Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB 2022) - Curatorial finalists

The Tallinn Architecture Biennale - TAB 2022 is set to take place in the Estonian city from September 7 to 11, 2022. Following the example of other international events, the Estonian Centre for Architecture, which is organising the event, recently announced that the date will be pushed back from 2021 to 2022, in order to deal with the various difficulties associated with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Together with the change of date, the list of finalists admitted to the second phase of the curatorial competition was also revealed. The finalists are: "Adaptive Reuse", "Edible: Architecture that Makes Food, Or, Is Eaten Away", "Emotionalism", "Home" and "Life Beyond Work". In the coming weeks, the five finalist teams will be required to present their project before the jury. The Biennale curator will then be selected from among the five teams, together with the theme for the 6th edition of the event.
The main goal of the curatorial competition was to find an innovative theme linked to the Estonian context, as well as relevant to the world of contemporary architecture. The growing fame of the Tallinn Biennale among international events dedicated to architecture has resulted in a broad participation in the competition, with proposals received from all over the world including Europe, Australia and the USA. Participants were asked to create a project which, although related to the Estonian context and focused on architecture and/or urban planning, could offer international value and be culturally attractive for a wide audience. The timing was an additional challenge for participants, as the curators have been asked to create - and consequently the jury to evaluate - a project that can anticipate future trends and continue to be relevant and applicable in two years’ time, when the biennial will take place.

Looking at the various proposed themes presented by the curatorial teams, the theme put forward by the " Emotionalism " theme is quite interesting, rooted in the idea that today an increasingly driven digitisation is devaluing "humanity". Their Biennale will therefore be focused on uncovering new ideas and proposals, through design, that reaffirm the centrality of what makes us human.
The team is led by the London-based writer Herbert Wright and by Tszwai So, co-founder and creative director of the London-based Spheron Architects studio. The two candidate curators propose that TAB 2022 will become an opportunity to launch a new architectural movement called Emotionalism. The movement is based on the idea that the design of the built environment is no longer guided by algorithms, but by emotions, by what makes us human. The curatorial proposal has therefore been constructed to put the spotlight on emotions for all key events of the Biennale: the curatorial exhibition, the symposium and the vision competition. The Tallinn Vision Competition 2022 will invite participants to present design proposals for a specific city site, once again, calling for an "emotional" approach to the theme.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Images courtesy of Tallinn Architecture Biennale

Tallinn Architecture Biennale TAB 2022
Date: September 7–11, 2022
Web: www.tab.ee
Instagram:@tallinnarchitecturebiennale
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TallinnArchitectureBiennale
LinkedIn: TAB Tallinn Architecture Biennale
Tallinn Architecture Biennale is supported by the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, the City of Tallinn and the Estonian Ministry of Culture.
Photos: (01) EMOTIONALISM_Tallinn - framed heads in cloud (photo Herbert Wright)
(02-13) Past editions of Tallinn Architecture Biennale, photo by NAARO, Evert Palmets, Tõnu Tunnel
 

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