Articles published by: Nickname

MULTIPLE CHOICE
Although the intact building seemed almost ready to use, at second glance the programme revealed a large number of competing requirements. The existing building was an introverted space for meditation and service to society, housed in a pure neo-gothic architecture with a strong religious character.
How to transform this building into a visible, open and modern university office that is present in the city? How to change a very specific function into a flexible one?

When talking about Romania, Black Sea, and villages, everyone recalls 2 Mai and Vama Veche: alternative tourism under communism, chaotic development and the self-destructive force during transition. You think about the semi-legal tents and backyard tourism beforeand stadium-like densities, ugly blocks and swelling land rovers.

Photo: Dragos Lumpan

I am an addict of the city and contemporary architecture, yet I never say no to quality traditional architecture. I have no doubt that the originality of vernacular architecture and the ethics of architecture could defy academic dryness if we didn’t chance to meet them on the hilltop. And since profound theoretical subjects are rare in today’s villages, I do not want to miss the opportunity of telling you something about a house from Balaban village, near Bran, a boarding house, in fact.
What is ethical in architecture? The answer is as simple as that: to build a handsome house. Moreover, authenticity is part of the ethical contract, when you realize that a house means the foundation of a world. If you follow the spirit of the place, then you take into account the trees and stones, the grass, sun and sky, and the beings that will dwell it. As Heidegger might say, you pay attention to gods and earth.

Photo: Damir Fabijanic

Bale (Valle in Italian) is a small place in Istria peninsula, Croatia with mostly agricultural population of 1000 people. The project for the new sports hall has been faced with the rich historical, cultural and social Mediterranean context. Therefore any new architectural interpolation had to have a respectful approach to the environment.

There is a Vasarely museum in Budapest. Not really known, rather modest in terms of display, not easily accessible in terms of location. (I was there one month ago and would have appreciated if someone could have explained that: you first need to go by Hev underground from Margareta bridge to the third stop, at Arpad bridge. The building is at no. 6, Szentelek street.) However, it has some of the most valuable works produced by Victor Vasarely, and a full op-art experience that should not be missed when visiting Budapest.

After Snozzi, Galfetti, Vacchini, Botta and many others belonging to the same generation have changed international architecture, the Swiss Canton of Ticino keeps on producing remarkable architectural works. Davide Macullo established his own studio in 2000, after having worked with Mario Botta. The three houses featured below further the modern tradition of Ticino by inserting themselves into the landscape and interpreting the genius loci, while adding some more formal freedom and sensual atmosphere.

The office building at no 85, Buzesti Street

This office building was done in 2006. It was designed by Office Design and published in the 54 issue, May 2007, of “Arhitectura”. As you can see, the side blind wall was painted pink, while the touching banner covers three thirds of the facade. In case you can’t understand or refuse to believe, it is the very same building. Let us find the differences!

In the early 1990s, everyone thought that we could get rid of the House of the People. But some proposals, like to demolish it partially or completely, to bury it under a hill, etc, seemed utopian even then. In fact, it is impossible to destroy it, and actually, it is about an economic value that is supposed to be used. Moreover, maybe it is much better to assume your own history, even its ugliness, than to wipe it off. Nevertheless, I think that few could imagine back then what was really to become of this monster. No one would have thought that both Houses of Parliament would move in and the project would be completed by the very same designer.

The building is located on the outskirts of Katowice, near a forest, on land deteriorated by 4th category mining damage, where tectonic faults are a possibility. Hence the connotation of uplifted layers of soil, interwoven with one another, which was the inspiration for the form of the house.  Its structural design comprises rectangular solids contrasting with the ribbon – like structure which winds around them after it emerges from the ground. It is the leitmotif of the building, combining a variety of functions: starting with the swimming pool to the living room with a fireplace and then to the bedroom upstairs. A noteworthy feature of the ramp is elemination of stoops. Such a solution was achieved by bending the surface of the course, which made it possible to keep its outer edges straight, without bends typical for such structures.

Remix, our project for the Biennale in Venice, has now reached Basel, in a larger festival, which was dedicated this year to the Romanian culture: Culturscapes. www.culturescapes.ch.
It’s a combination of factors and events that thrill us. Not only for the sake of our egos, but for the real people and projects we’ve seen there. Since the simplest and the most surprising statement about Basel is that it has a real life, that it’s a real place. And when I say that, I mean that the social and cultural life of this city is deep, with serious ethical roots.