ABSO RBING

MODE RNITY

1914 - 2014
ABSO RBIND
M O D E RN I TAT E A

1914 - 2014

Ion Mincu University Press

Bucharest 2014

Coordonator Catalog:
conf. dr. arh. Bogdan

A.

Colectivului BAV 2014:

Brian A.
Juhani
Monica Morariu
Alexandru
prof. dr. arh. Vlad
dr. arh.
prof. dr. arh.

Dorin

conf. dr. arh. Anca

Grigore Nicola

Gigi Dobrescu
Ion
conf. dr. arh. George
prof. dr. arh. Nicolae Lascu
prof. dr. arh. Ana Maria
Dan
Emil
Augustin
Sidonia
Marius

Anca Mihaela

Petre Derer
arh. Borys

Viorica Curea

Francesco Cappellari

arh. Mathe

arh. Nicolae

Gorcea

conf. dr. arh. Marina

Descrierea CIP a Bibliotecii

/ coord.:

ISBN 978-606-638-091-1
I. Tofan, Bogdan (coord.)
72
Copyrignt 2014, Ion Mincu University Press
ALL RIGHT RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein
may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by any
means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to
photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, web distribution,
information networks, or information storage and retrieval system, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.

Cuvnt
nainte
Bogdan Tofan*

The Venice Architecture Biennale

is currently the worlds most
renowned architecture exhibition. It
very much resembles a mirage. You
dont really know what caused it.
Venices charm and the organizers
talent might be some of the most
important factors leading to this
phenomenon, or maybe Italys
allure have made it so that the 2014
edition of la Biennale counts 60
participating countries hailing from
around the world.

farmecul Italiei, al Europei, oricum

Organizarea

bienalei

de

The preparations for this years

Biennale commenced in about a
A major driver behind this was
this editions Director: architect
whom I had the distinct pleasure
to work with. I found him to have a
refreshing concept of the project,
clear and tidy, one that enabled
the presentation of a transparent
and understandable structure of this
years edition, right from the start.
In 2014, the Venice Architecture
Biennale will be held under the
general title
, which
will host an exhibition in the Central

n 2014 bienala va avea un titlu

general
prezentat

participante. n pavilionul lung al

Pavilion, while also exploring the

subtitle
through the national stands
of each participating country. Last
but not least, the Long Hall of the
Venetian Arsenal will allow visitors
to walk through exhibits pertaining
to Italian architecture, under the
title
. Conferences of
architecture themes, dance, music
and theatre showcases will also
be a part of this years Biennale,
with the special assistance of
commissioners
overseeing
the
Arts Biennale. I asked Mr. Rem

. Pe parcursul bienalei

teatru

cu

sprijunul

comisarilor

tema

the renowned Romanian architect

Dan Sergiu Hanganu, as well as to
Romanian architecture, such as Mrs.

Professor Ana Maria Zahariade PhD,

architect Vlad Gaivoronschi from
Andrei Ujica to give public lectures
in Venice during the Bienalle, which
will run between 7th of June 23rd
of November 2014. These lectures
will be centered on Romanian
modernism in architecture and will
seek to illustrate different views of
the Romanian architectural wave.
I am waiting for Rems decision
hoping to invite them all. I also
proposed that music, dance and
plays evenings with top romanian
artists as: pianist Livia Teodorescu
playing
Enescus
Romanian
Rhapsody and Chopins nocturnes,
jazzman Remus Teodorescu to

Marius Moga.

A fost un succes

acestui volum doamnei dr. arhitect

colaboratorilor din acest proiect.

este Monica Morariu din partea
Ministerului Culturii.
Vice-comisar din partea Ministerului

Alexandru Damian iar din partea

subsemnatul B. Tofan.

remind us of Johnny Raducanus

Compositions, prima ballerina Ms.
Monica Petrica who will present
a series of modern Romanian
dances, actor Marius Vizante to
play
by Eugene Ionesco,
and I am optimistic about receiving
a positive reply from Romanian
curator Mihai Sima
We should also take a moment
to revisit the 2012 edition of
the Architecture Biennale and
Romanias entry under the theme
,
which
was curated by the team lead
by Arch. Emil Ivanescu, as well as
the Romanian Cultural Institutes
New Gallerys exhibition
, overseen by a young team of
architects from Cluj lead by Arch.
Marius Moga. Overall, the 2012
events represented a success
for the Romanian delegation. I
would also like to thank to my
dear friend, Profesor Emeritus
Francesco Cappellari U.Florida
USA, Faculty of Vicenza, architect
Borys Czarackziew, architect Zoly
Mathe,
architect Constantin
Gorcea, architect Marina Mihaila
2012 Bienalle di Venezia.
Romania is represented at the
Venice
Architecture
Biennale
through
Commissioner
Ms.
Monica
Morariu
designated
by the Ministry of Culture. The
undersigned, Bogdan Tofan, is the
Vice-Commissioner
representing
the Romanian Architects Union,
while Mr. Alexandru Damian is

desemnarea curatorilor Pavilionului

dr. arh. Anca Mihaela Constantin

international.
Textele

care

i-au

inspirat

care profesor psiholog

academician
Grigore

pe

doctor
Nicola,

Machedon, profesor dr. arh. Dorin

arh. Anca Mitrache, inginer expert
Gigi Dobrescu, comerciant Ion
lector dr. arh. Emil Retegan, prof.
dr. arhitect Augustin Ioan, doamna
lector dr. arh. Sidonia Teodorescu,
profesor invitat arhitect Marius

Mitrache, prof. dr. arh. Nicolae

Lascu, doamnei profesoare Dr. arh.
Ana Maria Zahariade.
au fost completate cu texte ale

pe prof. academician architect

Brian A Spencer Taliesin West din
Statele Unite ale Americii, doamna

the representative for the Ministry

of Foreign Affairs, as well as the
Romanian Cultural Institute.
2014 is also the year in which a
new, more complete catalogue
will be published, comprising of the
entries to the national competition
organized by the Romanian Union
of Architects in order to designate
the curators of the Romanian
Pavilion, as well as those of the New
Gallery hosted by the Romanian
Cultural Institute in Venice. This new
version of this book was produced,
together with Ms. Anca Mihaela
Constantin, in order to present
the documents that have served
as the starting point for deciding
this years competition theme in
Romania. Just to name just a few,
some of the people who have
this book, number: Ms. Architect
Luminita Machedon Phd, Mr. Dorin
Stefan, Mr. Grigore Nicola, Mrs.
Anca Mitrache, Mr. Gigi Dogrescu,
Mr. Ion Bortes, Mr. Dan Dinoiu,
Mr. Emil Retegan, Mr. Augustin
Ioan, Ms. Sidonia Teodeorescu,
Mr. Marius Calin and Mr. George
Mitrache. Furthermore, I would also
like extend my sincere thanks to
the members of the International
Selection Jury: Mr. Brian A. Spencer
AIA Fellow from the United States
of America, Mr. Alexandru Damian,
Mr. Vlad Gaivronoschi, and Mr.
Some of the most important addition
to the competition requirements
number:

Monica
Morariu
din
partea
Ministerului Culturii - comisar al
istoric Alexandru Damian - vice-

arhitect

Bogdan

Tofan

vice-

domnului prof. dr. arhitect Petre

din 2012 dintre care amintesc

pe profesor emeritus Francesco
Cappellari -USA, University of
Florida Facultatea de arhitectura

Polonia, arhitect Mathe Zoltan

Miercurea Ciuc, arhitect Nicolae
dr. arh Marina Mihaila secretar

constat din :
participant la concurs cedarea
dreptului de publicare a

The
acceptance
given
by
each participant to transfer
the copyright of the submitted
drawings, as well as those linked
to the presentation text that
accompanies the architectural
solution, so that these could be
published in a witness catalogue
at the end of the competition,
which would later serve as a
roadmap for future editions of the
competition;
The
creation
of
easily
implementing solutions for the
interior designs contained by the
Pavilion
The works comprising this catalogue
represent a walk though of the
works submitted in the competition.
All the entries have demonstrated
an extraordinary dedication to this
project and I wish to extend my
sincerest thanks to all of them. These
works represent an important snapshot
in the journey behind the 2014 edition
of the Venice Architecture Biennale
and Romanias modernist wave in
architecture.
To my mind, architecture represents
the meeting place of all the different
arts and that is one of the most
important reasons why I would
encourage everyone who attends
the Architecture Biennale in Venice
to try and experience the various
number of exhibits planned for this
years edition.

indrumar pentru concursurile

viitoare;

lucrarilor din concurs. Acestea

sunt un instrument de lucru pentru

al tuturor artelor de aceea se

participarea

cu

evenimente

trecut pentru bienala de anul

acesta.

It is therefore my pleasure to invite you

to see the submitted works for last and
this editions Biennale competition.

w i n n e r s Giardini della Biennale

[ctigtorii Giardini della Biennale]
w i n n e r s New IRCCU Galler y
[ctigtorii Noua Galerie a IRCCU]
p a n e l l i s t Giardini della Biennale
[participanii Giardini della Biennale]
p anel list New IRCCU Galler y
[participanii Noua Galerie a IRCCU]

w i n n ers

[ctigtori]

Giardini

della Biennale

t i t l u l
proiectului

site
under
construction

P R I Z E
[PREMIUL]

Giardini

della Biennale

Mihai Sima
Andreea Iancu
Raluca Sabau
Stejara Timis
Anca Trestian

//

SM28282

//
//

12

85.36

Addressing to the theme proposed by the curator

the national Pavilions
our
proposal for the Romanian Pavilion in Gardini di
Castello is an initiatory path, o short history starting
from glory to arriving to reaching the void. From
the industrial glory to the post-industrial void. The
industrial state is freed by the pejorative approach
envisioned by the Romanian collective mentality
becoming a zero point standing in the way of
the real modernity. The initiatory path reminds of
the cinematographic path in Andrei Tarkosvkys
movie Stalker where a guide leads two people
to a mysterious realm called impersonally The
Zone searching for The room a place that
grants wishes. For us The Zone represents the
empty industrial sites without an utility of sense.
These sites have become urban voids like isolated
islands (absorbed but neglected by the city as it
expanded). The void has to be acknowledged
and re-appropriated to the contemporary city.
But before we arrive to these voids we will make
an incursion in the past. The recent past was
tumultuous, contradictory politically, socially and
urban. The industrial heritage does not leave
us indifferent but it revives our interest as young
architects in the searching of our identity. The
choice of the industrial by emphasizing the postindustrial state in Romania is the beginning point
in our critical retrospective proposed through the
theme considering the countrys architecture
in the last one hundred years. The title chosen
complements the theme by beginning a debate
with this occasion discussing the possibilities
of constructing-re-constructing the voids the
abandoned sites.

n contextul temei alese de curatorul Bienalei

propunem pentru Pavilionul Romaniei din

Giardini di Castello crearea unui traseu

denumit

impersonal

Zona

devin realitate. Pentru noi Zona

devenite viduri urbane precum insule izolate
lui de expansiune. Acest vid este propus

la viduri ne vom preocupa de trecut. Trecutul

recent a fost tumultos, contradictoriu politic,

din cadrul arhitecturii autohtone a ultimei

siturilor abandonate.

13

The idea starts with the imagine of the factory.

