Promises

Leitourgia city of ceremony

IULIA-CARINA PĂNCULESCU, PATRICIA PIȚURLEA, MIHAI-CĂTĂLIN CARAGEA

IULIA-CARINA PĂNCULESCU PATRICIA PIȚURLEAMIHAI-CĂTĂLIN CARAGEA

"These are the forms the city could have taken if it had not become, for one reason or another, what we see today. In every epoch, someone, looking at Fedora as it was then, imagined how he would have transformed it into the ideal city, but, while he was building his miniature model, Fedora was no longer the Fedora it was before, and what had been until yesterday a possible future for it was now just a toy in a glass sphere."

Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities"

The city of Leitourgia points to a public duty of the citizens towards their city, preserving the idea of sacredness, which is reflected in the most important events in a man's life: birth, baptism, marriage or death. This visionary city therefore carefully preserves the spaces dedicated to these specific events, arranged in a particular order so that every 'Leitourgian' can walk through them at least once a day.

The city is closely linked to the chosen objects (the set of pistols, the pendulum clock, Trajan's column, the traditional Serbian costume, the water mill, the Turkish kettle, the carpet, the drums), which influence the lives of the inhabitants and together form a ceremonial scene where each object becomes a public space.

The route of the procession lies above the city. When the city floods, the life that usually characterizes a community disappears along with everything material; people are left with the routine of the ceremony, the only thing that defines them as true inhabitants of Leitourg.

Read the full text in Arhitectura 3/2013
"THESE ARE THE FORMS THE CITY COULD HAVE TAKEN IF, FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, IT HAD NOT BECOME WHAT WE SEE TODAY. IN EVERY AGE SOMEONE, LOOKING AT FEDORA AS IT WAS, IMAGINED A WAY OF MAKING IT THE IDEAL CITY, BUT WHILE HE CONSTRUCTED HIS MINIATURE MODEL, FEDORA WAS ALREADY NO LONGER THE SAME AS BEFORE, AND WHAT HAD BEEN UNTIL YESTERDAY A POSSIBLE FUTURE BECAME ONLY A TOY IN A GLASS GLOBE."

ITALO CALVINO, "THE INVISIBLE CITIES"

The city of Leitourgia indicates a social duty the citizens cary for their city, with an idea of sanctity, reflecting the most important events in one's life: birth, baptism, marriage, or death. Moreover, this city carefully guards spaces destined for specific events, in a certain order, so every "Leitourgian" can cross them at least once a day.

The city is definded by the chosen objects (the set of pistols, the pendullum clock, Trajan's column, the traditional Serbian costume, the water mill, the Turkish kettle, the carpet, the drums), as they influence the inhabitants and toghether forming a stage for the ceremony, where every object becomes a public space.

The procession route floats above the city. When it floods, the life that usually characterizes a community vanishes with everithing that is material; people still have the routine of the ceremony, the only one that defines them as genuine inhabitants of Leitourgia.

Read the full text in the print magazine.