Articles published by: Nickname

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, economic, political, social, etc) by creating the conditions for citizen to participate in the ecological transition and adopting resilient ways of  living. aaa functions within an open interdisciplinary network, where different viewpoints cross each other:  architects, artists, students, researchers, pensioners, politicians, activists, residents, etc.

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 as a public space, a smart urban transformation, beautiful spaces, innovation that will actually carry things on… Or because they express a phenomenon which needs to be critically discussed. Or, well, because it is what it is, and we all have our guilty pleasures.

Text: Oana Bogdan
Photo: Leo Van Broeck

As countries hurry to exit the pandemic lockdown, the discussions are focused on the choice between health and wealth. My point is that we don’t have to choose. Our health and the one of the planet we inhabit is our wealth. We could plot this exit starting from the cause of the pandemic: the way humans use land. This is the illness of Earth, this is what triggered COVID-19.

Edito: You are here
Text: Mugur Grosu

What can be more comforting when you get lost than the landmark on the map telling you where you are: you are here. Maybe a simple sign that indicates a destination.(…)

DOSSIER
Modernism: Continued

Intro
Text: Ştefan Ghenciulescu

21st Century Art Deco
PJ House, Cluj

Carmelo Baglivo: A Modernity of Inclusion and Uncertainty
Text: Alexandru Cristian Beşliu

From Form‑Trans‑Inform to Atelier d’Architecture Autogérée
A Discussion with Doina Petrescu and Constantin Petcou

Interview: Alex Axinte
The National Theatre of Craiova (1969–1974)
Architect: Alexandru Iotzu
Text: Irina Tulbure

A Home and a Family
Adolf Loos: Villa Winternitz, Prague

Interior Design Triggers Rehabilitation
The Block of Flats at 1, Sf. Ştefan Square
Text: Ilinca Păun Constantinescu

Kristin Wenzel’s Dramatic and Obscure Architecture
Text: Cristina Vasilescu

BAUBAU
Bauhaus 100 Bucharest
Text: Brînduşa Tudor,Anca Cioarec, Ştefan Ghenciulescu

On the occasion of the Bauhaus centennial, Goethe Institutes all around the world have organized special programs; they have brought exhibitions, movies, lecturers etc., but they have also organized their own events, pretty much everywhere, in cooperation with local organizations: Bauhaus itself was a celebration of openness, of national and inter-disciplinary cooperation. It was natural that a celebration of the phenomenon should also refer to the local Modernist and Avant-Garde instances.

In Romania, Goethe-Institut brought Imaginista, a traveling exhibition that brings to the public attention lesser known speeches and narratives on the Bauhaus heritage in different cultural and geographical areas. (…)

ZOOM

One Building, 17 Houses
ADN BA: Apartment Building, Bucharest

ADN BA: Aviation Park

Restoration and Interior Design, CH9 Coffee Shop, Brașov

CC Pharmacy

Polenta Architecture

POLIS, POLICIES, POLITICS
Architecture as a Soft-Power Tool
Text: Cosmina Goagea

PLANS

Text: Ștefan Ghenciulescu

Learn as you go

There is fear and sadness, feelings that all of us are experiencing. But there is also enthusiasm (a lot of it) and competence (more or less of it). Balkan-like bricolage and makeshift online solutions.

The history of modern architecture is full of dreams about dl flexibility and about solving the problem of living in a small space. If, as Louis Kahn said, the city is made of public corridors and rooms, maybe a good strategy for minimal dwelling could be thinking of an apartment as a continuation and interpretation of urban spaces, the final stage in the complex transition from total exposure to intimacy, from being together to being alone. The design as masterplan and the dweller as an entrepreneur and strategist of their own space: an answer to a system in which dwelling becomes a corporate business more than anything else and in which we can afford increasingly smaller houses and apartments.

Stardust’s Anca Cioarec and Brîndușa Tudor seem to be extremely comfortable on the scale that borders architecture and design. Each project is approached sensibly and with care: the space and the bolt become part of the same family, and the cultural references and the love for history are visible even in the smallest works or details.

Aviator Protopescu Street, Bucharest. An already refurbished old house, and that in a dubious way. A new house based on previous ones. An almost forced eclecticism a world of many spaces and elements

Text: Justin Baroncea
Project: Justin Baroncea, Dragoș Dragnea
Photo: Radu Malașincu, Andrei Mărgulescu

Project: Brandlhuber+ Emde, Burlon; Muck Petzet Architekten
Text: Ștefan Ghenciulescu
Photo: Laurian Ghinițoiu

Project listed as finalist at EU Mies van der Rohe Awards, 2019

Text: Ştefan Ghenciulescu
Photo: Cosmin Dragomir, Daniel Miro

The area defined by the Polonă and Eminescu Streets and Șoseaua Ștefan cel Mare is part of a rather old part of the Romania capital, Bucharest, with quiet streets, and all sorts of architecture, from imposing villas and pretty blocks of flats, to old slum houses. There are many poor people there, although the social structure is rapidly changing. It does not have the prestige and coherence of some of its adjoining neighbourhoods, and, as such, it also hardly contains any protected areas.