The factory with its size overlapped within the
city. The factory with its mechanized armory,
standardized, its a generator of modernity. The
factory as a machine of mass production. The
factory as a symbol. The factory as a dynamic
mechanism of polarization, colossal, city within a
city, space within a space. The factory as a place
of creation.

ani. Fabrica = imagine = gabaritul ei considerabil

Trecutul
Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi

The factories were exemplary spaces where

the things were subject of order: the machines
were made according with all the production
imperatives, shelves which were used for storing
the tools and the series of containers which
without a constant maintenance, social, spatial
and material order become responsible for
unraveling and disorder. We must say that the
industrial architecture had a major and decisive
architecture. As a consequence of this fact the
new constructing materials and the emergence
of the new techniques in constructions, modern
architecture afford itself to put into practice
during the heavy classicist era constrained to be
monumental by using traditional materials. As the

monumental de folosirea materialelor azi devenite

for the big industry sites with all their spaces and
facilities. Also the city had to absorb the great
all their the necessities. The cities transformed
in character with the new ideal and in some
cases cities were a direct consequence of the
industrial development.

14

a industrialului.

When factories were closed the all was left on

these sites became a ruin. Modern ruins. They are
commonly perceived by the inhabitants as dark
spots in the urban landscape, anesthetic areas.
The value of these sites stands in the general
perception of being playgrounds because of their
particular esthetic and their material and sensorial
characteristics. These qualities are very distinct if
we compare these places with the regular public
spaces of the contemporary cities. The freedom
of reliance without constraints of these sites favors
two types of activities: the practical and the
playful ones. People are nostalgic vis--vis these
modern ruins because they seem to store promises
of something that is gone missing in our times, the
promise of an alternative future. Also they are
places with a narrative potential, a space that
encourage the beginning of new stories.

The initiatory path begins in the small entrance

of the pavilion, in this area we will make a short
presentation on the walls of the idea inside
the pavilion. Here we will have a 360 degree
wallpaper with suggestive images: on the walls,
a collage of the past and future mixed together.
We want our message to be clear. From here our
path leads us inside the pavilion where we have
the video-multimedia presentation within a great
ambiance. This space can be perceived as the
industrial Romanian city space. But because
the city is not our main subject it will be black,
undetectable, without boundaries. In the city

moderne. n mod comun sunt percepute de

prezentare a ideii din interior. Tot aici vom tapeta

cu imagini sugestive 360o

zona de prezentare video. Spatiul pavilionului ar

15

space appear as swallowed islands, the old

industrial sites represented by a series of faceted
volumes. On these volumes will be projected
videos and images from the past, inside the
factories, the large industrial areas, the machines,
the people, the interior, the beautiful structures,
all in glory. These places used to have a purpose,
a life. The projections will pass from one screen
to another for creating the idea of perpetual
continuity. The video images will be doubled
with sound which will alternate on different areas
of interest and intensities. We want to create a
dynamic space and invite the public inside a big
mechanism which used to work perfectly. This will
be an intense visual area. The ecstatic point of our
initiatory path will be the zone inside the polygonal
volumes. Here we want to create dream
we talked about earlier. If the ordinary
reality shows the failure of integrating these
spaces in the mechanism of the city, we propose
an exercise of imagination for the visitors of our
pavilion in which they can free their imagination
and make personal sceneries. So these voids are
used for becoming the engine of fabricating a
personal reality. This space will be a tube of light in
the form of a hyperboloid up to 6 meters by using
the pavilions skylights. The tube is an analogy to
industrial cooling towers reminders of the skylines of
cities, recalling memories, a perfect white space
no outside stimulus. We want the tower to be an
individual experience, acoustically protecting the
pure experience inside. We tower is destined to
be a place of contemplation for each person, a
space of creation, ideas of all kind. Inside there will
be a touch screen where everybody can express
their vision on this matter. When you enter the
tower, the touch screen will play a short movie of
maximum 1 minute with the actual appearance
of the abandoned industrial sites within Romanian
cities. After viewing the movie people can

16

din interiorul fabricilor, a siturilor industriale, a

de pe un ecran pe altul pentru a crea ideea de

Aici vom crea acea

de care

curs unor scenarii personale. Astfel, vidurile golite

un hiperboloid care va urca la 6m, folosindu-

pura din interior.

pe ecranul tactil

modalitatea de exprimare a viziunii personale.

Exprimarea se poate face verbal printr-un

choose the way they want to express. This can

be made verbally through a video testimonial,
drawings or he can use a created graphical
application where he can create him own reality.
With this application the visitor can play by
adding existing buildings on these sites, examples
of contemporary architecture and suggest
sceneries for using better these sites. By taking out
these buildings out of context and using them as
tools, like mass products of fabrication emphases
also the contemporary architecture state, so
malleable in the era of globalization. At the end
all these products of thinking will be on display for
other people to see inside the pavilion, maybe
hanged on a moving rail on the ceiling. The path
follows the visitors path and leads them inside the
space like an analogy to the industrial monorail.

ecranul tactil vizitatorul, devenit creator, poate

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

nomination

[nominalizare]

Giardini

della Biennale

24

t i t l u l
proectului

tempo
//

Robert Zotescu
Maria Cristina Georgescu
KR22132

//
//

The 1914-2014 period represents one of the most

dynamic stages of the human civilization, the
technical advancements, the great world wars,
the internet or the moon landing, all of these
occurred in the last 100 years.

83.73

mai dinamice perioade de transformare a

aselenizarea, toate aceste evenimente au avut

This years theme wishes to highlight the way in

social, political, technological and cultural factors
that led to a gradual loss of national identity and
the standardization of contemporary architecture
regardless of cultural or geographical background.
Romania is no exception; the last hundred years
represent a period of accelerated transformations
for Romanian architecture, a continuous search
and adaptations to a national and international
context in permanent change.
Romanian architecture from 1914 to 2014 is
marked by two strong desires:
The need to belong to the international
architectural stage;
The need to mark national identity ;

25

This rapid tandem generated by these two desires

explains the rapid transformation of Romanian
architecture where quick adaptation to new ideas
meets a permanent nostalgia for an idealized
past, a national tempo.
This idea is materialized in the project through two
elements:
brought in Romanian architecture as a result

rhythm.

doua elemente:

The second element is a peripheral graphic

that presents a collection of photographs,
sketches and video recordings the exemplify
the transformation showing the main Romanian
architectural examples of the last hundred
years.
The proposed passage materializes this tempo
using a virtual compass that presents the geo-

arhitecturale ale ultimei sute de ani.

national architecture.
The visitor starts in a virtual south that we
associate with the 19th century that brings all
the information brought by our traditional and
oriental background. As it goes along the visitor
of the pavilion, the direction towards which
Romanian culture was focused during 1914

n continuarea traseului vizitatorul este inundat

by the sudden change of direction brought by

coming from the virtual east, simultaneously the
stage also presents three small niches towards the
virtual west that symbolize the fragile link to the
west. The last stage of the passage 1989-2014, is
oriented towards the virtual west but the opposing
wall is not affected by it and acts independently,

26

occidentul. Ultima parte a traseului , 1989 2014

the resulting volume symbolizing both a loss of all

constraints and an indiscriminate absorption of all
information.
To
materialize
the
absorbing
modernity
phenomena we assimilated it with light, realizing
a dynamic dialogue between the present reality
of each historic stage (the projected light) and the
and projected on our national background (the
walls)
The light is constantly absorbed and this absorption

projection of light.
Further more, the nature of the translucent material
allows to interpret light trough the refraction of the
material. The light, passing through the translucent
personalized.
The passage, marked by either translucent or
opaque walls translates the spatial dimension
typical for all historic stages, starting with a
generous space at the beginning of the century,
that slowly begins to transform and shrink to the
minimum standard of the communist period,
only to expand optimistically and uncontrollably
in the last period.

Mai mult natura materialului translucid pentru

prin care se

lumina face ca aceasta

traseului).

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

nomination

[nominalizare]

Giardini

della Biennale

34

t i t l u l
proectului

Just now

[CHIAR ACUM]
//

Razvan George Gorcea

Constantin Gorcea
Sorin Bompa
Alexandra Arama
Cosmin Tolbes
Alexandru Senciuc
IT34567

//
//

Just now, the concept of the project comes

from the direct interpretation of the Venetia
2014 Biennale theme proposed for the national
pavilions:

The word Modernity gets its origins from the late

latin,
, that translates through
. Generally it is used to show the difference
between the present time and the time right
before that, comming into common language
continuous for the verb to absorb indicates a
referral to a present changing and developing
action, with ephemeral character. Indicating
the years 1914-2014 denotes a retrospective
character over a century with a powerful struggle

75.79

Conceptul proiectului Just Now provine din

, ce se traduce prin

caracter retrospectiv asupra unui secol marcat

35

between modernity and its relation with different

situations in parts of the world.
We can deduce from the theme the necessity of
a simultaneous presentation over the historical
past and the present moment
. In
these terms we proposed a pavilion approach
that connects the visitor to the actual reality of

prezent -

. Propunem astfel, un pavilion

principalele evenimente politico-istorice ce au

for deciphering through references to the past
regarding the main political-historical events that

de ani.

hundred years time.

a portal to a clean isolated space, dominated by

large audio-video projections of contemporary
Romania. After a brief view of these transmissions,
of which he doesnt yet know much about, he
discovers the
acces point to the second
space, the
. The translucent
walls of
box still allow shadows and

ai cutiei
este

ge through.
2. The second space, the
is a brighter one, and by the spatial design,
subdivides into three parts of the same space,
last hundred years of Romanian society : interwar/
communist/ post-revolution.

momentul respectiv reprezenta

So, through a exposition of photography and

the visitor discoveres what at the moment of each
photo was their own
.
In the mean time, the represented objectives will
bear a note helping interested visitors to identify
them in real time over the Internet, using their own
comunication devices (tabletes, smartphones,
etc.), bringing the objectives straight into their
real context,
.

36

proprii de comunicare (tablete, smartphone-uri

obiective din cele 7 epoci istoice prezentate

Return to present tense (back in the

space) one can realize that the images he/she
just saw represented through 7 chronological
times are now presented in their contemporary
situation. This way, the visitor can judge fro
himself the way in which objects of architecture
and urban situations from the last 100 years,
have been and still are being absorbed in/by
the present.

una simpla prin intermediul internetului mobil, iar

In transmission chosen locations there will be

panels that can connect the people passing
by directly to the pavilion (by adress/QR code).
The connection will be simple, through mobile
Internet, and SMS mesages. In the same time,
from the pavilion in Venice visitors can interact
/react with their own opinions about the live

10 secunde) prin intermediul tabletelor puse la

tablets found in the pavilion or personal mobile

phones. This type of feedback, generated
automatically by a software, can be extremely
attractive but also useful for public opinion study,
sociological documentation, etc.. This way of
interacting invites the visitor to actively take part

Bienalei.

of the theme of the Biennale .

The Romanian Pavilion in Venice becomes
an Interactive and interconected one with
Romania, becoming a beacon for emiting/
recepting from and to the country. Its not just a
simple exposition, but a device for comunicating

Acest tip de feedback, generat automat de un

sociologica,

etc.

Modalitatea

aceasta

de

Transmisiile live de pe parcursul celor 6 luni

Live transmitions over the 6 months of the

exposition will be archived monthly, and an the
end of the exposition they wil materialise in a
documentary material that can be used as well
as presented in museums and contemporary
cultural centers.

