The 6th Tallinn Architecture Biennale will open its doors on September 7th, 2022 in multiple venues in the heart of Tallinn, Estonia with a vast programme conceived to foster dialogue, multidisciplinarity and experimentation.

This year’s biennale is themed as “Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism” and the international architecture festival organised by the Estonian Centre for Architecture is curated by Lydia Kallipoliti and Areti Markopoulou, in collaboration with local advisor Ivan Sergejev and assistant curator Sonia Sobrino Ralston.

TAB 2022 aims to empower architects, planners, and environmental designers to take a proactive stance on architecture’s expressive capacity to perform circular operations, to generate resources – food and energy – and to self-decompose.

Architecture of Metabolism – Building infrastructures that produce resources and digest waste. Image © TAB 2022 curatorial team

Addressing both architects and the general public, the TAB 2022 Official Programme consists of five main events: a Curatorial Exhibition, a 2-days Symposium, a Vision Competition Exhibition, an Installation Programme and an International Architecture Schools’ Exhibition.

TAB 2022 will be accompanied by a Satellite Programme including various exhibitions, concerts, family events and much more.

From Waste to Matter – Waste as construction material. Image © TAB 2022 curatorial team

Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism

“Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism” transfers the metabolism and experiential aptitudes of the natural world – like growth, decay, digestion, and nutrient release – to the domain of cities and buildings.

“With “Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism”, we wish to question the extractive, consumptive and contaminating nature of the built environment and envision an architecture that produces resources, digests its waste and self-decomposes. Amidst the current crisis of public health, climate change and social inequality, it becomes evident that the fragility of our supply chains urges new forms of local sourcing and production,” said curators Lydia Kallipoliti and Areti Markopoulou who invite audiences to reflect on food and architecture.

Reinu Farm Kitchen. Image © Reinu talu köök, ERM Fk 2906:571, Eesti Rahva Muuseum

“TAB 2022 addresses “where our food comes from” as a creative design problem and raises questions on the aesthetic, cultural and experiential qualities of spaces as productive environments throughout their full lifecycles,” the curatorial team added.

Tallinn Bird Factory aviary, which can hold 6,000 chickens (1966). Haapsalu and Lääne County Museums Foundation. Image © Tallinn Bird Factory, which can hold 6,000 chickens., HM F 118: 283 Ff, Haapsalu and Lääne County Museums Foundation

Curatorial Exhibition

Entitled “EDIBLE”, the main objective of the Curatorial Exhibition is to reimagine planetary food systems along with architecture’s capacity to perform metabolic processes. The selected projects explore the principles of kinship, interspecies alliances, circularity, and localisation.

Kurtna Experimental Poultry Station Laboratory (1960-1970). Image © Kurtna Linnukasvatuse Katsejaam. Laboratooriumis, EPM FP 290:23, Eesti Maaelumuuseumid SA, Eesti Põllumajandusmuuseum

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