Grand Prize Winner at the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2022 Vision Competition

The proposal submitted by Takenaka’s Osaka Main Office Design Department won the Grand Prize at the Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2022 Vision Competition. Held as part of the sixth Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2022, this competition proposed a circular urban model that takes sustainability into consideration. The goal was to resolve problems with a housing complex that had been developed in the suburbs of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, in the 1970s and is now dilapidated as well as lacking amenities. A jury of internationally renowned architects, chaired by Winy Maas of the Netherlands-based architectural group MVRDV, selected our proposal out of a total of 36 entries.

The Tallinn Architecture Biennale 2022 was held from September 7 (Wednesday) through October 31 (Monday) in 2022. The theme was "Edible; Or, The Architecture of Metabolism," and various events were held and competitions exhibited.

Thinking that in order to realize a sustainable city it was important to circulate a three-scale cycle of the "Tallinn suburb forests," "housing complexes," and "building resources,” we proposed a sustainable circular model with local resources. Utilizing Estonia's abundant forest resources and repeatedly demolishing and renewing old places, we received high appraisal for the construction process, whereby the entire housing complex will be gradually rebuilt over a period of 40 years in line with the forest cycle, and the design methodology, which was premised on rebuilding with ease of dismantling.