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

w i n n ers

[ctigtori]

Noua Galerie
a IRCCU

t i t l u l
proiectului

P R I Z E
[PREMIUL]
Noua Galerie
a IRCCU

EXPLORING
IDENTITY
THE ARCHIVES OF THE ROMANIAN NATIONAL
PAVILIONS TOWARDS
A NOMADIC MUSEUM OF ARCHITECTURE
[ARHIVELE PAVILIOANELOR NAIONALE CTRE
UN MUZEU NOMADIC DE ARHITECTUR]

//

Emil Ivanescu
Elena- Loredana Mihali
Carmen Tanase
Marius Danciu
Olivia Zahalca
Laura Iosub

EM12345

//
//

46

78.54

1914: Dr. Minovici opens for the Bucharest

public, his own collection of national folk art,
in Minovici villa, a symbol of neo_romanesque

1914: doctorul Nicolae Minovici deschide

exhibition.
will be opened to the public. Accommodated
by the
, the building is paradigmatic for
absorbing two styles: the neo-romanesque,

center of Romanias capital city, at ground

zero, in University Square, the building was the
setting for some of the most dramatic political
events in modern Romania, becoming a social
and urban symbol.
research is unfolding within
the revealed prologue: a moment of Romanian
identity construction through architecture and a
time of cultural recognition of architecture by the
Romanian society.

In the article Interwar architecture and collective

identity question,Augustin Ioan, starting from
the analysis of Romanias pavilion at the Paris
International Exhibition in 1937, made an extensive

2014: va avea loc deschiderea primului muzeu

,

a constituit cadrul unora dintre cele mai

Cercetarea

In articolul

47

study regarding Romanian architecture in

interwar period. In another article, reproduced
studiu

amplu

asupra

arhitecturii

perioadei

architectural icon, Mies van der Rohes pavilion

at the Barcelona International Exposition in 1929.
arhitectural, pavilionul lui Mies van der Rohe la
exhibition, disassembly and loss of component
study transpires idea of a lack in understanding
the experiment of exceptional architecture by
a world that failed to identify with the modern
pavilion. In the same year and at the same
exhibition, Duiliu Marcu will develop a pavilion
to balance a desired modernity with an identity
that is already shaped. In 2010, the French
artist Laurent Pernelle proposes an interesting
experiment, imagining the Romanian Pavilion
at the Paris International Exhibition in 1900, as
a cargo container, where the pavilion domes
were realized as hybrid plastic insertions on the
surface of the container. Conceptually, the artist
translates the pavilion by deforming it, as a sign
of altered identity. In other words, all national
pavilions, as symbols and productions made by
the society at a given time, are a living archive
of the phenomenon of identity construction
through architecture.

francez, Laurent Pernel, propune un experiment

pavilionului

asumate de o societate la un anumit moment,

In the Romanian context, they demonstrate a

modernity, and vice versa, so through the study
of
we show that this process was
not a singular moment in the history of Romanian
modern architecture, but a constant attempt at
If the late nineteenth century captures the
idea of nation through archaic and vernacular
architecture, early twentieth century, generates
the avantgarde who wants to suppress and

48

, nu

major.

purge everything, but who only accentuates

further the obsession for traditional, conservative
national architecture, the neo-romanesque of
second generation, is elevated to the monument
status, living together in an interesting way with
that s
, which produces in the
mind of some of the Romanian elite, the feeling
of belonging to a global Western culture.
The National pavilions remaining in Romanian
architectural history are indisputable evidence of
this phenomenon: New York (1939), Paris (1937), or
Bucharest Month (1936) are just ways of expressing
Romanian identity through cohabitation of the
modernity. Afterwards, the communism in
Romania produces a new propaganda identity,
the new man with a new architecture: the
socialist realism which is actually a neo-classical

acel

fenomen: New York (1939), Paris (1937), Luna

one of traditional inspiration, build in propaganda

laboratories in Bucharest (the 70-80).
from excessive Soviet pressure and appears
in international context with an architectural
identity issued by the neo-classical Stalinism. Sign
of forced industrial modernization, the Romanian
indentity is a contemporary one: the proof is the
surprising modernity. Metallic, modulated, with a
certain structured poetry of the space, shows the
In brief, a good identity slogan of the young
communist state. Shortly, this state will surprise the
West by apparent political, economic and cultural
opening: it seemed that Communism receives
and absorbs in a friendly way the capitalist ideas.
As a sign of the general welfare of the period,
the totalitarist regime in Bucharest starts the
construction on what will be RomExpo, an ample
space for exhibitions, packed with pavilions.

49

Representing the economic map of industrialized

Romania, that left behind archaic and agrarian
past, the architecture of these pavilions,
culminates with a mixed expression between

complex itself, but the stylistic comparison we

will perform, between the three major national
exhibitions, each one characteristic for different
Romanian regimes: kingship of Charles 1st
and Bucharest National Exhibition (1906), the
totalitarian regime of Charles 2nd and Bucharest
Month Exhibition (1936), and RomExpo as emblem
of Romanian communism, at the beginning of a
new dictatorship. Each case study talks about
a identity pattern that, through architecture, is
beeing materialized.
The fall of communism, that fetishized in the 70s
a burlesque manner (blocks with false upstand
attic, rustic symbols taken in concrete cladding,
etc.) has not stopped the fascination for
archaic and vernacular identity. For example,
the Romanian pavilion at Hanover in 1997,
synthesized a certain natural archaic Romanian
culture through a vegetal structural wall, at Tokyo
Expo, where the team led by architect Dorin
Stefan played the same book of tradition, but
this time, the one working with wood. And, within
the Romanian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in
2004, the team led by architect Strudza made a
return to traditional and vernacular, through a
reinterpretation of its output.

face materializat.

Today, although we live in an oppressive and

vernacular identity reappeared as a sign of
opposition to hyper-technologism and globalism.
sale.
search for identity itself, which sometimes is found,
sometimes is lost. We explore this experiments
by following the signs left by the history of each
national pavilion, by architecture of exile,

50

diaspora, and also by Romanian architectural

competitions.

provides
a
double
archaeological
insight
over
Romanian
architecture in relation to modernity: exteriority
view, marked by exposure of Romanian
interiority view, that captures a unique history of
architecture competitions in Romania, from the
century. Both views, having as sources Romanian
journalism architecture diaries3, build a speech
identity construction through architecture.
Romanian national pavilions archive, built in
the global frameworks of international events.
They are true paradigms of architecture:

, construiesc un discurs

to date technology. They speak not only about

in a particular moment. Although non-perennial,
with a short life span, they are signs of a desire to
identify and to represent.
Interiority view, competition research, offers
archives of Romanian architecture experiments.
Sometimes encouraged, sometimes stopped,

51

dramatic clash between modernity and tradition,

between the will of the architect and political
order, between the need of the palce and global
speculation. Their clash is a sign both of modernity,
and identity. Paradoxically, the reality of change
and the new, promoted by Western modernity,
subsidiary assumes, a return to a initial state, pure,
archaic and primitive, untouched by consumer
society. Revealing itself, Romanian architecture

is a platform that incorporates

two systems:
and
,
both built around the idea of contemporary
architecture archive and laboratory_museum,
which, located in various spaces and places, can
speak about Romanian architecture. The two
systems are dedicated to Nicolae Iorga and to
cultural duality and identity: a tendency for
of liberation and modernity. If Iorga embodies
the conservative and traditionalistic spirit, Tzara
represents the Romanian avant-garde spirit, who
Over the over the past 100 years of Romanian
architecture and culture, this strange duality
of feeling and thinking has always been there,

Laboratorium is a space dedicated to the

personality of Nicolae Iorga, humanist and
politician of the early twentieth century to whom
we owe the acquisition of the Romanian Pavilion
in Giardini and also the Correr Palace.
The Laboratorium, accommodated by ICR Gallery,
is a spatial metaphor for the process of research
and for the architectural identity experiment,
which involves two stages: the dialectic of study

52

consum. Descoperindu-se pe sine, arhitectura

(assumptions, antithesis, synthesis, conclusions)

symbolized by the arms_instrument placed in
center, and case studies represented by digital_
spatial archives, placed arround the perimeter.
They contain the description and analysis of each
case: Romanian pavilions, embassies, pavilions
of the Venice Biennale, Romanian architecture
export and architectural competitions.

experiment identitar arhitectural, ce presupune

TzaraHouse is an interactive device that archives

Laboratorium, in Campo Fosca Square, the
device consists of:
a) an archive that displays digital studies, and 3D
models of Romanian diaspora architecture;
b) interactive DADA structure, that can be
shaped in any desired form, by any visitor. The
DADA structure invites passers-by to imagine their
own home, as a story;

TzaraHouse este un dispozitiv interactiv de

c) a fountain with drinking water, recycled from

stormwater;
d) a system of emotive speakers, that will be able
to explore the public space;

Archive newspaper
Nomad Archive newspaper is a free material that
every visitor of
platform
will receive. This will help him navigate through
and
. It contains an
overview study of Romanian modernity as well as
search codes for each archive.

o poveste;

Ziarul

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

nomination

[nominalizare]

Noua Galerie
a IRCCU

60

t i t l u l
proectului

dare to feel

[NDRZNETE S SIMI]

George Mario Kuibus

Madalina Ghibusi
Alexandru Solomonesc
Alice Ionita

//

MA1269

//

78.11

//

The determining process that

evolution of the 100 years is
the moment of the modernist
absorbtion, forces like war,
communism or democracy
being the evolutionary shapeshifters of the process.
The curatorial project will capture
the sequence in which the
western ideas penetrate through
the searches of a national style,
therefore developing tensions
that
generated
powerfull
architectural creation.

Momentul determinant care a

al
modernismului,
ulterior,
forte ca razboiul, comunismul,

Proiectul curatorial va surprinde

Precum

Juhani

Pallasmaa

Like Juhani Pallasmaa underlines

the importance of the sense of
touch in architecture in his work
, we would
like to offer the visitor a purely
tactile experience, eliminating
the visual factor. This is how the

61

major difference between the

two poweful currents of the
modern time is represented.
By exposing architecture as
sculpture, the simplicity of the
romanian interbelic architecture
is contrasted to the detailed
representation of the new
interpretations of traditional
romanian
architecture.
This
way, informations are given in a
new way, bypassing the visual
dimension of architecture. By
using only touch, people will be
forced to visualise the image
only with the eyes of their mind.

Prin expunerea arhitecturii sub

va surprinde simplitatea arhitecturii

invoca calitatea arhitecturii de

modernismului reduce arhitectura

modernism reduces architecture
to its basics. Brancusis sculptures
for the blind were reduced to
simple shapes that contained

functional.

Sculpturile

pentru

only reveals itself through touch.

numai prin tactil.

