TAB 2022 Vision Competition winner will transform the largest district in Tallinn

The winner of the TAB 2022 vision competition “CIRCULAR BLOCK: Reinventing the Mikrorayon” is the project with the keyword DEC_LAANA. The winning work proposed a fundamental change to the living environment of Lasnamäe over a 40-year period involving the old buildings being demolished step by step. The pace of the change will depend on the newly planted forest growth cycle.

The second and third places in the Lasnamäe-themed vision competition were won by entries with the keywords SNSN2022 (super neighbour) and Bio-edible Tallinn 2030, respectively. The competition received a total of 36 entries from around the world. Currently, only the keywords of the winning works are being made public. The designers and more detailed visions will be announced during the opening week of TAB 2022 in September.

This year’s vision competition examined the ability of architecture to convert waste into energy through recycling activities on both micro and macro scales, focusing on Lasnamäe, the largest district in Tallinn. The main task of the participants was to propose solutions for the Lasnamäe district and its buildings, in order to form a well-integrated system that takes into account the needs of the inhabitants of the district. The challenges of Lasnamäe, which have not been significantly affected by urban planning in the last few decades, are the monotony and scarcity of living typologies, low level of urbanity and obsoleteness of both outdoor and indoor spaces.

Jury member Winy Maas, who is Founding Partner MVRDV explained that  the key and the beauty of the winning project is its gradual approach. „The vision for Lasnamäe is to transition into a complete wooden green and mixed neighborhood,“ said Maas.

The authors of DEC_LAANA are invited to present their project at the TAB 2022 symposium. The works envisioning the future of Lasnamäe can be seen at the exhibition to be opened as part of TAB 2022. The jury noted an additional seven entries with the keywords VR751A60, Generative Productive Module, 13553313, UNFNSHD01, Life_with_circular, 621919 and Nextdoor.

The international jury included Winy Maas (MVRDV, The Netherlands), Kaidi Põldoja (Head of the Tallinn Strategic Planning Services and Competence Centre for Spatial Planning, Estonia), Benedetta Tagliabue (Miralles Tagliabue EMBT, Spain), Toomas Tammis (ArhitektuuriAgentuur and Allianss Arhitektid OÜ, Estonia) and Veronia Valk-Siska (Ministry of Culture, Estonia).

The international vision competition of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale has been one of the most important parts of the main programme since the first Tallinn Architecture Biennale. The initial tasks of the vision competition are set in cooperation with the city of Tallinn and each time focus on a specific area or problem in Tallinn. The vision competition of the 2015 biennale focused on solutions for Viru Square; in 2013 architects were invited to think about the future of the Väike-Õismäe district; the 2017 vision competition focused on the potential of the new urban environment of Tallinn’s Paljassaare Peninsula, while in 2019, a future view of the integrated living environment of the eastern part of Kopli was sought.