2]