We propose a simple, central

element in the middle of
the pavilion. It holds both a
symbolical and practical role.
The wall captures becomes a
vessels (simple on the outside,
complex and mystical on the
inside) that reveals the truth
only if the visitor has the thirst for
knowledge. The wall captures
a single accent, a narrow gap
at arm level through which you
cannot see due to its position
and the smokescreen that
covers it. The message at the
entrance
, along with the
symbols and human curiosity to
discover hidden things pushes
the visitor to insert his hands

element central simplu, cu dublu

62

(simplu

la

exterior,

complex,

(trimitere

acesteia. Mesajul de pe pragul

pavilionului (FEEL
de a descoperi lucruri ascunse,

into the opening. This way

they discover (by touch) ten
3d printed models. They can
be perceived individually or in
parallel, by projecting a mental
image of their own. Simplicity is
easy to perceive and assimilate,
but also profound. Perception
through touch recreates the
mental image more accurately.
By passing from details and
abundent
decoration
to

descoperi (tactil) 10 machete

imaginea reala. Prin trecerea de

visualise through the eyes of the
When the mental projection is
compared to the visual image
at the end, the intensity of the
experience reaches its climax.
The pavilion is therefore split in two
important areas characterised
by the two senses:
and
. They are used sequentially
in this order for a complete
experience. During the second
part of the exhibition, the visitor
is offered written explanation as
well.

de

vizual,

de

apropiere

prin

coincide cu ceea ce a fost deja

zone

importante

caracterizate

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

selection

[selectat]

Giardini

della Biennale

70

t i t l u l
proectului

CREATIVITATE
CONSERVARE

[CREATIVITATE-CONSERVARE]
//

Ileana Maria [Zbirnea]Kisilewicz

Dan Victor Kisilewicz
Dobrin Laurentiu Datcu
DK62014

//
//

The topics for the exhibition designated to the

New IRCCU Gallery space is theoretically based
on: the absorbed modernity since the last half
of the 20th century, through the architectural
creation developed into Romanian architectural
heritage conservation actions, also
elaborated by
Arch. Roberto Pane, one of the 1964 Venetian
International Charter theoreticians, regarding
architectural heritage conservation.
The exhibition named Creativity Conservation,
suggested for taking place within the tight space
of the New IRCCU Gallery, enlightens the almost
forgotten Arch. Ioana Grigorescus activity

91.43

de conservare ale patrimoniului arhitectural

elaborat de prof.
arh. Roberto Pane, unul dintre teoreticienii

arhitectural.

authors times: sketches, drawings, photos but

models and recent photographical imagery and

71

the terms of creativity and conservation have

non complementary meanings, however in
the architectural conservation practice they
often mix up. When modern architectural
phenomenon researches, the least neglected
should be theoretical start ups resulted from built
up conservation practices.

de autoare.

valorilor construite.
the lady architects assertion and recognition
within creative community has been achieved.
Especially after the WWII, women architect, thus
naming Ioana Grigorescu whos been project
leader and coordinator for important projects.
Her own professional and capabilities recognition

femeile arhitect printre care o amintim pe Ioana

management of important conservation works

within Moldavian area, in the north east Romania.
These stand for creative, daring examples of
conservation architecture using a contemporary
approach, though they havent been ignored
by the unaware critic, however theyd be always
a following example for future generations of
professionals.
The exhibition design outlines the enlarged
vision upon Romanian conservation heritage,
featuring also new expressional means occurred
through modern architecture and
available/ exposed concrete,
, whether wooden or
steel
, all as a result
of the skilful work of a lady architect working within
6th and 7th decades of the last century. Through
her designs, Arch. Ioana Grigorescu tried to
preserve the historical authenticity within designed
environment whether structural or spatial, inputs
complying to the contemporary requirements.
Comparative studies and traditional shapes
remodeling was a researching method used by
the architect in order to enrich various design
inputs aesthetical qualities within the limitative
historical context. Thus, the architects creativity
adds value and helps ones understanding on
architectural heritage perusal.
The main entrance area dedicated on showcasing
architectural creation, richly illustrated through
expressional and spatial elements based on

72

prin
sau metal ale

arhitectural.

- betonul aparent
din lemn
,

modern concepts, however mainly subordinated

to highly valued historic buildings conservation.
Here too there is a transparent panelling structure,
placed in the centre of the exhibition space,
bearing images of exposed concrete, timber, steel,
showcasing the modern instruments used through
architectural expression but the conservation
techniques and interventions designed by the
architect versus historical authenticity. In the same
time the panels suggest walking and sensory
guidance (tactile, the best views to the displayed
images). Here, a chair and a stair placed in
opposite corners make for ordinary objects, built
by architects design but they highlight modern
takes of traditional Romanian wooden shapes.
point to visitors. Hung off the halls ceiling, a
projector connected to a computer will help
showing images of architects designed buildings
and sketches on a semi-opaque screen, placed
within a window-frame as these images should be
seen as form inside and outside the designated
exhibiting space. Thus the
images would
pick the by passers attention and theyll make for
an animated invitation to visit the exhibition.

betonul aparent, lemnul, metalul, materialitatea

imaginile

restrained, is dedicated to architects creative

studio showcase, the architectural creation hub.
drawing board, t-square, lamp, drawing tools,
pencils as well as notebooks bearing a massive
diversity of sketches, books, magazines, and
on the walls will be displayed bigger drawings,
watercolours, life drawings, illustrating the
creative and inspirational artists universe. Here
the architects working sketches reproductions.

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

[82-83]

FALLING ROCKS
[CAD PIETRE]
[84-85]

A LABYRINTH:THE MINOTAUR MYTH BUCHAREST 1925 1940

[ UN LABIRINT: MITUL MINOTAURULUI- BUCURETI 1925-1940 ]
[86-87]

A COMMON HISTORY OF INDIVIDUAL DREAMS

[O ISTORIE COMUN DE VISE INDIVIDUALE ]
[88-89]

MOLDING SPACE
[ MATERIA ]
[90-91]

PAN E L LIST

ALMANAC
[ ALMANAC ]

[CONCURENI]

[92-93]

E T E R NA L R E T U R N
[ ETERNA RENTOARCERE ]

Giardini

[94-95]

della Biennale

M O DERN,THEREFORE I A M!
[ M O DERN , DECI E X IST ! ]
[96-97]

THE A RC HI T EC T U RE O F HISTORY
[ ARHITECTURA ISTORIEI ]
[98-99]

FI L L` I N T HE S PAC E
[ T R I N D S PA I U L ]
[100-101]

POINT OF VIEW . BUTTERFLY EFFECT

[ P U N CT DE V E DERE . EFEC T U L FLUT U RE ]
[102-103]

RETURN. ITS YOUR TURN

[ NTOARCE-TE. E RNDUL TU. ]
[104-105]

U NCOVER THE WAL L,DISCOVER HISTORY

[ S PA RGE ZI DU L. DESC O P ER ISTORIA. ]
[106-107]

BETWEEN HISTORY AND MEMORY

[ NT RE ISTORI E I M EM ORI E ]
[108-109]

UPDATE 100 SAMPLES OF MODERNITY

[ UP DATE 1 0 0 M OST RE DE M O DERN I T AT E ]
[///-///]

OSMOSIS
[OS M OSIS ]

*The Images were not digitally readable

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23

[///-///]

BAC K TO THE F UTU RE

[- - - ]

*The Images were not digitally readable

[110-111]

MODERN BOX CHRONICLES

[ C RO N ICI L E CUTI EI M O DERN E ]
[112-113]

S H A R P W AV E
[ SHA R P W AV E ]
[114-115]

A D R I F T
[ RICOEU ]
[116-117]

RE - STARTING AVANT - GARDE 100 - 001

[ RE - STA RT AVAN GA RDA 1 0 0 - 0 0 1 ]
[118-119]

R E - LO C A T E . A C C U M U L A T IO N F E T I S H A S F U N D A M E N T
[ RE- LO CA RE. FET I U L A C U M U L RI I C A F U N DA M E NT ]
[120-121]

THE PELLICLE
[ P E LICU LA ]
[122-123]

UNDER THE CARPETHIAN GARDEN

[ ASCU N S ] SUB COVOR ]
[124-125]

24

P RES E NC E OR THE E L EPHANT I N THE RO O M

[ P REZ E N SAU E L EFANT U L DI N C A M ER ]

25

FRAME
[ RA M E ]

26

[126-127]

[128-129]

HIGHlIGHTS IN TIME
[ REP ERE N TI M P ]
[130-131]

27

5 x 20
[ 5 x 20 ]

28

PROCESS[ING] MODERNITY
[ PROCESS[ING] MODERNITY ]

29

[132-133]

[134-135]

T I M E [ D O O R ] F R A M E S
[ CADRE TEM P O RA L E [DE U ] ]

t i t l u l
proectului

FALLING ROCKS
[CAD

PIETRE

CONSTRUIND ARHIVE N BUCURETIUL CONTEMPORAN]

Martin Emilian Balint

Alina Turdean
Andreea Gurban
Dan Calciu
//
//

82

73.14

CP02014

83

t i t l u l
proectului

A LABYRINTH:
THE MINOTAUR MYTH
BUCHAREST 1925 1940
[UN LABIRINT: MITUL MINOTAURULUI- BUCURETI 1925-1940]

Andreea Barbulescu
Anastasia Barbulescu
//
//

84

66.68

AA31062

85

t i t l u l
proectului

A COMMON HISTORY
OF INDIVIDUAL DREAMS
[O

ISTORI E

COMUN

DE

VISE

Drago Mihai Dordea

Flavia Maria Radu
Raluca Maria Sturzu
//
//

86

62.39

MM59731

INDIVIDUALE]

87

t i t l u l
proectului

MOLDING
SPACE
[ M A T E R I A ]

Maria Guseth
Ioana Irina Nastase
Mara Bogoescu
Tudor Costachescu
Radu Costachescu
Matei Bogoescu
//
//

88

61.18

DA68086

89

t i t l u l
proectului

ALMANAC
Rozina Dragomir
Irina Niculescu
Alexandru Belenyi
//
//

90

60.86

IR08116

91

t i t l u l
proectului

ETERNAL
RETURN
[ E T E R N A

R E N TOA R C E R E ]

Oana Diaconescu
Daniel Armenciu
Fulvio Rolando
George Ursache
//
//

92

58.29

CC00000

93

t i t l u l
proectului

MODERN,
THEREFORE I AM!
[ M O D E R N ,

D E CI

E X I S T ! ]

Elena Codina Dusoiu

Cristina Graur
Ana Mohonea
//
//

94

58.25

AC23500

95

t i t l u l
proectului

ARCHITECTURE
OF HISTORY
THE

[ A R H I T E CT U R A

I S TO R I E I ]

Gabriela Claudia Alexe

Mircea Margarit
Iulian Ungureanu
Radu Ursoiu
//
//

96

58.07

GC12221

97

t i t l u l
proectului

FILL` IN
THE SPACE
[ T R I N D

S P A I U L ]

Ana Maria Epure

Anca Ionescu
Ruxandra Pana
Tibi Tircomnicu
//
//

98

55.82

AA70000

99

t i t l u l
proectului

POINT OF VIEW
BUTTERFLY EFFECT
[ P U N C T

D E

V E D E R E . E F E C T U L

Daniela Maier
Radu Mircea Giurgiu
Sonia Nechifor
Ina Hudea
George Otoiu
Iulia Alexandra Pripon
Andrada Diana Todea
//
//

100

55.39

Cosmin Crlugea
Helga Balazs
Bianca Muresan
Sabin Potinteu
Sorana Potinteu
Zoltan Balazs
Paul Tiberius Savu
AW50113

F L U T U R E ]

101

t i t l u l
proectului

ReTURN.

