The Profile of the Future Architects

Thematic Dossier

Arh. Șerban ȚIGĂNAȘ recommends
ateliercetrei - Anamaria and Paul-Mihai MOLDOVAN

The Profile of the Future Architects

Model of the new stadium in Cluj; Dico and Țigănaș; 2010, Dico and Țigănaș archive

Constructive culture workshop; ENSA Grenoble; 2006, personal archive Paul-Mihai MOLDOVAN

I have readily said yes to the invitation to feature a young architect/biologist in this issue of Arhitectura. I didn't even need time to think about it or make a selection, although I know many deserving young architects. It was only then that I started thinking about how to convey the arguments of my choice and also how to illustrate them.

The people I am talking about are Anamaria and Paul-Mihai Moldovan. They are married and work in ateliercetrei, an office that has already been featured in Architecture 1906, in Growing Architects, issue 1/2016 (661). It's been a while since then, but the youngsters haven't stood still, continuing to realize projects and participate in BNAB with each issue.
In 2012 they were awarded and also in 2012 and 2018 they were nominated in different sections, first for public space and then for interiors. It's very interesting the openness they have, from urban to object, from archaeological restoration to new constructions and from what they realize for public or private clients to what they think and do for themselves and the world around them.
I would come back to a different kind of introduction, starting with what would actually be the conclusion of my presentation. What would you recommend to watch the development of this team of young architects? When I say I recommend, I mean what has happened in the almost 12 years since they graduated, but especially what will happen next, because I am convinced that such a career path will lead to the high points. So, please observe the journey, the patience, the coolness, the consistency and the passion. Notice the stages, the impasses and the moments when your personal life can change course and it matters most, but also how being an architect means living through architecture.

At the beginning of the new millennium I was meeting three young men from Turda, Câmpia Turzii and Brasov: Paul, Florin and Mihai. Interested and talented, I noticed their projects from the faculty studio that I coordinated. They lived and worked at the hostel, where they built a team under a name that the architecture office I am talking about has kept together with the value of the memories of their training. They made a community, a way of thinking and working together, even if each one had his own project, in fact, a very good state of mind for the condition of an architecture student. The studio in the dorm became the laboratory that the younger years longed for, but it wasn't easy to get a place, because the small group of enthusiasts had to accept you as one of them, bringing talent and energy, so necessary for the students' projects.
In 2005 I decided, together with the three of them, to work on an architectural competition launched in Oradea, for the restoration of a portion of the fortress, the Ciunt Bastion area. I am sure that they will also remember with pleasure, because we won that competition together and I am still convinced that our ideas from that time are applicable in the fortress. It has since been restored and is gaining an increasingly important place in the life of the city. I think it was an important moment for the young students, from which they understood what it means to participate in competitions, to face the real world and to defend your project in public.
Erasmus scholarships followed and we got to the diploma project. I'll mention here Paul's, one of the ones I mentored, because he was interested in thinking about a new faculty of architecture, in connection with the existing one in Cluj. This concern, which resulted then in a project that I would still see as viable and beneficial, continued with his doctoral research, carried out in parallel in Grenoble and Cluj, dedicated to contemporary architectural education, a current topic, still far from being exhausted and very important. Even before this doctorate, for which Paul consulted me all the time, knowing that I was also very interested in what the architecture studio at the university meant and especially how we could progress, two of the three became interns in the team of the "Dico and Țigănaș" office. It was the step into the real world that they also took together with me, followed by many more satisfactions. Mihai and Paul worked on courageous projects, some of which, even if not realized, were exhibited at the regularly organized architectural salons, where they received appreciation. I am referring in particular to the project for the MET Pavilion, a restoration laboratory building for the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, but also to other projects tackled in the office. This was followed by a first success on its own feet - through a project that was realized - of a small market in Câmpia Turzii, also awarded at the UAR Biennale.

