Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2026 - Vision Competition

Participants are asked to treat the site not as a single object but as a set of typologies that reflects the Old Town as a whole, and to propose a coherent strategy for urban resilience and social sustainability in a historic context.

Description
Tallinn's Old Town is exceptionally well preserved in part because historical economic scarcity limited large-scale renewal: modern grids did not overwrite the medieval street and plot system, and later facade updates retained medieval load-bearing structures. Over time, continued use and conservation have amortized material costs, making the area physically cost-effective at a citywide scale. Socially, however, the Old Town has become expensive and increasingly detached from local life, shaped by comprehensive protection (from 1966), post-1990s privatization and neoliberal reforms, and the growth of tourism and commercialization. The competition frames this tension--low long-term physical cost versus high social cost--as its central problem.

Jury
Klaske Havik (Prof. Dr. Ir.), Professor of Methods of Analysis and Imagination at the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology
Triin Talk, a heritage and conservation specialist, PhD candidate, and researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts
Keiti Lige, an architect
Siiri Vallner, an acclaimed Estonian architect and partner at Kavakava
Siim Tanel Tõnisson, an architect, co-founder of the Tallinn-based stuudio TÄNA

Prize
First prize: 4,499.99 €
Second prize: 2,499.99 €
Third prize: 1,499.99 €
Five Honorable Mentions (no monetary award)

Entry Fee
None

Timetable
The winners will be announced by 06 May 2026.

Organizer
The Estonian Centre for Architecture

Official Website