Its your turn

[ N TO A R C E - T E . E R N D U L T U . ]

Loredana Bruma
Anamaria Vasile
Ioana Diaconu
Bogdan Mihai Ionita
Andrei Deleanu
Irina Neatu
//
//

102

53.68

AR23529

103

t i t l u l
proectului

UNCOVER THE WALL,

DISCOVER HISTORY
[ S PA R G E Z I D U L . D E S C O P E R I S TO R I A . ]

George Mario Kuibus

Madalina Ghibusi
Alexandru Solomonesc
Alice Ionita
//
//

104

53.00

AM12691

105

t i t l u l
proectului

BETWEEN
HISTORY AND
MEMORY
[NTRE ISTORI E I ME MORI E]

Mariana Croitoru
Catalina Varzaru
Rares Patru
//
//

106

52.43

CV35273

107

t i t l u l
proectului

UPDATE
100 SAMPLES OF MODERNITY

[UPDATE 100 MOSTRE DE MODERNITATE]

Irina Maria Ionescu

Anca Ioana Ionescu
Claudiu Forgaci
Vlad Alexandru Vergu
//
//

108

52.36

BX11955

109

t i t l u l
proectului

MODERN BOX
CHRONICLES
[ C R O N I C I L E

C U T I E I

M O D E R N E ]

Niculae Grama
Costina Chisarau
Mihail Chisarau
Valentin Ionascu
Marius Pandele
Stefan Vianu
//
//

110

49.82

GN21041

111

t i t l u l
proectului

Sharp
Wave
[ S H A R P

W A V E ]

Sergiu Catalin Petrea

Sabrina Ene
Cristina Petrea
//
//

112

48.29

TA15210

113

t i t l u l
proectului

ADRIFT
[ R I C O E U ]

Silviu Aldea
Marius Catalin Aldea
Camelia Sisak
Tamas Sisak
Catalin Iliescu
Attila Molnar
//
//

114

47.82

OK68595

115

t i t l u l
proectului

[RE-START AVANGARDA 100-001. ARHITECII TINERI GNDESC NECONVENIONAL]

Radu Bogdan
Ruxandra Stanciu
Stefan Mihailescu
Marina Eugenia Mihaila
Cristian Banica

Mara Vasile
Raluca Pestisanu
Andra Giuglea
Mihaela Ciolache
//
//

116

46.79

KQ98765

117

t i t l u l
proectului

RE-LOCATE
ACCUMULATION FETISH AS FUNDAMENT

[RE-LOCARE. FETIUL ACUMULRII CA FUNDAMENT]

Laura Nicoleta Dumitrescu

Mircea Adrian Mihai
Dragos Mila
Marjan Mostavi
Iulia Veronica Popescu
//
//

118

44.93

AC42176

119

t i t l u l
proectului

THE PELLICLE
[ P E L I C U L A ]

Adrian Soare
Razvan Tivu
Cosmin Anghelache
Ruxandra Dinescu
Adrian Tutuianu
//
//

120

44.54

SY44001

121

t i t l u l
proectului

UNDER

THE CARPETHIAN GARDEN

[ A S C U N S ]

S U B

C O V O R

Ivona Gheorghe
Valentin Gheorghian
Lucian Matei
Radu Stefan Pintilie
Alexandru Sescioreanu
Horia Ungureanu
//
//

FV03379

44.07

123

t i t l u l
proectului

PR
E
S
E
N
C
E
OR
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
[ P R E Z E N S A U E L E FA N T U L DI N C A M E R ]

Radu Ursoiu
Iulian Ungureanu
Gabriela Alexe
//
//

124

43.39

UU91815

125

t i t l u l
proectului

fRAME
[ R A M E ]

Razvan Lacraru
Mihaela Lacraru
//
//

126

42.54

DC15036

127

t i t l u l
proectului

HIGHlIGHTS
IN TIME
[ R E P E R E

T I M P ]

Andra Elena Apostolescu

Irina Valentina Duma
//
//

128

41.64

AY18329

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5 x 20
Daniel Tudor Munteanu
//
//

130

40.93

PV18480

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PROCESS[ING]
MODERNITY
Arpad Zachi
Andreea Livia Ivanovici
Iulia Marian
Ionut Cristian Butu
Dana Milea
Mihai Zachi
Elena Steliana Smeianu
Elena Eugenia Tarcuta
//
//

132

36.54

LP25845

133

134

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proectului

TIME [DOOR]
FRAMES
[ C A D R E

T E M P O R A L E [DE U]]

Razvan Lacraru
Mihaela Lacraru
//
//

MR21707

25.18

135

PAN E L LIST
[CONCURENI]

Noua Galerie
a IRCCU

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

[138-139]

A SYNTHESIS, OR FOR ANOTHER DON QUIXOTE

[ O SINTEZ , SAU PENTRU UN ALT DON QUIJOTE ]
[140-141]

WITNESS
[ MA RTO R ]
[142-143]

MAKING ROOM. A PRACTICE OF THE CONTEMPORARY

[ A FAC E LOC . O P RACTIC A CONTEM P ORANU LUI ]
[144-145]

INFLUENS
[ INFLUENS ]
[146-147]

100 LIGHT YEARS

[ 1 0 0 DE AN I LU MI N ]
[148-149]

r e - F O C U S E D
[ re - FUNDAMENTARE ]
[150-151]

CONTEXTUALISM.PROJECTED FILLINGS
[ CO N TE XTUA LIS M. T R I RI P ROI EC T AT E ]
[152-153]

W O M B
[ PNTEC ]
[154-155]

M O D E R N I T Y
I N
B A L A N C E
[ M O DERN I TATE A N BA LAN S . EC HI LI B RU L ]
[156-157]

ARHI TEMPO
[ A RHI TEM P O ]
[158-159]

G O L D E N R A T I O
[ P RO P O R I A DE AU R ]

t i t l u l
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A SYNTHESIS,
OR FOR ANOTHER DON QUIXOTE

[ O S I N T E Z , S A U P E N T R U U N A LT D O N Q U I J OT E ]

Andreea Barbulescu
Anastasia Barbulescu
//
//

138

61.79

AA31061

139

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WITNESS
[ M A R T O R ]

Milea Lucian Sandu

Dan Cristian Solot
Drago Solot
//
//

140

55.57

MT6524

141

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proectului

MAKING ROOM
A PRACTICE OF THE CONTEMPORARY

[A FACE LOC. O PRACTIC A CONTEMPORANULUI]

Dragos Mihai Dordea

Flavia Maria Radu
Raluca Maria Sturzu
//
//

142

52.68

MR76812

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INFLUENS
Tudor Iacob
Cristina Caragheorgheopol
Alexandru Mihai Popescu
Ioana Neacu
Adrian Anghel
Alexandra Monoranu
//
//

144

49.75

AA11111

145

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100 LIGHT YEARS

[ 1 0 0 D E

A N I

L U M I N ]

Iulian Ungureanu
Marius Neagoie
//
//

146

49.68

IM15060

147

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re/FOCUSED
[ r e -

F U N D A M E N T A R E ]

Fundatia Archaeus
//
//

148

48.93

21FOCUS

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PROJECTED
FILLINGS
[ C O N T E X T U A L I S M . T R I R I P R O I E C TAT E ]

Codina Dusoiu
Mihaela [Balan] Lazar
Dan Adrian Ionescu
//
//

150

46.86

Alex Sandulescu
Elena Nedelcu
Marius Burhan
MI36912

151

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proectului

WOMB
[ P N T E C ]

Ovidiu Micsa
Ovidiu Balan
Alexandru Cheregi
//
//

152

45.57

HC45412

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MODERNITY
IN BALANCE
[ M O D E R N I TAT E A N B A L A N S . E C H I L I B R U L ]

Ioana Ciurea
Tatiana Ciurea
Bogdan Gotia
//
//

154

40.71

IG22117

155

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proectului

ARHI
TEMPO
Andra Elena Apostolescu
Irina Valentina Duma
//
//

156

40.54

IR87501

157

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GOLDEN
RATIO
[PROPORIA DE AUR]

Daniel Tudor Munteanu

//
//

158

38.71

NZ10911

159

T H E

JURY

[ JURIUL ]

Professor architect

Brian A. Spencer

- President - Taliesin West - AIA Fellow

Professor Emeritus

Juhani Katainen
- full member - SAFA Fellow

Professor PhD Architect

Ana Maria Zahariade

- full member

Professor PhD Architect

Vlad Gaivoronschi
- full member

Monica Morariu
- Comissioner - Ministerul Culturii

Alexandru Damian
- Deputy Commissioner ICR / MAE

Associated Professor PhD Architect

Bogdan TOFAN

- Deputy Commissioner - Uniunea Arhitectilor din Romania / UIA

Venice Biennale:
National Prints

[ B ie n a l a d e l a Ve ne i a : A m p re n t e N a io n a l e ]

Cristian Alexandru Damian

Beginning with the seventeenth
century the ideas of nationalism took
in Europe. This is the reason why
most of the states that were once
organized as principalities, kingdoms,
or empires began to lose their unitary
characteristic, and became national
states. So, at the mid-nineteenth
century, the map of Europe was
already redrawn, and the nations (in
some cases) were trying to complete
their national territories after 1918.
Most likely, the twentieth century
represents the crowning or extreme
moment of nationalism, followed by
its decline, after the second half of
the century, through globalization.
Until the middle of the nineteenth
century, any educated youngster
was stopping, on his gran tour, in
Venice, where he would stay for
at least a couple weeks in order to
visit the most famous works of the
Venetian masters. All of thischanged
after1860, when Venice became
part of the Italian state, and thus the
need to create a more novel tourist
attractionin order to get a larger
spectrum of visitors from the whole
world. This was also done in order
to stop the polemics of the Austrian
media, that accused the Italians of
not knowing how to sustain the city
and that life of the glorious Venice
was threatened by the lack of

162

Tocmai din acest motiv, majoritatea

principate, regate sau chiar imperii,

involvement of the new authorities.

Obviously, the accusations were
part of much broaderpolitical
expectations on the horizon, Austria
was fearful of other irredentist
movements in other Italian language
territories under her rule.
Thus, with the ideas of nationalism
considering the greater need to
remove Venice from the Romantic
vision (keep in mind that the view of
Venice was that although everyone
saw its wonders, it was more
Serenissima) was present, the need
for another event, both global and
globalizing emerged: The Biennale.

Biennale is aligned, in time, on the

same trajectoryas the great world

considerare nevoia tot mai mare

acesteia, se contura tot mai bine

globalizatoare: Bienala.

