TAD Week 2026 kicks off – see our architecture picks!
Miina Jutila
Tampere Architecture and Design Week is celebrated at the turn of September and October. We've gathered the best picks from the TAD Week programme for architecture enthusiasts.
In 2026, TAD Week will run from 25 September to 4 October, and its theme is Intelligence – and, in the same breath, stupidity.
In the name of sustainability, we are building smart cities and smart homes, but do these solutions create new problems while solving one? In design, AI is reshaping the work of architects and designers at unprecedented speed. The Intelligence theme aims to spark discussion on whether less could be more in design, and what a genuinely intelligent approach to design might look like in the future. Throughout the week, this theme will be explored through thought-provoking seminars, timely exhibitions, workshops and unique guided visits.
TAD Week 2026 exhibition opening event
Vooninki & Terde, Väinö Linnan aukio 13
Puuvillasali and TR5, Väinö Linnan aukio 15
25.9.2026 18.30–21.00
TAD Week's exhibitions open together at Finlayson's atmospheric industrial site. Artists and working groups will be on hand from 6.30–7.30pm, followed by live music from the band ismi. Visitors can also join the Kanssakulkija crochet workshop in the TR5 exhibition hall throughout the evening.
The event is open to everyone. Register in advance by Wednesday 23.9. here.
Organiser: TAD ry
Installation: Sounds of Uzbekistan's Great Solar Furnace
Finlayson, Vanha Tehdas Väinö Linnan aukio
25.9.–4.10.2026
Heikki Vastiala's sound installation is built from vibrations and structure-borne sounds recorded from the steel structures of a monumental solar furnace in Uzbekistan's Tien Shan mountains. As these sounds travel into Finlayson's historic industrial spaces, a connection forms between two architectural environments — inviting us to consider architecture not through its surfaces, but through its material essence.
Organiser: Heikki Vastiala, in collaboration with TamSAFA
Photography exhibition: The Café as an Agora of Intelligence – The Architecture of Tampere's Lost Cafés
Cafe Nöösi / Kekkeruusi & Co. Oy
25.9.–4.10.2026
The exhibition examines Tampere's lost cafés through their interior and exterior architecture, as well as their role as meeting places within urban culture.
Exhibition: Building According to Biological Cycles
Finlayson, Puuvillasali/TR1, 3rd floor, Väinö Linnan aukio 15
25.9.–4.10.2026
The exhibition explores the relationship between the Finnish forest and construction by juxtaposing forest use and building materials from different periods. Three spatial installations are constructed from building materials and construction waste characteristic of different eras: natural materials, industrially produced materials, and future materials that may be returned to nature’s biological cycles.
Organiser: Earthbound-kollektiivi
Exhibition: KAIKU
Finlayson, Vooninki , Väinö Linnan aukio 13, 1st floor
25.9.–4.10.2026
The work explores how space influences a person’s physical experience and how art can strengthen a person’s relationship with the surrounding space. KAIKU aims to give the viewer an opportunity to pause and observe the space, materials, and light with greater awareness. The central source of inspiration for the work has been the glass elements around which the entire installation is built.
Organiser: Riina Kokkonen
Seminar: Sustainable House 8 – Abandoned Houses, New Life
Rakennuskulttuurikeskus Piiru, Uittajankatu 10
26.9.2026 11.00 and 13.00
This year's Sustainable House seminar takes an unusual form: two guided walking tours with discussion along the way. The route visits two vacant buildings, Haulimestari's cottage and Ratakatu 5, exploring why they have been left empty and how they could still be saved.
Organiser: Pirkanmaan rakennuskulttuuriyhdistys
Seminar: Architecture and Cities in Transition (ACT)
Finnkino Plevna (iSense)
2.10.2026, 12.00–17.10
TAD Week's main event brings together leading international and Finnish names in architecture and urban planning around the theme of Intelligence. The morning's highlight is the 8Studio reunion, where architects from the influential Tampere-based collective return to discuss the group's work and legacy. The English-language afternoon programme includes a talk on the AaltoSiilo restoration and an international keynote from Dana Behrman.
Organiser: TAD ry, co-operation with City of Tampere and The Building Information Foundation RTS sr.
Read more about Tampere Architecture and Design Week on the event's website.
