Tallinn Architecture Biennale

The winner of the curatorial competition of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2026 is the Estonian architectural bureau Stuudio TÄNA (studio TODAY) with Mark Aleksander Fischer. “How Much?” the winning entry for the competition, examines how architecture can respond to today’s economic, social and environmental constraints so that budget limitation is not an obstacle but an opportunity for a new quality. “How Much?” is placed in a broader social discussion, where the relationship between value and price needs to be reinterpreted – both in the built environment and in culture as a whole.

The jury of the curatorial competition, organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture, consisted of architect and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts Sille Pihlak (PART Architects), architect Kadri Klementi (B210, School of Architecture), Kristiina Reidolv (Head of the Estonian Centre for Architecture), architect Jaan Kuusemets (DAGOpen OÜ, TAB 2024 curatorial team) and architect Roland Reemaa (LLRRLLRR,  visiting lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Central Saint Martins in London).

According to the jury, “How Much?” is a multifaceted, well thought out and socially resonant topic that concerns both local and international spatial practices and has a potential for initiating a wide-ranging discussion across different fields. Facing today`s realities where several European states are grappling with overspending and high budget deficits, “affordability” versus “extravagance” is becoming universally more and more relevant.

Sille Pihlak, architect and dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the Estonian Academy of Arts, member of the TAB 2026 jury: “How Much?” highlights austerity and scarcity as curatorial themes — and asks above all how to turn them into a positive quality in spatial design. The attempt of the architectural bureau Stuudio TÄNA to address this is fully justified at this point in time. The topic is not limited to the field of architecture or our region; this is a poignant question in a broader sense. We want to know what to give up and what to prefer and how to use the resources reasonably and cost-effectively.”

“In today’s cultural policy situation, where the marginalisation of culture in society can be seen in many countries, the theme of the curatorial vision of TAB 2026 by young Estonian architects is most relevant,” says Kristiina Reidolv, Head of the Estonian Centre for Architecture, emphasising the topicality of the winning entry. “Due to the importance of the topic, the jury decided to give the opportunity to organise the biennial this time to young Estonian architects and provide them an international platform for introducing their vision and art.”

The Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2026 takes place from 9 September to 30 November 2026. The opening week is from 9-13 September when the TAB 2026 curatorial program is launched and the main exhibition “How much?” opens.

TAB 2026 consists of a core programme, the architecture-themed supplementary program and the interdisciplinary satellite programme. The Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB), organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture, is an international architecture festival that has been held since 2011. The festival introduces local architectural culture, discusses current topics in architecture and takes a look at the future of the field of architecture. TAB offers an event programme for the top professionals in the field, young professionals who are just starting out in the field of architecture, and architecture enthusiasts.
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II place
The Atmospheric Biennale
Team: Rael Artel (Estonia), Mascha Fehse (German), Daniel Kötter (German), Anna Ptak (Poland)

The second-place proposal, “Atmospheric Biennale”, approaches air as an environmental object with political, sensory, and ecological dimensions. It treats architecture and air as inseparable, emphasizing how walls, openings, and surfaces regulate flows of temperature, moisture, particles, and sound across bodies, buildings, and landscapes. The project is structured between the Salt Storage building and decentralised Estonian sites—Lasnamäe, Sillamäe, Narva-Jõesuu, and Pärnu—using four video walks that link local atmospheres with broader histories of energy, health, and resource extraction. Inside the Salt Storage, three architectural prototypes and two auditoriums will actively modify and expose air conditions, addressing porosity and access, microclimates, and breath/breathlessness, while organizing research material gathered from the four locations.

III place
Estonian Ex.Change
Team: Thomas Cristea (Romania), Julia Janiel (Switzerland), Amos Mauri (Switzerland), Hannah Meisel (German)

“Estonian Ex.Change” frames TAB 2026 as an infrastructure for material and knowledge exchange rooted in Estonia’s own building cultures. Forests, thatching, straw, local clay and earth, prefabricated timber and concrete, and Soviet-era housing stock are treated as “cultural carriers” that circulate between contexts rather than as static resources. Estonia is positioned as a node in wider architectural networks, where invited Estonian and international practitioners work in collaborative pairings to develop shared projects, and where the exhibition makes visible not only final results but also the frictions, translations, and negotiations that produced them.

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Organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture, the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) is an international architecture festival that has been held since 2011. TAB introduces local architectural culture, addresses current issues in architecture, and offers a glimpse into the future of the field. TAB presents a programme of events for both established professionals, young practitioners starting their careers in architecture, and architecture enthusiasts.

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Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2011–2024

VII TAB 2024: Resources for the Future
11 October – 1 December 2024
Chief Curator: Anhelina L. Starkova (Ukraine)

VI TAB 2022: Edible; Or, the Architecture of Metabolism
7 September – 20 November 2022
Chief Curators: Lydia Kallipoliti (Greece/USA) and Areti Markopoulou (Greece/Spain). Estonian adviser: Ivan Sergejev.

V TAB 2019: Beauty Matters: The Resurgence of Beauty
11 September – 17 November 2019
Chief Curator: Yael Reisner

IV TAB 2017: bioTallinn
13 September – 27 October 2017
Chief Curator: Claudia Pasquero

III TAB 2015: Self-driven City
9 September – 18 October 2015
Chief Curator: Marten Kaevats
Team: Sille Pihlak, Siim Tuksam, Ivan Sergejev, Arhitekt Must, Helen Pau, Damiano Cerrone, Rebecca Kontus, Maria Derlõš, and others

II TAB 2013: Recycling Socialism
4–30 September 2013
Curators: Aet Ader, Kadri Klementi, Karin Tõugu, Kaidi Õis

I TAB 2011: Landscape Urbanism
8–11 September 2011
Curator: Villem Tomiste