The 7th Tallinn Architecture Biennale, TAB 2024, will open on October 9th, 2024, across multiple venues in the heart of Tallinn, featuring a diverse program aimed at fostering dialogue, multidisciplinary collaboration, and experimentation. 

Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2024 will be held under the theme of "Resources For a Future" from 9 Oct to 1 Dec 2024.   

Organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture and led by head curator Anhelina L. Starkova, along with Daniel A. Walser and Jaan Kuusemets, the international architecture festival is centred around the theme “Resources For a Future”.

TAB 2024 explores innovative approaches to designing and building architecture using repurposed and reused resources to shape the future.

The official program for TAB 2024 during the opening week includes six key events: TAB Curatorial Exhibition, TAB Symposium, TAB Final Networking Event, Installation Competition Programme, a curatorial tour of the TAB Curatorial Exhibition and the RAK x TAB “Present(ing) Resources” Seminar. In addition to the main events, TAB 2024 will feature a satellite program with conferences, seminars, Open House Tallinn, and workshops.

TAB 2024 CURATORIAL EXHIBITION “RESOURCES FOR A FUTURE”

"Resources For a Future" dives into the principles of architecture that are instrumental in shaping future change. Searching for answers to questions such as “How to stabilise and enforce our architectural strategies, prolong the lifespan of buildings, and make architecture more consolidated and durable”, TAB 2024 focuses on the primary drivers of future development and how to optimise our resources.

"With the recent global pandemic and wars, the social distancing we experienced has raised interest in the “local”. The need for global awareness and knowledge forced us to come together.” She adds, “Besides my personal life, my work is being affected by the war, as I live in Ukraine. I am closer to the brutally honest reality of how the architecture and the infrastructure of a city is designed not only by public crises and health issues, but mostly by the destructive power of war. In my curatorial concept, I wanted to highlight that architects don't control the building system. We are the building system, and this system will be the most legitimate foundation of the world to come," asserted TAB 2024 head curator Anhelina L. Starkova.

The main objective of “Resources For a Future” is to reimagine the usage of local resources in a way that beyond aesthetics, they will serve not only a privileged minority, but everyone.  

The curatorial exhibition will bring together participants in three thematic sections:

RESOURCE 1: SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

The Social Intelligence section is governed by private and public interests. The viability of the building is anchored to the intellectual perspectives of the social space in which we live. How does social urbanism, forced by the unexpected, keep our cities alive? How can we use our intellect to operate within a city of limited resources? How, by attracting people, does the building form the most powerful tool for the habitable city and what is the role of locals in a global urban policy?  

Projects: A special curatorial project by DAGOpen Arhitektuuriburo (Estonia), “Ornamental Records From Tallinn” by Déchelette Architecture (France), “Space of earth” by Raphael Zuber (Switzerland).

RESOURCE 2: BUILDING CONCEPT

Building Concept is searching for translative tools in constructing possibilities for forthcoming architecture. The union of materials and social powers regulate order for a spatial formation of the building. By positioning edifices as not only erected, complete forms but as sensemaking systems, we can experience safety and meaning in our cities. Diverse concepts of building inner modelling, typological logistics and structural retrofitting will be explored in this section. 

Projects: “Priorities, Needs, Future” by Alfredo Vanotti (Switzerland), “Kontiinum” by Apex Arhitektuuribüroo (Estonia), “Stubborn Host” by Architect Must (Estonia), “Rising Raw” by Gus Wustemann (Switzerland), “Repair tectonics” by LLRRLLRR (Estonia), “Thoravej 29: A Building Repurposing Itself” by Pihlmann Architects (Denmark).

RESOURCE 3: MATERIAL FORMATION

The material culture as a resource is an essential reserve to which a builder is attached. But how do we organise material culture around architecture today? How is our understanding of materials defined and evolving in relation to an architectural timeline? How does material pragmaticism dictate urban rules and respond to social crises through construction? The Material Formation section will provide a space for questioning and answering the ruling material principles in architecture. 

Projects: “Networks, Not Products” by BC Architects (Belgium), “Erosion and patina” by Capaul Blumenthal Architekten (Switzerland),“Minecraft” by KAMP Arhitektid (Estonia), “Reformulating Reuse” by Pihlmann architects (Denmark), “Open House Day” by ReReRe (Estonia), “Earth Architecture: Tradition and Potential” by Roger Boltshauser (Switzerland).

Designed to foster meaningful interdisciplinary discussions, TAB 2024 Symposium will take place on Friday October 11th, 2024 at the Estonian Academy of Arts. The event will feature speakers from diverse fields, including architecture, design and education. Key speakersinclude Kristoffer L. Weiss, architecture critic and CEO of Danish Architectural Press; Emmanuelle Dechelette, architect; Sascha Roesler, architectural theorist; Søren Pihlmann, architect; Hannes Tarn, a thermowood producer with Thermory; Elisabeth Terrisse de Botton and Matthieu Brasebin, architects and TAB 2024 Installation Competition winners, and Roland Reemaa, architect and TAB 2024 Installation Competition curator. The complete list of participants is available at the following link.

INSTALLATION PROGRAMME & “NO TIME TO WASTE” PAVILION

The “For-This-Situation” Installation Programme Competition challenged participants to explore innovative uses of repurposed resources and bio-based materials for a long-lasting installation. Under the curation of Laura Linsi and Roland Reemaa, the competition asked architects to envision a public infrastructure that reuses materials from a local timber manufacturer (Thermory), second-hand material suppliers, and potential collaborators from quarries, forestry, and waste management sectors, to create a community space that emphasises people, sustainability, and joy.

Led by Anhelina L. Starkova, architect and head curator of TAB 2024, the jury panel, which included Indrek Peil, Austris Mailītis, Ann Kristiin Entson, and Simo Ilomets, selected the winning project from over 80 global submissions.

The winning project, “No Time to Waste,” by Elisabeth Terrisse de Botton and Matthieu Brasebin, engages with Balti Jaam, offering alternative breakout spaces for residents. The pavilion, inspired by the gabion wall constructive system, features lightweight steel cages filled with leftover stones or rubble, creating a structure that balances shelter and transparency.

A 1:1 fragment of “No Time to Waste” will be constructed at Balti Jaam and will be inaugurated on October 11th, 2024 remaining as a permanent installation. Workshops involving architecture and design students from the Estonian Academy of Arts will support the building and activation of the pavilion. 

Additionally, all successful competition entries will be showcased in a separate Installation Programme Exhibition at the Museum of Estonian Architecture in Tallinn.

RAK X TAB “PRESENT(ING) RESOURCES” SEMINAR

The satellite seminar “Present(ing) Resources” presents successful projects of material circulation in the field of space creation and looks for visions of how to deal with Tallinn’s vacant or depreciated building stock. Theoreticians and practitioners of European architecture are invited to offer their ideas in the panel. The seminar will be moderated by urban sustainability expert Tõnis Arjus (EST).

TICKETS

Participation is free, but reservation is required. All exhibition openings during the opening week are free of charge. Tickets for the Final Networking Event at Uus Laine will be sold separately. For more information about tickets and reserving your spot for TAB 2024, please visit the TAB website at this link. 

Top image courtesy of TAB.

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