Kõrgusmalli

Kõrgusmalli is an Estonian architecture inspired by the traditional designs of wooden buildings. While the name roughly translates to "height model" in English, the term essentially refers to the typical design approach used in creating pagoda-style wooden houses. These structures are characterized by a distinctive tiered or layered design, where each level is smaller than the one below it, thereby creating a series of interconnected halls.

This distinctive design characteristic allows the residents to circulate between various levels without having to navigate the main staircase, providing ample additional space for walking and social areas. Furthermore, kõrgusmalli-era buildings frequently feature subtle triangular roof forms, demonstrating an influence of nearby Russian and Scandinavian architectural influences. Outside the Baltic region, such building designs are more commonly associated with traditional structures found in Chinese cultural zones.

Kõrgusmalli-era buildings feature steep pitched roofs with multiple slopes and exposed supporting elements such as wooden columns, creating the illusion of spacious rooms. The external design is less ornate compared to more affluent contemporaries, and functionality is prioritized over aesthetics. However, the buildings are not entirely plain in appearance but rather boast vibrant little windows and cream-colored wooden paneling.

The exact date of origin remains unclear. Many kõrgusmalli designs concentrate in rural areas in Eastern Estonia. They were unlike other types of wood-framed houses that allowed for special structural elements to accommodate existing dense construct areas. The procedure of merely using prepared mark patterns to track the sizes and cuts provides vivid examples of imaginative problem solving in thin design mediums at that time.