//

163

exhibitions of London, New York,

Viennaand Paris. Thus, by inviting artists
from all over the world, aninternational
element was assured, as was visitors
attendance to Venice- at a time so
needed for the survival of the city. The

mondiale precum cele din Londra,

New York, Viena sau Paris. Astfel, prin

of Giardini was, obviously, the pavilion

of exhibitions (initially named Pro Arte,
then The Italian Pavilion, and nowadays
being The Exhibition Pavilion), aneoa few days before the opening of the

numit Pro Arte, apoi Pavilionul Italiei,

Even though the Venice Art Biennale

started as a national exhibition, there
were foreign artists invited as early as
the second edition (1897 ).

built;it was Belgiums. In 1909, at

the eighth edition of the Biennale,
three other pavilions were built in
Giardini; Great Britains a pavilion
transformed from an older building,
built in 1887, that was redecorated and
modernized by architect Edwin Alfred
Rickards;Germanys built near the
Britishpavilion, and laterbought in 1938
from the city of Venice, and demolished
and then rebuilt under Hitlers initiative in
order to make room for a building that
was more inlinewith the German Reichs
vision; and Hungarys - a pavilion that
was inspired bythe Hungarian traditions
and art history, a work of sculptor
GzaMarti.

alte trei pavilioane: al Marii Britanii

arhitectul Edwin Alfred Rickards; al

In the same 1907 Biennale edition,

being represented in the exhibitions
pavilion by artist Frantz Stork.
At the time, pavilions were built in a
neoclassical manner. 1907 broughtthe
of the Hungarian pavilion a building
with an extremely national oriented

164

a sculptorului Gza Marti.

architecture, decorated with mosaics

by Miksa Roth.
In 1912, the pavilions of France and
Sweden were built, both erected by
the Biennale. In 1914 the Biennale gave
Swedens pavilion to Holland, who used
order to be rebuilt,according to the
plans of G. Rietveld of Utrecht. In the
same manner, the Russian pavilion,
dated from 1914, and a building very
sensitively designed, was wonderfully
restored in 2010,with the occasion of
the 12th edition of the Architecture
Biennale .

prin construirea pavilionului maghiar

de Miksa Roth.
n anul 1912 au fost ridicate pavilioanele

acordat pavilionul Suediei Olandei,

planurilor lui G. Rietveld din Utrecht. La

pavilions where either built directly by

the countries, or by the Biennale who
gave them to participating countries.
After the initial moments, and after the
interruption caused by the First World
War, countries that didnt have a space
made increasing requests to obtain a
building or land on which to build in the
area of the Giardinidella Biennale.
So, if we want to see the area of
Giardinidella Biennale as a whole, we
will notice that we cant just do that,
even if the intention of the Biennale
was at least until the 60s to create
a very well organized space.
The pavilion of the Exhibitions (Italys
many changes along the years with
the events development. A few rooms
that were initially part of a building with
a neo-classical faade, the so-called
Pro Arte pavilion, became, in time
themere entrancehall of a building
that developed chaotically . Naturally,
over the years, there were projects that
regarded the re-making of this space.
Some of them were even pulled off, such

165

as, the stacking of the Fontana room

of 1966.Perhaps the most interesting
makeover projectof the Exhibition
Biennale.
result of a nationwide competition.
The project was to demolish the entire
complex occupied by the Exhibitions
pavilion and to create a new one. The
project was won by a group formed
ofFausto, Lucioand Vincenzo Passarelli,
Hilda Selem, StanislaoAlessandri, Paolo
Cercato and Paolo Volpato.It proposed
the construction of a new pavilion on the
grounds of theentry area in the Giardini,
thatwould have been visible from the
entire S. Marco gulf. For its construction,
the new at the time Swiss pavilion
Eventually, the project wasnt realized,
but the intention to systematize the
interior space and the faade of the
Italian pavilion remained a constant.
In this way, Duilio Torress interventions,
in 1932, on the Italian pavilion faade
gave the building its appearance
today. Another very interesting project
of re-making of the Italian pavilion is that
of Carlo Scarpa, from 1963. It included
an almost complete demolition of the
building, destroying any ridiculous
expression of faade, even though
just a few years later, in 1968 he
intervened once again on the faade,
covering the columns and transforming
them into prisms.
Going back to the evolution of the
national pavilions, the initial placement
of the buildings on the two main axis of
the Giardini (the alley that leads to the
Pavilion of Exhibitions and the alley that
leads to the British pavilion on the small

166

sistematizat.

care s-a dezvoltat aproape haotic .

Desigur, au existat diverse proiecte care

din 1966, dar, poate, cel mai interesant

proiect de refacere a pavilionului

since the beginning of the last century,

an ever growing agglomeration of
spaces in the area. So, in 1932 the area

Hilda Selem, Stanislao Alessandri, Paolo

of Giardini was already saturated,due

to building of the pavilions of the United

construirea

pavilionului

pe

actuala

demolat recent construitul pe atunci

States (1930) and Denmark (1932) that

closed the area of the Castelloside
of the Giardini. On the other hand,
requests from countries to obtain a
building in the area of Giardini were
increasing with the passing of years
requests that continue today and this
is the reason why the Biennale decided
to extend construction of pavilions to
the area of SantElena.
At the same time as this decision,
the history of the Romanian pavilion
begins.The Romanian and Yugoslavian
pavilions, both constructed in 1938,
joined a series of buildings in the
area of SantElana,starting with the
construction of the Venice pavilion
(of Decorative Arts, given later for
use to the Democratic German
Republic, becoming, later, the Venice
pavilion), together with Polish pavilion
and the Swiss one (nowadays of
Egypt) built in 1932 and drawn by the
Italian architect Brenno del Giudice
.For more information regarding the
Romanianpavilion, and also for the
history
of
Romanianparticipation,
werefer to anotherarticleentitled Il
padiglione della Romania dei Giardini
di Castello: dalliniziativa di Nicolae
Iorga del 1938 al 1978, of the Annuario
dellIstituto Romeno di Cultura e
Ricerca Umanistica di Venezia, to be
published).
We have to note that Del Giudices
plan was very different in the beginning.
Initially, he had a totally different faade

proiect foarte interesant de refacere a

Carlo Scarpa din 1963, care prevedea

tot Scarpa intervenea din nou asupra

prisme.

secolului, o tot mai mare aglomerare

cu

construirea

pavilionului

Statelor

167

in mind (the aspect should have been

with a faade and an homogeneous
portico, with arcades and pilasters,
never realized).The groundswhere the
Austrian and Greek pavilions stand
today were supposed to have different
buildings erected in their place, which
would have completed Del Giudices
entire architectural complex .

The main reason the initial project

was abandoned was the Italian
national-socialist need to indicate
the participationin this ideology Thus,
the once neoclassical faade, was
replaced with another that belonged
to Italian rationalism. Certainly, the
principles of functionalism had reduced
importance in this case, but it seems that
Del Giudice was forced to abandon his
original, more traditional plan, more for
one deemed more adequate to the
propagandistic requests of the regime .
The period between 1930-1942 was the
one in which rationalist architecture
found its best place in the Giardini.
In this timeframe, in 1934, Adolf Hitler
visited the Biennale, and was followed
by the demolition and rebuilding of the
German pavilion (1938), in a modernclassical form, the work of architect
Ernst Haiger.
As we have seen in this brief view,
until the 1942 Biennale (followed by a
break caused by the Second World
War), the buildings in the Giardini
were relatively systematic. Two main
types of architecture were present
inside the area: the neoclassical one
(with some national insertions) and

168

latura Castello a Bienalei. Cu toate

latura SantElena.

(acum al Egiptului) construite toate

italian Brenno del Giudice . La acestea

(pentru mai multe detalii cu privire la

facem referire la un alt articol al nostru,

intitulat Il padiglione Romania dei
Giardini di Castello: dalliniziativa di
Nicolae Iorga del 1938 al 1978, din

the ones belonging to the fascist-way

rationalism.
After the war, the Biennale activity was
only resumedin 1948, after six years of
abandon. We have to remark that
Romania didnt participate until the
her own pavilion in 1938, 1940 and 1942).
The Romanian pavilion wasgivenfor use
to other countries: once to Hungary
(who had to restore its own structure
that had been destroyed by time and
weather) and twice to Mexico, that
didnt then, and still doesnt have its
own pavilion .

concordante cu cele deja existente,

arhitectural al lui Del Giudice .

fost abandonat a fost cel al nevoilor

Along with the fall of the socialist national

regime of Italy, the architectural
needs radically changed. This was
demonstratedin the proposal sent by
the president of the Biennale, Massimo
countries that had a building in the
complex designed by Del Giudice:

ale regimului .

The City Hall of Venice, owner of the park

where the International Art Biennale
takes place, carefully examined,
together with the representatives of
this foundation, the question of the

arhitectului Ernst Haiger.

169

development of the Biennale itself; a

problem witch, all years is becoming
more and more pressing because of
the requests from the governments of
those countries that, being hosted in the
limited rooms of the Central Pavilion,
or that arent yet present in the event,
want to build a proper, permanent
construction of their own. In this order,
it was studied an organic and urban
plan, that includes the development of
the actual area of SantElena, where
Romania has its own pavilion.
It is my duty to inform you that this plan
appears to be very interesting, not only
because it offers the possibility to make
place for many more pavilions towards
the existing ones, but also because
it offers a valid way to better valorize
that area of the exhibition that, at this
moment because is a bit detached
of the rest of the buildings, but also
because of the way in which it was
designed the architectural complex
plan of both buildings and gardens,
with the marginal distribution of the
constructions and the vast area in front
of them, in full sun is less frequented
by the public. This area should be,
therefore, entirely renewed.
But the new plan would necessitate
the demolition of the existing pavilion
complex
Yugosavia-Egypt-PolandRomania and Decorative Arts, and
the consequent reconstruction of this
buildings on an area that could be
larger, with broader areas for each
pavilion then the actual ones, given in a
way that would allow the construction
of separated pavilions rounded by
green areas.
It will result, therefore, a more rational
orientation of each building, ventilation
and temperature of the buildings
that everybody is complaining of but
also the illumination, that will be better

170

socialist din Italia, nevoile arhitecturale

de Del Giudice:

dosed, with more modern installations,

having to gain.
Obviously, the City Hall would support
the demolition expenses, and each
State would support the expenses for
the new constructions.
This plan could be putted in act
and its our will for the Biennial of
government of Romania, through its
high representative, to join the proposal,
which, although it can be an expense
the participation of your country.
Thanking you for a response as quickly
as possible, I convey, Excellency, the
assurances of my highest consideration.
In this proposal, we can see that
Romanias pavilion was considered
obsolete in less than twenty years
from its construction, not really1 from
the point of view of use or space
economy, but rather because of the
poque that it represented: Mussolinis
dictatorship. At the same time, the
work of Del Giudicewhich suffered due
to the stylistic reductions mentioned
above,wasnt and isnt in any way a
poor or disgraceful work.Initially, it was
decidedto demolish (to annihilate)
what was then a mark of the old
regime. Failing to do so, it was then
decided to mutilatethe complex
through the destruction of: the water
pool in front of the Venice pavilion,the
demolition of the colonnade, which
pavilion, a project of Enrique E. Mindlin,
Giancarlo Parlanti and Walmyr L.
Amaral . We must also remember that

de vedere al uzurii sau a economiei de

171

din pricina epocii pe care o reprezenta:

a ceea ce purta amprenta vechiului

only Poland and Romania (Romania,

through Mac Constantinescus and
GeorgetaPeleanus
given
verbal
agreement) agreed to the demolition
of the pavilions in accordance with the
Biennale proposal. Even if the possible
construction of a new building by the
Romanian state was, retrospectively,
doubtful, it is certain that at the time.
the acceptance from Romania can

pavilionului Braziliei, un proiect de

Enrique E. Mindlin, Giancarlo Parlanti

numai acordul verbal, prin profesorul

Georgeta Peleanu) au fost de acord
cu demolarea pavilioanelor conform

of Biennale and Romanian state

organisms.Relying on an objective
necessity, it was desired to remove
this past era, which was reminiscent of
previous dictatorships of the Second
World War.
In conclusion to this brief excursus
through the history ofGiardinis pavilions,
without stoppingon the latest pavilions
erected in the area, of which history
doesnt put so many question marks
on the motivations and ways in which
they were created and arranged,
and remembering that, even though
it seemed that with the opening of the
Electa book pavilion of James Stirling
in the Giardini,things will stay the same
(the existing pavilions would be only
maintained and not demolished).Buthe
facts arent so, and will not be so: these
days, Australia is rebuilding its own
pavilion, after demolishing the old one
of just 27 years !

