Architecture and Urban Design

The art of creating and building systems

Architecture creates a material framework and conditions for the functioning and development of the whole society. In a narrower sense, architecture is the art of creating and building systems.

It is often thought that an architect only designs houses, but that is only a small, albeit prominent part of the architect’s work. Architecture also includes learning about engineering, the humanities, and various software, building endless models and prototypes to create and experiment with new structures and worlds. The most important part of architectural education takes place as practical work in a studio, in an environment similar to an architectural office, where an actual project is born from the initial sketches. Theory and engineering subjects, painting, drawing and experimental studios support the studio work.

The latter is related to the laboratories of the Faculty of Architecture (3D Laboratory, VR Laboratory, PAKK) and the research work carried out in it, where it is possible to touch the fringes of space creation. There, you can acquire knowledge and specialise in restoration, landscape architecture or planning.

Our vision for the future

Architects have the difficult task of giving modern technology a commonly comprehensible material form and face in accordance with cultural expectations; create a whole from parts whose value is greater than the sum of any individual parts. Architecture is meant to constantly innovate, rebuild and offer different visions of the future – this is also one of the important ambitions of EKA’s architecture programme.

Read more about the curriculum here.

For further information of our activities, follow our Facebook page. If you would like us to send you information and reminders about admission dates, preparation courses, consultations and open days, leave your email address here.

News and events

Picture1

Shelter 2026 “VAREM” Rises in Tartu

On June 8th 2026, the traditional construction workshop of first-year Architecture and Urban Design students from the Estonian Academy of Arts began next to the Annelinn Library in Tartu. This year’s shelter, titled Varem, focuses on the life cycle of buildings and material reuse, offering the local community a new type of gathering place. The shelter Varem tells the story of the final stage ...
IG_ruut-1

EKA Arh Conference 2026 — “To Be Continued…”

EKA Arh Conference 2026 is titled To Be Continued....From Scattered Facts to Shared Concerns, and takes place as Day 1 of the two-day Tallinn Architecture Biennial TAB Symposium. Tickets for the EKA Architecture Conference and the entire TAB Symposium — available at an early-bird price until 31 July — can be purchased on Fienta. The 2026 EKA Arh Conference focuses on one of the central ...
pakk_seminar_visuaal_01

Seminar: Circular and Modular Construction Systems for Small Structures

At the seminar, we will introduce Met(s)aRING, a joint research and development project by EKA PAKK (Estonian Academy of Arts) and RMK (State Forest Management Centre), which aims to develop a circular and modular construction system for RMK’s visitor infrastructure, including small-scale structures and cabins. The project explores how infrastructure can be designed to be adaptable, ...
massia 3

Workshop in Massia 2026: On the Commons

In late March, 2026 students from across disciplines – architecture, fine arts, urban studies, interior design, craft studies, sculpture, and contemporary art – gathered at MASSIA in southwestern Estonia for a week-long workshop on the commons: land, knowledge, and practice. MASSIA, a self-organised residency rooted in collective care and autonomy, became both the setting and subject of our ...
Image 07.05.2026 at 10.46

P/reFAB

Project executor: EKA PAKK Algorithmic Architecture Research Group Researchers: Siim Tuksam (Principal Investigator), Sille Pihlak (Researcher), Kaiko Kivi (Early-stage researcher), Elina Liiva (Early-stage researcher) Project Managers: Anna Tommingas (anna.tommingas@artun.ee), Eeros Lees Period: 01.01.2026 – 31.12.2030 Funding: Estonian Research Council (grant PSG1260), project grant 585 000 ...
Emma Cheatle FHD_Emma Cheatle 13-11-25

KVI + ARH Open Lecture: Emma Cheatle “Lying in the Dark Room: Architectures of British Maternity “

New Date! The 2025/2026 academic year open lecture series will be held in collaboration with the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture and the Faculty of Architecture. The theme of this academic year is “Architecture and the Ethics of Care” and the lectures will be curated by KVI Senior Researcher Dr. Ingrid Ruudi. Architecture will be addressed from the perspective of the ethics of ...
26-04-09 Katarina Bonnevier2

KVI + ARH Open Lecture: Katarina Bonnevier “Living Organisms”

The 2025/2026 academic year open lecture series will be held in collaboration with the Institute of Art History and Visual Culture and the Faculty of Architecture.The theme of this academic year is “Architecture and the Ethics of Care” and the lectures will be curated by KVI Senior Researcher Dr. Ingrid Ruudi. On April 9 at 6 pmKatarina Bonnevierwill give a lecture “Living ...
ManifestoofLightness_A5_Horizontal

“Manifesto of Lightness” at SaloneSatellite 2026

Photo: Toomas Tikenberg Seating Furniture Studio 2016-2026Faculty of ArchitectureEstonian Academy of Arts Each year students of architecture and interior architecture learn to do less with more. They build a chair with limited wood material, one that carries their bodies and intentions. Lightness emerges through restraint, clarity, and responsibility. This exhibition brings together ten years ...

Student Work

ehitusprotsess1-foto-autor-Kristel-Alliksaar-900x600
Arhitekt-Peeter-Tarvas-453x600
IMG4852-800x600
6-4-899x600
thumbDSC051941024-1066x600
110-m-tanavasportiFoto-autor-APiirisild-450x600
1-2-899x600
3DL-Paide-V