Tallinn Design Festival's 21st Edition Turns Põhjala Factory Into a Design Hub
The 21st Tallinn Design Festival, known as Disainiöö, was held at Põhjala Factory from September 28 to October 4, making it the largest design festival in the Baltics. The festival featured an array of activities such as exhibitions, workshops, discussions, a fashion show, an awards ceremony, and a weekend market. This year's focus was on themes like sustainability, adaptability, inclusivity, and material awareness. Notable projects included Standard's Pergola modular furniture, Franciszek Wesołowski's Tekto modules, Barbora Bezděková's ABLE workstation for those with disabilities, Timo Talvik's benches with bike racks, Eneli Siimon's KOMA seat, which won a BRUNO award, Levon Kostandyan's furniture made from pomegranate skin, and Tarmo Luisk's Conductor Peer Kynntilä lamp, which was nominated for a BRUNO award.
Key facts
- The 21st Tallinn Design Festival (Disainiöö) took place from 28 September to 4 October at Põhjala Factory in Tallinn
- TDF is described as the biggest design festival in the Baltics
- The 2026 theme centred on the future of product design, with sustainability, adaptability, inclusivity and material awareness as recurring ideas
- Applied-arts education in Tallinn dates to 1914; the State Art Institute began training industrial designers in 1966
- Kunst ja Kodu magazine covered interiors in Tallinn from 1958 to 1990
- Eneli Siimon's KOMA seat for Leandesign OÜ won the BRUNO award in spatial and environmental product design
- KOMA is 96.4% secondary material by mass, sourced from industrial side streams
- Tarmo Luisk's Conductor Peer Kynntilä lamp was a BRUNO product design nominee
Entities
Artists
- Ottomar Tamm
- Franciszek Wesołowski
- Barbora Bezděková
- Timo Talvik
- Eneli Siimon
- Levon Kostandyan
- Tarmo Luisk
- Anna Lazzaron
- Henrik Ibsen
Institutions
- Tallinn Design Festival
- Disainiöö
- Põhjala Factory
- Standard
- Aivan
- School of Form
- Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague
- Leandesign OÜ
- 2PeaOÜ
- State Art Institute
- Kunst ja Kodu
- BRUNO award
- DesignWanted
Locations
- Tallinn
- Estonia
- Põhjala Factory
- Baltics
- Poland
- Prague
- Czech Republic
- Armenia
- Finland
- Milan
- Barcelona
- Soviet Union