172

de epoca dictaturilor precedente Celui

a ne mai opri la ultimele pavilioane

We see that, being submitted to

time,
weather,
rgimes,
fashion
or necessities, these national and
nationalist emblems of the countries

cu inaugurarea pavilionului de carte

participating in the Biennale have

eroded. These erosions have produced
a different value, a historical one.
The national elementshave tended
to disappear from the pavilions
architecture, as happened in the

de doar 27 de ani !

nationalist emblems are perceived

with normal detachment, so that

intemperiilor,

regimurilor,

modei

edition of the Architecture Bienniale

that the process of modernization
occurred everywhere in the same way
that it happened just partially exactly
where his curated exhibit takes place.
Evidently, the process of modernization
is continuous, but the remains of history
arent so easily erased, and the process
of modernization cant be stopped.
In fact, thehistory and modernization
of architecture represent faces of the
same coin: Absorbing Modernity!

el. Evident, procesul de modernizare

este dintotdeauna unul continuu, dar

173

The Soul of Romanian

Architecture
Brian A. Spencer
Several weeks ago my friend, Prof.
Dr. Architecture Bogdan Tofan of
Ion Mincu University of Architecture
&
Urbanism,
Bucharest,
ask
me to write about my feelings,
understanding, observations of
Romanian architecture. I thought
I could do that. Ive practiced
architecture in the United States
been able to travel in twenty-two
countries in my adult life. Ive been
able to design and experience
a wide variety of building types.
Ive toured historic architecture
examples such as Ephesus, Turkey,
the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi
Indians of the southwestern United
States.
Ive experienced the
contemporary of Alvar Aaltos
Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland,
Richard Rogers and Renzo Pianos
Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris,
France, Ludwig Mies van der Rohes
Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech
Republic, Skidmore Owings &
Merrills Hancock Tower in Chicago,
Illinois and Frank Gehrys Walt
Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles,
California and Frank Lloyd Wrights
Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Certainly I should be able to write
about architecture in Romania,
at least about my impressions
inasmuch as I have traveled to

174

Timisoara, Oravita, Sinaia, Bucharest

and through the countryside.
Timisoara, often referred to as Little
Vienna, on the western edge of
and
Secessionist
architecture.
Bucharest, on the eastern end of
the country was nicknamed Little
Paris due to the sophisticated
architecture of Bucharests elite
populace. Mixed with the historic
documented in 1212 and Bucharest
and to today, each city is a mix
of architectural scale and styles.
from natural impacts to social and

soul, the essence of Romanian

architecture as there are obvious
differences depending on where
one might visit.
When thinking about describing an
architecture.....its time, its place,
suggestions of observation. Winston
Churchill once said We shape our
buildings; thereafter they shape us.
But what shapes us to shape our
buildings as we do ?
Architecture is a unique profession
that expresses our histories, our

cultures and ourselves. The purist

talks about our constructions as
architecture in eloquent, often
esoteric, terms. The lay person who
needs a shelter, a place to work, to
faith refers to our constructions as
buildings. Both are correct.
Again, architecture...its time, its
our architecture ?

effect of the geographical location;

land forms, soils conditions, water,
known natural disasters such as
or even seismic activity. Architecture
can be dictated by local materials,
local methods of construction, and
today, by local zoning and building
regulations, local manufacturing
and local economics.
caused by immigration, religion,
the arts, global economy, war,
political change, technologies
in materials and construction
methods, currency values and so
forth. Particularly now, the impact
of global architectural practices
sees many changes in the design
of buildings by architects of totally
different
nationalities
bringing
different ideas to a locale. It is
the globalization of architecture

today.
soul of architecture in Romania.

Nordul Olteniei. On page 96 is

the most exquisite building, Cula

To the western part of the country

is the baroque and secessionist

with character and personality.

Throughout this book are other
examples, such as Cula Duca,

impacted by globalization long

before the term became popular.

strength, each represents the

Romanian soul by their history,
their culture and the thoughtful
consideration of their designer.
Each was in its right context and
a product of the needs of the
owner. The function and use is
clearly understood in plan, facade
and detail. Each element works
together and as a whole. The
materials show local expertise, the
details are elegantly simple. The
building is clearly about the space
within to be lived in.

soul of architecture in Romania.

Ive looked at school buildings,
commercial
blocks,
hotels,
churches, industrial buildings and
houses. Im not sure of the roots
of the idea or what the unique
their time, their history, their culture.
Was the architect or designer
Romanian, a Romanian architect
who copied another style or an
architect from somewhere else.
Maybe I should start with a walk in
Muzeul Satului (the Village Museum)
grasp a deeper historical sense. But
these buildings, although expressive
of architecture unique to Romania,
have had their context altered by
their transportation to a different
locale. Their preservation is certainly
important but, their context is lost.

The architect or designer was true

to the site context, true to his history,
true to his culture and true to himself.
There is no imitation. I believe I have
found the architecture, Romanian
architecture.
What a treasure
to experience. What a treasure
to share with others for you have
shared your identity with the world.
Thank you !

In reality, I am constantly drawn to

the images in a book on Romanian
architecture that I received from
my colleague while I was visiting
in Romania. It is a book titled

175

Site under construction

Looking at the origins of Modernism.
Industrial architecture as a generator of modernity.

Juhani Katainen
The industrial development, started in
England, meant a total change also for
the architecture.

These visions also had Antonio SantElia in

mind with his Citta Nuova (1914), which
took long to be surpassed.

The material inventions of cast iron, steel,

The wars with their destructions changed

glass and concrete opened the gates for

the new kind of constructions.

Europe and the world bringing new needs

for rebuilding the world.

The ancient stone structures were passed

by with the new inventions.

We entered again to the world with new

materials,like plastics, which helped us to
go on with the vast task of construction for
the cities we were living.

This development needed also less time

for the new constructions.
Also the volumes grew, which soon
created problems with the quality of the
human surroundings.
Fine examples were offered by new
A change was seen also in the building of
factories, like Saulniers Menier Chocalate
Factory, which belongs to the early
This development meant also the crisis
of culture as it was stated by Gottfried
Peter Behrenss AEG Turbin Factory in
Berlin gives a clear type for rational and
functional industrial buildings, which
had many followers. The question about
human scale arose with the rise of massive
production, like Hans Poelzigs Chemical
Factory near Posen.(1911-12)
Walter Gropiuss vision about the model
factory (1914) took us to the heart land of
industry buildings.

176

The visionary projects by Mies van der

Rohe from twenties (1919-21) became
later realized in the scale not expected
like newest developments in China.
The car industry in USA meant huge factories
lead to the scale and form.
We

have

inherited

today

plenty

of

which has been described by the movie

directors like Andrei Tarkovsky with their
pessimistic views of human fates.
Industry meant also a separative vision in
townplanning like Chart Athens shows us.
Only after vast unhappy experiences we
attitude for creating our cities again.
Also our ways to produce have changed
the needed scale by using component
thinking and work sharing methods.
Are we today looking forward for the
better future for our children in our

Romanian modernist
architecture:
more than a fashion
Monica Morariu
Probably, it was the most inventive
and lucid historian who has
analysed the 20th century, Eric
Hobsbawm, who has realised that
this was a very short one: it started in
1914, with the beginning of the First
World War, and ended in 1991, with
the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Romania, as an European country
which has followed the same time
schedule of the whole region, did
not only followed the historic fate
of a hostile environment, but has
also enjoyed the few moments of
shortly, has enlightened an awful
and black era of dictatorship
coming from all the possible
political directions. In a country like
Romania, if, during the two decades
of democracy, architecture had
the opportunity to develop freely,
after the Second World War, the
Romanian architects have made
huge efforts to keep the pace,
together with what was happening
in other parts of the world others
than those conquered by the
Soviet army.
The short 20th century started with
a bit of confusion. The territory of
Romania has almost doubled, after
1918, with the regions of Bessarabia,
Transylvania and Bukovina ancient
territories inhabited, mainly by
Romanians, but, also, by different

ethnic
minorities
(Hungarians,
Shekels,
Saxons,
Swabians,
Ukrainians, Russians, Serbs, Jews
etc.) which had witnessed the
from the surrounding countries
(Russia, Austria and Hungary). That
is why, the neoclassic architecture
has survived for at least another
decade in most of the regions of
Romania, while the Art Deco /
Secession architecture gave its last
works in the beginning of the third
decade. However, two were the
styles which have marked the third
and the fourth decade: the NeoRomanian style and the Modernist
one. For both of them, Romania has
offered works of great creativity.
The Neo-Romanian style has
developed as a mark of a national
identity, in a time when Romania
and
the
Romanians
looked
the European concert of nations.
For this style, after the War, probably,
George Matei Cantacuzino was
the architect who not only left an
important theoretical work, but
he had also emphasized it in the
restoration of some of the most
important historical monuments
palace). On the other side, he
and other important architects
(like Marcel Iancu and, most of all,

177

cities of Romania have changed

the new trend of the modernist
architecture and tried to adapt
to them.The centres of the most
important Romanian cities were
marked, in only a few years, by
new skylines, by buildings which
had encapsulated the rationale
of simplicity. It was the rhythm of a
new world, full of hopes, for peace,
prosperity and for an European
common horizon.
to the essence of the form, in
the most radical promoter of
bringing the architectural form
to minimalism and to the basics
of its functions. Altogether with
Iancu and Cantacuzino, other
architects, as Duiliu Marcu, Paul
Emil Miclescu, Grigore Ionescu,
Octav Doicescu and Henriette
Delavrancea Gibory were the
most important and diligent authors
who created not only during the
fourth decade (mainly), but also
power, when they were, however,
forced to customize the principles
of the Soviet constructivism to
what they exercised before.
However, they created the most
important treasure of the modernist
architecture in Romania: personal

cut in the texture of the pre-War

housings, with architectureprecisely
synchronous
with
what
was
happening everywhere in the
Western Europe. There where
the years (approximately 1926
1941) when bringing Romanias
standards of living to those of
the most advanced countries
was a real target, of the modern,
bourgeois society. Of course, there
were only slices of the urban life
which were touched by this trend,
but it was like a cutting edge of the
entire Romanian community. It was
not only the will of a small group of
architects to change Romanias
image and traits; it was the dream
of a whole generation to modernise
the country: intellectuals, investors,
industrialists, artists, the aristocrats
and the middle class all of them
have contributed to the change
of the Romanian architecture,
because it was through this
architecture that the dynamic
Romanian inter-wars generation
have tried to express itself. It is very
true that the rural settlements were
not touch by the same wave.
However, even there, the effort to
modernise the life of the peasants
was visible and fruitful.
What has followed after the end

hotels and industrial buildings. In

only a decade, the most important

178

survival and a long echo of the

years of peace and prosperity. The

architects have tried to maintain
the standards of the modernity
gained before the Communists
seized the power. Buildings like
those designed by Octav Doicescu,
Horia Maicu, ALexandru Iotzu, Virgil
Mircea Enescu, Tiberiu Ricci, Tiberiu
Niga and many, many others, up to
the young generation, represented
by Alexandru Beldiman, Dorin
are, more or less, indebted to the
Modernist thinking.
Towards the end of the Communist
regime, the ruling party started to
impose its own style and tastes,
even in the architectural works.
A kind of survival of a late NeoClassicism was the last breath of
the regime, in terms of dictating
into architecture. It was the end of
a very short and troubled century,
in the Romanian architecture also,
where Modernism had its time of
glory, being the expression of an
ideological vanity, while facing a
whole range of adversities from
the rise and ascent of the extremist
political parties and ideological
movements, up to the poorness of
the rural side of Romania. In spite of
all these, the Romanian Modernist
architecture was the expression of
what was the best in the Romanian
society, during the whole 20th c.

