Tampere celebrates architecture and design – see our top TAD Week architecture picks

TAD Week takes place across Tampere from September 26 to October 5. This year, the festival theme is Nature, with a special focus on nature-based solutions, inspiration drawn from nature, and visions for a better future.

The festival program offers a colorful mix of seminars, exhibitions, workshops, and open houses. Check out our top picks for architecture fans below!

TAD Week’s Opening Event
26.9. at 19–22.30
Väinö Linnan aukio 13–15

Come celebrate the opening of TAD Week with us on Friday, September 26th from 19.00 to 22.30 in Finlayson’s atmospheric environment in Vooninki and Terde, as well as in exhibition spaces TR1, TR2 and TR5. The evening will feature the opening of the TAD Week exhibitions and meeting the artists and working groups of the exhibitions. The program will also include performance art at Terde and music in the TR1 exhibition hall.

The event is open for all, register and read more via this link.

Open Doors at Kaleva Church
26.9. at 11:00–20:00
Liisanpuisto 1

Designed by Reima and Raili Pietilä, the iconic Kaleva Church will have extended opening hours during TAD Week on Monday, September 29, 2025, from 11:00 to 20:00. 

Architecture and Cities in Transition -seminaari
3.10. klo 12.30–17
Itäinenkatu 4

Architecture and Cities in Transition-seminaari (ACT) is the main seminar of the Tampere architecture and design week. ACT seminar will feature top international names in architecture and urban planning, as well as prominent Finnish names. The theme of the seminar is ”Nature” – especially the relationship between nature and architecture.

This year’s keynote speaker, Joe Osae-Addo, is a respected Ghanaian architect, activist and advocate of African architecture and culture.

Register and see the full programme and speakers via this link.

XAMK Interior architecture students’ exhibition
26.9.–5.10.
Väinö Linnan aukio 13

XAMK interior architecture students present Ensikosketus (First Contact), an exhibition offering TAD Week visitors both literal and symbolic first impressions. The exhibited furniture pieces are course projects – students’ first creations in the field – designed specifically for entrance spaces, capturing the essence of that initial moment of arriving home.

Read more via this link.

Finalists of the New Architecture and Design Museum Competition
26.9.–5.10.
Väinö Linnan aukio 13

The results of the international design competition for the upcoming Architecture and Design Museum in Helsinki will be announced soon. During TAD Week, a video presentation will showcase the finalists and the winning proposal.

Read more via this link.

Architecture graduates and students’ exhibition
26.9.–5.10.
Väinö Linnan aukio 15

Titled Luonnontila (“State of Nature”), the 2025 TAD Week art exhibition by architecture graduates and students explores the theme of nature from multiple perspectives. The exhibition features a wide range of artistic styles and materials, offering diverse interpretations of the natural world and personal connections to it.

Read more via this link.

Museum of Ukrainian vernacular architecture and everyday life
26.9.–5.10.
Väinö Linnan aukio 15

The exhibition, blending tradition with modernity, features a miniature house museum, built as two halves of a Ukrainian home. It invites viewers into a doll-sized world inspired by the atmosphere of folk architecture and daily life.

Read more about TAD Week and see the full programme via this link.