From most of the photographs circulated on the Internet, especially at a cursory glance, the Plasencia auditorium appears to have been randomly thrown into a field, in an absurdly peripheral position, yet another of those many self-sufficient objects, planted in the middle of nowhere by egotistic local administrations and architects.
FABER is a community made up of people who have been investing trust and energy in Timisoara’s growth, a place whose story revolves around the idea of strategic conservation, where the process, the people and outlining work strategies are more important than the product itself,
The old house in the southern part of the historical center and its extensions shape a complex of rooms, porches, courtyards and terraces. A world for children to explore and to enjoy.
Text : Sancho Igual,Yves Guggenheim Photo: Radek Brunecky The neighbourhood was established in the sensitive and historically significant town centre of Mühlau, Switzerland. The open and very detailed development is laid out with seven main buildings that are arranged like inlays in a setting.
In 2019 we organized the “Uranus Now” exhibition about the huge urban destructions and megalomanic projects of Nicolae Ceausescu. We focused on the Uranus neighborhood in Bucharest, almost completely destroyed and the place where the sinister People’s House was built. But we really wanted not to talk only about architecture and heritage, but also about […]
Text, object, photo: Mugur Grosu In our collective imaginary in Romania, the writer is still associated with the quill and pen. And, late at night, with weary lashes, they will still blow out the light bulb, out of sheer habit. This is no metaphor, those of us living under Communism used to write by candlelight, […]
Text: Ștefan Ghenciulescu One month ago, Claudiu Cobilanschi and the team from The Project Salon invited me to a discussion about the archive of Mihai Oroveanu[1].. Obviously, we talked a little before the recorded discussion. At some point, Claudiu – who’s an artist – tells me: “You speak like a architect”. I didn’t really understand […]
Text & illustrations: Alex Axinte Against the backdrop of the state of emergency, I watched the transformation of dwelling practices, with a focus on children’s games. The research was based on my family as a case study: two adults, two primary school children, one dog and one cat, isolated in an inter‑war Bucharest apartment. As […]
Project, text: Romina Grillo, Liviu Vasiu Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani e Marco Cappelletti The project is about the refurbishment and the extension of a 1910 villa in a Piedmontese village. Located on the edge of the urban fabric and open towards the vast rice and agricultural fields, the villa is the last architectural object that […]
Project: BOGDAN & VAN BROECK Text: Ştefan Ghenciulescu Photo: Jeroen Verrecht, BOGDAN & VAN BROECK, Luca Beel, memymom We are taking back our city. Houses in downtown European cities (and not only) are rapidly turning into offices, Airbnbs, hotels, etc. The Cosmopolitan project follows the exact reverse path: a former office building becomes a block […]
Text: Ștefan Ghenciulescu Photo: Andrei Mărgulescu, Cosmin Dragomir, Daniel Miroțoi, Mihai Rotaru The word steampunk conjures a mixture of Sci-Fi and nineteenth-century aesthetics: goggles over high hats, ladies’ hoop skirts and gentlemen’s frock coats matched with mechanic limbs, etc.
Text: Mugur Grosu Foto: Mihnea Ratte, Cătălin Georgescu, Marina Popa, Corina Cimpoieru Here’s a stereotype to wonder about: “A Romanian is born as a poet”. The brimstone in our cities bears, nevertheless, testimony to the contrary: not only is there no place for poetry in them, but one can hardly find some place for people […]
Text: Alexandru Cristian Beșliu Images: Carmelo Baglivo, BAN For Carmelo Baglivo’s generation, formed in the 80’s, the architectural representation, the image, has become a fundamental ideological pursuit complementary to the project, yet a willfully autonomous one, free from the constraints of immediate realization. Carmelo’s collages and drawings capture the disorientation of someone who dares to […]
It is generally difficult to rehabilitate Modernist works, balancing unavoidably radical interventions and the respect for your colleagues’ (and even your masters’) work. How do you deal, though, with minor, (semi)vernacular Modernism, devoid of any great historical value, but full of charm – and issues?
Interview: Alex Axinte Co-founded by Constantin Petcou and Doina Petrescu, atelier d’architecture autogérée (aaa) is “a collective platform of research and action around urban change and emerging cultural, social and political practices in the contemporary city. aaa initiates and supports strategies of ecological transition involving citizen locally and internationally. aaa acts against global crisis (ecological, […]
Intro: Ștefan Ghenciulescu “Four Walls and a Roof . The Complex Nature of a Simple Profession”. A book by Reinier de Graaf Zeppelin rarely publishes “starchitects”. And when it does happen, it is mostly about an isolated project where, besides the fireworks (having their own value), there are also more important things: an (added) value […]