Beyond industry

Vlad Gaivoronschi
Nothing better illustrates modernity
and the dynamics of the last century
than
industrial
environments
with their atmospheres. Industrial

new uses. Also, industrial extreme

material expressions are very
important- they present us with
a sort of desired magic. We have

sites represent the new citadels,

replacing the old defense walls in
a new violent and offensive world.
They also represent the common

always to learn something from

them.

progress. It has to do also with

exploring nature and resources
for a simple purpose: economical
is materialised by our huge industrial
environments.
The out of scale image of industry
can easily be added to other
paradigms of the modern world,
such as Marxist ideology , Gods
death, the cult of the masses, the
Freudian approach and the theory
of relativity.
For
architects,
industrial
architectural
languages
are
lessons about building rationally,
functionally . We work for and with
industry. Architecture as a tectonic
art is more present in industrial
examples - the use of concrete,
glass and steel structures are
very innovative, producing new
typologies for large spans, openings
and ultimately spaces. Even though
many of these spaces are now
empty, waiting for demolition or

The very differentiated types of

industrial architectural expression
have been replaced gradually
and the same aluminum boxes.
Globalisation is present in industrial
architecture too.
I think that modernity means
continuity as well, not just rupture.
There are a lot of traditional patterns
which last to this day. And if we talk
about fundamentals, I have to
say that these are timeless, not just
a hundred years old.
Fundamentals have to do with the
formal, material and spatial patterns
which are memorable, which allow
us to identify with, which bring us
emotion and have a meaning.
Siza, from Alto to Piano, we can
a lot of spiritual roots to be found in
many modern masters. What is truly
fundamental is the metaphoric
and poetical value of architecture
- it is to be found in modern art and

179

architecture. And it has a lot to do

with timeless patterns.
(Among the last Pritzker prize
winners, architects such as Peter
Zumthor, Wang Shu or Shigeru Ban
represent such examples).
Fundamentals have to do
with architectural language ,
with elements which distinguish
architecture from all other arts and
generate buildings as musical
instruments, to cite Glenn Murkutts
words.
If so, which are the musical keys
of architecture?
There are many possible answers
and points of view which can be
used to answer this question. Yet, in
order to avoid a more philological
approach, one will focus on only
two of the many. Firstly, there is the
relationship between the bones
and the skin of a building , its
structure - ornament relationship
which is often associated with
the subject of materiality, mass,
tectonic
and
technology.
Secondly, there is the approach
of understanding
architectural
language through both the object
and its environment, through place
and its inhabitation.
I would personally avoid dissecting
Fundamentals all the way to the
most fragmented level of singular
words, even though there are

180

words, musical keys which can

posses metaphorical meaning on
their own - this is because it always
depends on the context and the
frame of reference. I prefer the
assemblies where the materiality,
the intrinsic substance of building
and human activity with its habits
and rituals coexist.
As far as I am concerned, I
would associate words with
their vocation, their capacity to
mean something. The words of
Architecture can form sentences
and more than that, they can put
whole poems together. In contrast,
in the absence of a metaphorical
goal, these architectural words
cannot become anything more
than meaningless artifacts.
On the other hand, by looking
at things at different scales and
speeds, language can also be
translated through assemblies which
we experience with all our senses,
generating basic atmospheres to
identify with.
Looking back is important
in
order to generate new types of
understanding and reinterpretating
modernity- this can happen by
going around its doctrines: from Le
the laws of organic architecture
put forward by Wright and
Steiner, from Looss raumplan
principles (a good example of

modernity absorbing tradition) to

Giedions time-space and from L.
to metabolism, bigness, icons &
parametric dreams , and the list
may continue. However, I believe
that the different tints and shades
of modernity can be interesting
and can make a pretty good
collection among the Bienalle
more than expected, traditional
and spiritual patterns are mixed
with new ones. Possibly, modernity
- which appeared some time ago
as a rupture - might be understood
more like a threshold to a very
different period: the new global
and digital/virtual world.

In this sense, there is a model :

Constantin Brancusi. He was a
sculptor, not an architect, but his
talent to be extremely old and
new at the same time gives us an
extraordinary example . Modern
and dynamic expressions
of
ancient symbols can be found in his
entire work.

Indigenous Aliens

Ana Maria Zahariade

This presentation aims at annotating
of the Biennale by proposing an
insight into a particular facet of

the absorption of architectural

modernity a syncopated and
idiosyncratic character and a

Absorbing modernity. This aspect is

in what we called receiver-areas
(as Romania, for instance), where a
modernising message engendered
in source-areas was cast over
different cultural environments, not
necessarily prepared to receive it
and sometimes even unwelcoming.
Within
such
receiver-contexts,
generally bereft of economic
and social support, architectural
modernity was mainly triggered by
individuals (or small groups) who
got drawn into the magnetism of
the message; the further away the
contexts were from the emitting
source, the more important the
part these personalities played in
shaping the local absorption. These

within the national borders, is often

lost in the folds of tormented local
histories (this is especially common
in the ex-communist countries, but
not solely).
architectural modernity that the 2nd
volume of the sITA journal (Studies of
History and Theory of Architecture,
www.uauim.ro) intends to bring to
the fore. Questioning the Romanian
case, this paper will look at their role
as a particular phenomenon, which
might be an interesting pattern of
absorbing modernity.

according to two clocks; they

had a sense of double belonging:
intellectually connected to an
external spirit, while deliberately
performing in and for the local
context. One might say that they
were indigenous aliens.
However, their evolution on the
local scenes is accidental to a
large extent, which conferred

181

Integrating Modernity
The 2014 Venice Biennale
Considerations pertaining to the last 100 years
of Romanian architecture

Bogdan Tofan
The 2014 Venice Architecture
Biennale supplies a chance to
reminisce about what architecture
stands for. I believe it will give us

discover how modernity manifested

itself in each of the aforementioned
areas. For example, the modernist
element associated to music

by hand to a large extent, just

like architecture is built through
drawing. As architects, we train
for 6 years in order to be able to

the opportunity to put together a

thorough documentation as well as
a quick review of what architecture
as a global phenomenon stands
for. To this effect, the Biennale will
accommodate the installation
of national pavilions dedicated
to a single theme: Absorbing
Modernity. The Central Pavilion
will host an introduction exhibit
of Fundamental Elements that
architects all over the world employ
throughout their careers, while the
Long Hall in the Venetian Arsenal will
allow visitors to walk through exhibits
pertaining to Italian architecture.
As far as the Romanian exhibit is
concerned, we intend to open up
the discussion about the countrys
last century of architectural history,
hailing either from within the
borders of Romania or produced
by Romanian architectures around
the world.

always accompanies my memories

of school projects or certain
magazines I used to read.

correctly express our thoughts and

ideas through geometry, and thus
we shape our thoughts and feelings
about space by drawing them on a
piece of paper. Much alike words
in a book, drawings voice our

Whenever I think about modernity,

I associate the concept to the
prevailing architectural trends at
each moment of my life. These
trends pertain to a series of
elements: city buildings, streets,
movies, music, drawing or painting.
Throughout my career, Ive tried to

182

Each stage of someones life or

every era brings an element of
innovation. A lot of these new trends
did not suit my tastes, but I found
that by trying to understand these
new phenomena and integrating
them into my knowledge universe
they grew fonder on me. To give
you another musical reference, a
lot of children happen to listen to
tender age, but as they develop
a more acute cultural awareness
they may grow to place it into a
cultural context that offers more
meaning to their perception of the
I am of the opinion that hand
drawing represents one of the
most salient methods through
which an architect can transpose
her/his personality on paper. The
absence of this particular drawing
experience may, in my opinion,
take away from the richness of
the potential that an architect
can achieve. If you think about it,
actual buildings are also executed

step in the construction process.

Afterwards, builders follow these
drawings in order to give a material
form to an architects vision, layer
by layer. It doesnt sound too
complicated. Its simple if one
understands the effects of proper
lighting and the effects that light
has on the interior and exterior of
the space one intends to create.

Absorbind modernitatea
Bienala de arhitectur de la Veneia 2014
Gnduri despre ultima sut de ani de arhitectur
romneasc

fenomenului arhitectural mondial

din acest moment.
ca un accelerat.
toate
pavilioanele
pe tema

nationale
.

Din

totdeauna

personalitatea
cu

de

expresie

desenul

de

arhitectului

pe

poate

duce

la

vizitatorii vor
arhitectura Italiei.
In cazul Romaniei vom avea de

toate evenimentele pe care le

Pentru

mine

modernitatea

a
aproape de natura moleculara a
pas al procesului de construire.
evenimentele din jurul ei. Domnul
Profesor Nicola Grigore o asemuia

acel lucru. Muzica pe care vedeam

imaginile din reviste sau muzica

ea e vie.
a zis Rem

183

construirii. Natura

de

cel

care

Dan Marin, arh. Gigi Rosu, arh. Zoly

Mathe, arh. Jean Radu Cristian, arh.
Iulia Miu Stanciu, arh. Adrian Zerva,
arh. Marian Moiceanu, arh. Zeno

cu care

scrie.

Scriitorul,
le multumesc cu drag.

literei, aprecierea celor care citesc

de profesorii

Arhitectura este de asemeni ca

arh. Culescu, arh.

Cocheci, arh. Zoltan Takacs, arh.

Viorel Simion, arh. Romeo Belea,
arh. Mac Popescu, arh. Anton

Pentru

exprima

sentimentele

Dinu Patriciu, arh.Constantin Dobre,

arh. Victor Fulicea, arh. Mircea

mai jos1.

nostalgic, avangardist sau clasicist.

arh. Gheorghe Dorin, arh. Aurel
Cosmatu, arh. Apolodor Streza, arh.
vorba de Rapsodia nr. 12

aceasta
Popescu, ing. Virgil Sava, ing. Dan
34

Tema de anul acesta ne cere

pentru
ing. Andrei Balas, dr. ing. Mihai
Husch, ing. Raducu Hera, dr. ing.
compuse de George Enescu.

arh. Raluca Manolache, arh. Nae

eram mic despre marele Frank Lloyd
si arh. Anca Mitrache, arh. Liviu
Gligor, arh. Florian Stanciu, arh.

184

reen

stabilirea

unei

tematici

unui roman de aventuri.

pachetul lui separat de concurs.

personal din primul razboi mondial
concurs.

capitalism sau un fel hibrid de

concerte de pian, de seri de jazz de

de-a lungul celor aproape 6 luni de

frumoase.
culoarea pietrelor sau albiilor peste
care trece.

Uniunea
mi le trezea stema de pe tricolorul

refacem mai la vale, mai trainic

arhitectului Apolodor din Damasc
un

studiu

asupra

calculator la sunetul acelor vremuri

printre care un link cu imnul de
la deschiderea emisiunii de doar
patru ore de la 18 la 22 la televizorul

arhitecturii
curgere a timpului cu un anumit

ca personaj prin pozele de pe

185

186

187