Since 2011, the Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) has been a major international event showcasing innovation in architecture and the built environment. Hosted by the Estonian Centre for Architecture (ECA), the biennale has grown into Estonia’s most influential architectural festival. The ECA has now announced that Stuudio TÄNA and Mark Aleksander Fischer will curate the 8th edition of the event, TAB 2026, after winning the international Curatorial Competition. Their concept, titled “How Much?”, questions what “affordability” really means in contemporary architecture. As in previous years, TAB 2026 will feature exhibitions, installations, talks, guided tours, workshops, and satellite events throughout Tallinn. Running from 9 September to 30 November 2026, the biennale aims to spark discussion on how design and construction can be truly cost-effective and responsible in a world increasingly defined by rising expenses and resource limitations.

Among the ten proposals submitted, “How Much?” was selected for its in-depth critique of the long-standing modernist belief that “cheap” equals efficient. The curators argue that low-cost architectural solutions often reveal hidden social, environmental, and cultural costs over time. In a global climate shaped by rapid development and market-driven decisions, TAB 2026 aims to reframe affordability as a long-term value—measured not just at the moment of construction but across the entire lifespan of a building. The exhibition will explore ideas such as shared investment, spatial efficiency, modular repetition, durability, adaptability, simplicity, reuse, and compact living. These themes will be discussed within the wider context of scarcity, resilience, and forward-thinking architectural innovation. By drawing on examples from Estonia and abroad, the biennale will encourage architects, designers, and industry professionals to reconsider how “cheap” can become a sustainable and positive design principle for the future built environment.

Stuudio TÄNA, the Estonian collective curating TAB 2026, includes Tristan Krevald, Kertu Johanna Jõeste, Ra Martin Puhkan, and Siim Tanel Tõnisson. Founded in Tallinn in 2022, the studio approaches architecture through a systems-driven lens, treating buildings, landscapes, and urban environments as deeply interconnected. Their practice focuses on real people and everyday use rather than abstract theoretical concepts. By combining field research, stakeholder involvement, prototyping, cost-benefit evaluation, and post-occupancy analysis—with policy research when needed—they create grounded, pragmatic solutions. Much of their work responds to conditions such as limited resources, depopulation, and remote contexts. Their housing projects introduce scalable models that increase accessibility and affordability, while other work focuses on revitalising Soviet-era buildings through adaptive reuse and strategic renovation. Stuudio TÄNA’s teaching and research activities further support its mission, running parallel to projects ranging from long-term spatial strategies to temporary interventions in public space.

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