Elmar Tampõld (August 3, 1920[1] – March 7, 2013) was an Estonian-Canadian architect and founder of an academic base for Estonian studies in Toronto.
[1] In 1943 he enrolled in the Tallinn University of Technology, but the continuation of World War II interrupted his education and Tampõld fled to Sweden where he resumed his studies at the Stockholm Technical Institute from 1946 until 1948, majoring in marine engineering.
[4] Many of his structures during the period of the late 1960s and early 1970s are in the restrained Brutalism style of architecture, such as the Rochdale College tower, completed in 1968.
In 1967 Tampõld proposed the concept of a residence hall named Tartu College to the Canadian Estonian community and University of Toronto, and from 1967 to 1970 Tampõld served numerous roles in the implementation, construction and design of Tartu College; from main financier, sponsor and main architect.
[8] In 1982, Tampõld proposed the idea of reinvesting Tartu College's surplus revenues for the founding of a Chair of Estonian Studies at the University of Toronto.
The three men made the initial presentation to the University of Toronto and Tampõld became the chairman of the board of directors for the Chair of Estonian Studies Foundation.
[13] Tampõld had long planned to found a Museum of Estonia Abroad in Toronto (abbreviated VEMU, for the Estonian Välis-Eesti Muuseum).
Tampõld envisioned the museum to become a monument to part of the Estonian immigrant community in the West and serve as a higher educational and cultural institution.