"Radically simple" Resonance pavilion takes centre stage at Tallinn Architecture Biennale
Limestone and plywood make up the temporary pavilion at the heart of this year's Tallinn Architecture Biennale, designed by Shanghai- and Tokyo-based studio Aru Ma- Architects.
Named Resonance, the pavilion was the winning entry of a competition hosted by the 2026 Tallinn Architecture Biennale (TAB) for its central pavilion, which sits outside the Estonian Museum of Architecture.
Resonance was designed from a palette of what Aru Ma- Architects called "ordinary materials" and is intended as a comment on how luxury can be achieved with limited resources.
It responds to this year's curatorial theme at the TAB, How Much?, which invites discourse about the role of money in architecture. This is also the focus of the festival's main exhibition, developed by this year's curator, Estonian architecture practice Stuudio Täna.
"The pavilion uses standard construction materials in unexpected ways, elevating them into something new and unique," said Stuudio Täna architect Kertu Johanna Jõeste.
"A spatially intriguing visual is accomplished with radically simple techniques and materials, aligning the pavilion very well with the topics of TAB 2026."
The pavilion takes the form of a square inward-facing courtyard, intended to offer respite from its busy surroundings on a traffic island.
It is built from a palette of rebar, rope, limestone and plywood, offering a deliberately pared-back, timeless aesthetic, while ensuring the structure can be easily demounted at the end of the festival.
According to Aru Ma- Architects, its structure is "a carefully balanced tensile structure", with a limestone core as a ballast.
"The project transforms strict economic and material constraints into an immersive architectural environment shaped by light, wind, sound, and gravity," the studio said.
TAB is an international architecture and urban planning festival, which has taken place in the Estonian capital every two years since 2011. This year's edition takes place from 9 September to 30 November 2026.
Previous central pavilions at the event include the Fungible Non-Fungible Pavilion, which had a puzzle-like structure partly designed by the public, and a bus shelter built from reclaimed materials.
The photography is by Martin Siplane.
The 2026 edition of Tallinn Architecture Biennale runs from 9 September to 30 November. For more events, talks and installations in architecture and design, visit the Dezeen Events Guide.
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