Thematic folder

Architecture and cinema

Thematic dossier

Conf. Dr. Arh. Dorina TĂRBUJARARU Recommends
Arh. Cristia CHIRA

Architecture and Cinematography

Cristia Chira comes from a family of architects and, thus, had contact with the University of Architecture since she was 2 years old. And she seems to like it! That's why a few years later she graduated from UAUIM and the doctoral school, and today she is a lecturer at the Faculty of Interior Architecture, in the Interior Design and Design Department.
I met Cristia in the Faculty of Interior Architecture, where she was my assistant for many years. We worked very well together, both in the studio and in the various activities I organized for students and teachers.
During this time we were together in important moments of his academic career: graduating from the doctoral school and getting his PhD in architecture, moving from preparator in UAUIM to assistant and from assistant to university lecturer.
Together we organized UAUIM stands at Romexpo, conferences on different topics, workshops with students and exhibitions.
I appreciated her dedication to her profession, both as a university lecturer and interior designer. She graduated from the Nicolae Tonitza High School of Fine Arts in Bucharest.
In her second year, after entering the UAUIM, she received a 6-month scholarship in France, acquired through the Erasmus program. The time spent in Paris, at the University of Paris Val de Marne and ESAM Design, Ecole Superieure des Arts Modernes, between 1999-2000, as well as working at the interior design firm in Paris of the architects Cristina Mănciulescu and Alexandru Negoescu, were the cornerstone of the relationship between the architect Cristia Chira and interior design.

Cristia CHIRA (b. 1979)

since 2000 - associate architect, SC SOMIDESIGN SRL
2000 - interior architecture studies, University of Paris Val de Marne and ESAM Design, Ecole Superieure des Arts Modernes Paris
2004 - diploma of architect, University of Architecture and Urbanism "Ion Mincu"
2013 - PhD in architecture, with the thesis "Architecture and scenography. Scenographic effects in interior architecture"

caption><img src= After this period, he acquired the stamp of architect. Although he has participated in architectural projects of considerable size, in the firm SomiDesign of which he is a part. He has worked in the field, on his own account and in the family firm, on projects of various sizes and fields, projects in which he has been involved in interior design such as: "Interior design of P+2 car engineering laboratories", "Interior design of social groups and offices for halls in the automotive industry", Titu city, Dambovița county, but also restoration of historic houses in Bucharest: "Casa Arion - str. Nicolae Iorga, nr. 21" (the current Ioanid School) and "Casa Petrovici" (by architect Grigore Cerchez), 64 Polonă Street.
The clear direction in which he always liked to go was interior architecture.
I could mention in this field: "Apartment W, in the Wilson block", with which he also participated in the 2018 National Biennale of Architecture, "Laycom Stand and RPD 2017", "Apartment NT", "Fitting out Ravago Cotroceni Offices" and "Ravago Odăi Offices, Ilfov".
He also worked as a film set designer for various big studios in Romania, such as Castel Film and Mediapro.
For this reason his doctoral thesis was also directed in the same direction and on the same subject, with the title "Architecture and cinematography. Scenographic effects in interior architecture". A doctoral thesis that talks about the tricks that set designers and film directors use to achieve the atmosphere they need for the scene of which the set is part, and about the possibility of using these tricks in interior design to achieve a space that tells a story, that gives off a certain mood.
We talked a lot during our time together, both about the projects she was working on on her own and the projects we were both working on at university. I appreciated her approach, I gladly advised her when she needed a qualified opinion, which she never shied away from asking for.
I also appreciate that, due to the different experiences she has had, she tackles projects from different fields such as: interior architecture, set design, advertising and general architecture.
Currently she has joined the RP4 team and is working with four other architects on architectural, interior design, advertising and set design projects.
Together with advertising firms, she has been in charge of event scenography projects, among which we can mention "Jack Daniels Party 2014", "National Sales and Marketing Conference, Coca-Cola, Brasov, 2017".
The architect's soul project remains Wine bar Enotek, in Bucharest, a project finalized in 2017.