There were also moments of separation, when Mihai got married and moved to Brasov, where he is still doing outstanding architecture and getting involved in the life of the profession, in architectural competitions. Paul also went to France and on a tour of the most important architecture schools for his research. I met Paul again in college, where he started working with me in my studio and where we continue our collaboration to this day. His inclination towards design and interior architecture propelled him into the course he teaches. We invite each other to lectures, he to "Interior Architecture", where I present real-world projects and what it means to collaborate with clients, and I to "An Introduction to Architectural Theory", where he presents the evolution of architect education from ancient times to the present day.
With Florin we tried to organize an architectural competition through the OAR for the park in Câmpia Turzii, for which he was very passionately involved and we were very close to succeeding. But the park is still there and I think it's still waiting for us. In the meantime, Florin has also embarked on a personal journey, and Paul and Anamaria have continued to be architects. There are now six architects between them. They have so far worked in rented space in two remarkable buildings designed by George Cristinel in Cluj in the inter-war years and now, in a sort of a timeless pursuit of the great master, they are trying to find a solution for visiting the domes and main spire of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Cluj, designed by him a century ago.
In the last few years, I have seen the work of Ateliercetrei at Romanian Design Week, where we exhibited Architecture and they exhibited Object and Interior Design. I have always appreciated this constant presence in what is happening in the Romanian architectural landscape. You have to be there, as part of the current generation that is leaving its mark, that is continuing and is going to go on.

I am not going to describe the projects of the people at the Ateliercetrei (C III), but I will tell you, in conclusion, something of the experience I am having right now, being involved in a more special project. I am working on a book, together with friends in the SHARE society, which is called Designing the Profile of the Future Architect and will be about, as the title says, acting in the present to profile the architect of the future. The shades of this profile come from about 100 outstanding architects of the present, from Central-Eastern European countries and from the wider world. I have gathered and organized the opinions received, a series of traits of what tomorrow's architects should be: humanism, creativity, openness to broad knowledge, passion, patience, generosity, experiment, working in a collective, and many others. Now, writing this article for Architecture, I realize that I have chosen well and I want to reinforce the recommendation I made to you earlier.

"ateliercetrei, spelled as a single lowercase word, is a partnership practicing architecture, interior architecture, design, urban planning and cultural analysis bringing together academia and professional practice. The single-word spelling of the name symbolizes unity, while the lowercase refers to the Bauhausian notion of a non-hierarchical language, reinforcing the ethos of a democratic partnership. The office is run by two partners responsible for the different ongoing projects".
Anamaria Moldovan and Paul-Mihai Moldovan

AWARDS

2018: NOMINATION in the Interior Design category of the National Biennale of Architecture with the project: ALA Notarial Office
2018: JURY AWARD in the category Best design of a public space at the Romanian Design Awards - Elle Decoration with the project: Spaces for alternative arts education at the "Tudor Jarda" Popular School of Arts
2018: Second place at the National Competition for the selection of the project that will represent Romania at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition: at the Biennale di Venezia with the project: Space Capsule
2017: GREAT PRIZE Romanian Building Awards (RBA) project: Spaces for alternative arts education at the "Tudor Jarda" People's Art School
2017: AWARD of the Romanian Lighting Association (ARI) within the Romanian Building Awards (RBA) project: Spaces for alternative arts education at the "Tudor Jarda" Popular School of Arts
2017: NOMINATION in the Interior Architecture and Scenography category of the Transylvania Architecture Biennial project: Studio for clothing design and contemporary dance choreography studio
2016: JUR JURY AWARD at the solutions competition organized by UAT Mun. Turda for the Restoration, valorization and introduction in the tourist circuit of the Legion V Macedonian Legion Castle, Potaissa, Turda project: LVM Castle
2015: Jury Prize in the Interior Architecture and Scenography category of the Transylvanian Architecture Biennial - project: Choreography Studio: popular game
2013: NOMINATION in the Interior Architecture and Scenography category of the Transylvanian Architecture Biennial - project: Site Hall
2012: NOMINATION in the Public Space category of the National Biennale of Architecture - project: Triangle, an urban experiment
2012: PRIZE in the category Public Space awarded by the magazine "Atelierul de Proiectare" at the National Biennale of Architecture - project: Triangle, an urban experiment
2011: JUR JURY AWARD in the category Public Spaces. Landscape design within the OAR-T Awards - project: Triangle, an urban experiment

SUMMARY ARCHITECTURE MAGAZINE, NR.2-3/2019
BNA 2018 600 For the Future