Estonian Cultural Endowment names 11 architecture award nominees
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 on 12:01 in
Estonia
ERR reports that the Estonian Cultural Endowment has selected 11 nominees for its annual architecture awards from 46 candidates.
Eligible entries included projects completed between August 2025 and August 2026, as well as longer-term activities and people who had made a notable contribution. The jury comprised architects Marika Lõoke, Siiri Vallner and Arvi Anderson; interior architect Maarja Valk-Falk; designer Ruth-Helene Melioranski; and architectural historians Andres Kurg and Carl-Dag Lige.
Jury chair Marika Lõoke described the year as restrained but competent in terms of professional quality. She said strong results depended on good cooperation between architects and clients. The jury also welcomed several high-quality books on architecture and noted successful approaches to interpreting architectural heritage and presenting links between old and new in a contemporary context. Lõoke said design was underrepresented, and that the jury sought to highlight work combining architectural quality with issues important to society.
The nominees are:
The exhibition “30 by 30: From the Graphic Art Collections of the EKA Faculty of Architecture,” curated by Madli Kaljuste and Paco Ulman; and Epi Tohvri’s architectural history monograph “The Tallinn University of Technology Campus on the Mustamäe Dunes.”
The Estonian embassies in Berlin and Copenhagen. The Berlin embassy’s interior design is by Kätlin Õlluk and Kaia Jõks of Aeris, with a lighting installation by Kätlin Õlluk, Triinu Triibmann and Diederik Kales of UN-LIKE. The Copenhagen embassy’s interior design is by Margit Argus and Grete Liis Nagelmann.
Karin Hallas-Murula’s architecture monographs “Eugen Habermann and Herbert Johanson: Classics of Estonian Modernism” and “Baltic German Architecture in Tallinn: Rudolf Knüpffer (1831–1900).”
Kurro nature spa, with architecture by Joel Kopli, Koit Ojaliiv, Juhan Rohtla, Johannes Aasmäe, Liis Juuse and Tarmo Piirmets of Kuu; interior design by Kaire Kemp-Tišler and Ea Andla of Artaku; and landscape architecture by Mirko Traks, Karin Bachmann and Liis Pihl of Kino Landscape Architects.
Lasnamäe Circular Economy Centre, with architecture by Urmo Mets and Dora Mate Stryker; interior design by Urmo Mets and Maarja Mets; and landscape architecture by Hanna Veske, Marge Kõrgekuhi, Olli Välk and Kersti Lootus.
The “Good Public Space” project, led by Kalle Vellevoog and Ingrid Mald; Rakke Leevike kindergarten, designed by Arhitekt Must, Bold Studio and Kino Landscape Architects; and the Tehvandi sports services building, designed by Lauri Eltermaa, Kaur Talpsepp and Kristiina Aasvee of Kauss Architecture.
The renovation of the museum of the Under and Tuglas Literature Institute, by Margit Argus and Kätlin-Karin Lond of studio ARGUS, Marin Jänes and Hegely Klaus of the Literature Institute, and Maris Mändel.
The award winners will be announced at a joint architecture-sector ceremony on January 28, 2027.