The 5th Tallinn Architecture Biennale, whose Opening Week will take place from September 11th – 15th, 2019 in multiple venues in the heart of Tallinn, Estonia, has announced its programme, designed to fostering dialogue, multidisciplinarity and experimentation. 

Dedicated to the theme "Beauty Matters: The Resurgence of Beauty", the international architecture festival, organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture and curated by Dr. Yael Reisner, celebrates the aesthetic experience in architecture, after almost 80 years of cultural bias.

Addressing both architects and the general public, TAB 2019 Official Programme consists of five main events: a Curatorial Exhibition, a Symposium, a Vision Competition Exhibition, an Installation Programme and an International Architecture Schools' Exhibition. 

In parallel, these events will be enriched by a Satellite Programme curated by Estonian architect Kirke Päss, comprising of exhibitions, lectures, installations, architectural film screenings and other events around the city; and by TAB Club, an information hub and a meeting place in Tallinn Creative Hub Kultuurikatel.

Dr. Yael Reisner, TAB 2019 head curator. Image © NAARO

"The Curatorial Exhibition invites audiences to reflect on the concept of beauty: “Aspiring to beauty is aiming at depth — the true challenge in architecture, as it is in poetry, mathematics, or politics. The eight invited architects — both recognized and emerging — were asked to propose a project focusing on beauty through the lens of habitation,"  asserted the Head Curator.

"They were challenged to design a project that is both local to Tallinn and global; a conduit for the emotional experience of beauty in an urban context.  Thus, the curatorial exhibition would capture these two burning issues, explored by architects who differ in their agendas and aesthetics," added Head Curator.

TAB 2015 installation Body Building by Sille Pihlak and Siim Tuksam. Image © Tõnu Tunnel

Highlights include the following: the new experience of nature in the habitation of the future proposed by Sou Fujimoto Architects (JP) with its The Open Cave; Augmented Nature — a natural landscape created with an augmented reality app by Elena Manferdini (USA); the exploration of the paradigm shift in communication technology by Space Popular (UK) with The Venn Room; the installation Tick, which combines the utopia of modernist housing, energy-efficient reconstruction and vernacularism by KTA (EST); a new type of living space for the binuclear family called Beauty-Ful(l) Life, conceived by Kadri Kerge (EST, USA); the flexible Temporal Environment system that adapts to environmental conditions designed by soma (AT); new immersive forms of habitation proposed by MARCH studio (AU) entitled TRANSOCCUPATION; and the Growing Cities project by Barnaby Gunning Studio & Yael Reisner Studio (UK), based on a new urbanism encouraging direct daily interaction with nature.

TAB 2017 Installation by Gilles Retsin. Image © NAARO

The TAB Conference Programme unfolds with the one-day Conference “Space and Digital Reality” and the two-day Symposium "Beauty Matters. Just Like Love, It’s Real", which aims to generate genuine interdisciplinary debates. With disciplines ranging from architecture to neuroscience, poetry to mathematics, and philosophy to artificial intelligence, it encompasses various panels that debate budding beauty in all creative fields. The list of participants includes Graham Harman (USA); Maria Lee Liivak (EST), Ron Aharoni (IL), among others.

The Vision Competition Exhibition will showcase a selection of more than 80 competition entries. Based on the main curatorial topic and entitled "New Habitats, New Beauties", the competition focuses on the east side of Kopli, an urban area part of Kalamaja, in the North of Tallinn. Participants were asked to escape the bland globalisation of standard architecture and to find new concepts in keeping with the alternative lifestyles of the inhabitants.

2019 Installation by Steampunk. Image © Steampunk

The models created by the 12 finalists of the competition "Huts and Habitats" curated by architect Gilles Retsin (UK) will be presented at the exhibition related to Installation Programme, whilst the winning proposal Steampunk by Gwyllim Jahn and Cameron Newnham (Fologram, AU), Soomeen Hahm Design (UK), Igor Pantic (UK) will be built in August 2019 in the lively green pedestrian area facing the Museum of Estonian Architecture. It will be presented during TAB 2019 Opening Week and will remain in place until the next edition in 2021.

Finally, “Terribly Beautiful” is the title chosen for the International Architecture Schools’ Exhibition, which includes the latest works by the most prestigious academic institutions worldwide. Curated by young Estonian architects Merlilin Kaup, Margus Tammik and Ulla Alla, it will be displayed at the Estonian Academy of Arts Gallery.

Tickets for Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB 2019) are now officially on sale:

TAB Pass (including Curatorial Exhibition entrance, Symposium ticket, tote bag, catalogue, TAB Gala entrance):

• Early Bird until July 1st: €50,00
• Starting from July 1st:€60,00

TAB Pass special price for students (fixed): €39,00

Further ticket options are available at this link.

TAB 2019 facts:

Opening Week: September 11th – 15th, 2019
Dates: September 11th – November 17th, 2019
Head Curator: Dr. Yael Reisner (London)
Assistant Curator for Curatorial Competition entry: Johanna Jõekalda (Tallinn)
Curators' Assistants: Liina Soosaar (Tallinn), Barnaby Gunning (London)
Production: Eve Arpo, Maria Kristiin Peterson (Estonian Centre for Architecture)
School’s Exhibition Curators: Merilin Kaup, Ulla Alla, Margus Tammik (Tallinn)
Satellite Programme Curator: Kirke Päss (Tallinn)

Top image: Steampunk, courtesy of Gwyllim Jahn and Cameron Newnham (Fologram), Soomeen Hahm Design, Igor Pantic. Image © Steampunk

> via TAB 2019