Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2026 Curatorial Competition
Application deadline (Stage I): 8 September 2025, 23:59 (Tallinn time, GMT+2)
Stage II presentations: 26 September 2025
Public announcement of results: 13 October 2025
Opening Week of TAB 2026: 9–13 September 2026
Prize fund: €3,000 (winning proposal); €1,000 (each of 4 remaining Stage II teams)
Curatorial fee: €22,000 (part of total €72,000 core programme budget)
Eligibility: At least one team member must be a certified architect, interior architect, landscape architect, or urban planner; team must be fluent in Estonian and English; no links to Russia or Belarus.
The Estonian Centre for Architecture (ECA) invites proposals for the curatorial concept of the eighth edition of the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) 2026.
Founded in 2011, Tallinn Architecture Biennale is Estonia’s foremost international festival dedicated to architecture and the built environment. The TAB is organized by the Estonian Centre for Architecture.
The appointed curatorial team will be entrusted with formulating a central concept for TAB 2026. The TAB 2026 must engage spatial and architectural possibilities, with a clear connection to the Estonian context—broadly defined to include regional linkages, such as those with the Baltic or Nordic countries. The theme should possess conceptual clarity and topical urgency, with the potential to resonate with broader national and international architectural and cultural discourse.
Participation
The TAB 2026 Curatorial Competition is open to the public and welcomes proposals from Estonia and abroad.
Architects, interior architects, landscape architects, urban architects, designers, curators, and scholars of architecture and art history—as well as those who work across and between these disciplines—are warmly encouraged to submit proposals. At least one of the team members must be an architect, landscape architect, urban planner, or interior architect.
International collaboration is encouraged, but the curatorial team must maintain a connection to the local context. Any collaboration between national and international members should be meaningful and substantial, rather than merely symbolic. The curators are expected to function as a cohesive and committed team. As representatives of TAB 2026 in both local and international media, fluency in both Estonian and English within the team is essential.
Structure of the Competition
The competition will unfold in two stages:
- Stage I requires the submission of a written curatorial concept (see below for detailed requirements).
- Stage II, if chosen, will consist of oral presentations of the selected concepts before the jury.
Curatorial Fee and Support
For the fulfilment of the responsibilities outlined in this document—namely the delivery of TAB 2026’s core programme (the symposium, curatorial exhibition, and catalogue)—a curatorial fee of €22,000 will be awarded.
The total production budget for the realisation of TAB 2026’s core programme is €72,000, inclusive of the curatorial fee.
To broaden the scope and ambition of TAB 2026, both the ECA and the appointed curatorial team are encouraged to pursue additional funding opportunities, whether through public cultural grants, private sponsorships, or international collaborations. These supplementary resources may serve to expand the visibility, scale, and impact of the biennale.
The ECA’s production team will work in close collaboration with the curators to ensure the successful artistic and logistical delivery of the biennale. This support extends across the planning, production, and public presentation phases.
Indicative Allocation of the Core Programme Budget (€72,000)
- Curatorial Fee – €22,000
- Curatorial Exhibition – €34,000 (including artists’/architects’ fees, production and shipping costs of the exhibits)
- Symposium – €8,000 (including speakers’ fees, travel, and accommodation expenses)
- Catalogue – €8,000 (including participants’ fees, editing, layout, and graphic design)
- Tallinn Vision Competition – Subject to separate funding; budget TBA
- The budget is indicative and may be adjusted based on curatorial input and the availability of additional funding.
