Competitions

The second edition of the architectural competition Archetypes has started!

The architectural competition is intended for urban public spaces in Romania and is launched under the theme of sustainability, with the aim of building a temporary pavilion.

ARHETITIPURI 2011 is an international, open, two-stage, international competition that aims to promote architectural quality and improve urban public space in Romania by building a temporary pavilion in one of the cities that have entered the competition.

The unique concept of the competition is defined by the partnership between public administrations, architects and the private economic environment, aimed at increasing the value of public space, looking for completely new solutions to activate public spaces that have been ignored, abandoned or for which regenerative solutions have not yet been found. At least one of the winning projects will be built and exhibited for a period of 12 months in the location where it has been proposed, within a construction budget of €100,000.

The Archetypes competition allows for individual or team participation/participation and is exclusively online, on the www.arhetipuri.ro platform, with total prizes exceeding €30,000. Over a period of 3 months, architects and professionals or students from related fields will be able to realize proposals for the improvement of urban public space for 29 proposed sites in the 13 cities registered.

The competition jury is composed of: Jacques Allard - Belgium Kai Uwe Bergmann - Denmark Robert Kronenburg - United Kingdom Carlos Jimené - United States Françoise Pamfil, Șerban Țigănaș and Eliza Yokina - Romania.

"We support the need for coherent urban development in Romania, because the city is a place to live in, not just to live in. It's important to protect the beautiful buildings we have and equally important to build with the future and future generations in mind. 'Archetypes' is the biggest competition for ideas on how to use architecture to make our city and our lives better, and we are happy to be part of it. Our passion for sustainable community development unites us," said Corina Vasile, Head of Communications and Public Relations at Raiffeisen Bank.

"Quality of life is closely linked to the quality of the spaces where we live. Public space, be it a playground, a public square, a cultural institution, is the place where inter-human relations in the micro-communities of the city in question are welded. People's energies merge with the energies of urban spaces to increase the harmony of each of our lives. When we understand that public space is as important as our own living space and that we should contribute and be actively and responsibly involved in beautifying and preserving them, our lives will be more consistent and beautiful. The 'Archetypes' project is an ambitious and challenging one, because it makes a real contribution to the life of the Romanian community", says Carmen Drăgan, Project Manager Archetypes 2011.

The first edition of the ARHETITIPURI competition took place in 2010, lasted 4 months over two stages and involved 9 major cities in Romania. Over 900 architects participated in the competition with 191 projects. The winning pavilion was decided by a jury of national and international composition. The winning project has been proposed in P-ța Victoriei in Bucharest and is currently in the final authorization phase, with construction due to start soon.