Studio footprint
photo:Robert ZotescuCostin Gheorghe (PO'ARTA)
At the end of my 6 years of studies, I too, like any new graduate, went through that moment when, after the euphoria of graduating, I asked myself the question: "Well..... what do I do now?". I wanted to make a good living doing something that I enjoyed and that allowed me to have fun, play smart and play by my own rules. There is an idealistic side to the choice of profession, but opening a business is not an ideal, but a manifestation of more earthly desires. What an individual office offers is a form of freedom (even if it's an illusion), the ability to express your ideas as you wish, a way to make the mark you want to make.
I opened Amprenta Studio about 5 years ago, almost immediately after getting my signature right.
Most of the projects I've had have been interior and object design, which is only natural, considering that a certain professional level is reached gradually, going through all the design steps.
Each year, I had projects with an increasing level of difficulty and, as in any beginning, I encountered many obstacles, raised by inexperience. In a short time and with a lot of hard work I came to realize that obstacles are not really obstacles, but become a challenge that I can play with, invent solutions and show my own creativity. The moment I realized this, the office truly became Amprenta Studio.
I now see each project as a new toy, with new rules and giving me the opportunity to manifest my desire to make beautiful things that inspire and bring joy to those who use or see them. But before I make my mark, I need to know my client. The first meetings are decoding sessions for me, the client is a cipher, with a new mental structure, a logic and a completely different perspective from mine.
In order to be able to realize a project that both myself and my client can be proud of, I need to understand the man in front of me, to understand his language, his needs, his expectations and his dreams. It is only once I have managed to outline these criteria that I can communicate successfully, convey my ideas and be understood.
At the moment, the office is dealing with different projects, adapted to the current economic context, mostly interior design projects, but also residential projects, houses or housing estates in the design phase, as well as office buildings and sports facilities.
I have been asked by many clients if I specialize in a particular side of design or if I like a particular type of project. My answer is always the same: "I like architecture", it can be found in a toothbrush design as well as in an airport.
PO'ARTA
Beneficiary:Rotenberg & Uzunov Art Gallery
Location: Constantin Esarcu str.
Year of completion: 2012
photo: Costin Gheorghe
The client wanted a project that met a set of criteria: a gate to ensure the safety of the gallery, a pergola and an advertisement. The realized project is an automatically operated mechanism which, in different poses, meets all the required criteria. The gate is made up of 3 articulated elements which, in closed position, secure the gallery by a total closure of the facade with a steel curtain, and in open position, the middle element acts as a billboard, while the folded position of the whole mechanism generates a pergola providing protected access.
RESTAURANT TERRACE
Beneficiary: Burebista Restaurant
Location: Str. Batiștei, nr. 14
Year of completion:2011
The biggest challenge of the site was the strength of the neighborhoods. Surrounded by the ArCuB building to the east, the National Operetta Theater to the south, the Intercontinental Hotel to the west and the heavily trafficked Batiștei Street to the north, the project had to provide a space with a contemporary design, but simultaneously providing a mediation between the three important buildings as well as a communication with the street.
Another objective I wanted to achieve was to preserve and complement the existing vegetation, making it an integral part of the design.
To achieve a dynamic floor, we used the Voronoi diagram triangulation system, using important points of the site (accesses, functions, vegetation, pre-existing elements) as generating points.
RESTAURANT INTERIOR DESIGN
Beneficiary: Burebista Restaurant
Location: Str. Batiștei, nr. 14
Year of completion: 2012
Located inside the ArCuB building, I wanted to create a unity of style between interior and exterior, through shape, artificial lighting and color palette. Based on the existing art-deco elements as well as those uncovered after stripping the decoration applied in previous interior design, I brought back the atmosphere of an art-deco restaurant with contemporary material insertions. The most obvious design element is the epoxy resin floor, painted by eight architecture students, which depicts a 60 square meter (60 square meter) floor plan of Bucharest's cadastral map of 1911.
FIORANGELOSHOP FITTING OUT
Beneficiary: Fiorangelo
Location: Cocor Shopping Center
Year of completion: 2013
The store has a simple color palette, using only black and white to highlight the products on display, with accents made from the geometry of the furniture objects and highlighting the structural elements of the building. The performance achieved in this project was the speed of realization, with only three weeks elapsing from the establishment of the design brief to the completion of the work, the initial space requiring red demolition.
