Thematic folder

Designing through play

Thematic folder

Arh.Octavian NECULAI recommends
arh. Teodora UNGUREANU

Designing through play

"The world has not walked, has not moved, has not been lifted from its numbness without ideals. The ideal of being, the ideal of thinking freely, the ideal of doing, of building, the ideal of creating."

><img src= Octavian NECULAI: Does the ideal enrich you, does it smooth your creative path in the projects you have done as a student or, more recently, as an architect?
Teodora UNGUREANU: Ideals seem to be a very serious matter, I don't think I have ever taken a moment to define my ideal. I realize that, for me, the ideal is more about creativity than about a perfect point in the future towards which I should strive. My ideal does not have a concrete form, it is constantly changing as people, projects and opportunities arise. My ideal is about how I can create an object that has even the smallest positive impact on those who encounter, observe or use it. Therefore, creativity and optimism have been and will be important elements in my work.

Octavian NECULAI: Can you define beauty in the architecture that you think about or, rather, how you see beauty in architecture. Do you see it linked to the decorative or to the composition of the whole object?
T.U.: During my studies, all our tutors showed us what was beautiful and what was not in the architectural world, in Bucharest, in our projects. Moving into the real world, I discovered that sometimes the beauty seen by architects is sometimes mocked by clients, users or other colleagues.
That is why I am now beginning to understand that this beauty as seen by the rest of the world is very much about fully understanding what we create, for whom and where. The aesthetic side of the object is the direct responsibility of the architect, while the whole composition, the functions, the economic and social aspects that they imply, attract other actors from different fields into the creative process. That's why a beautiful object, for me, must be able to have a good composition, and not only with itself, but also with the context, over time, not only in the present.
Octavian NECULAI: Do you have role models to follow, now that you are on your own path as an architect?
T.U.: I have never questioned myself about a role model. I always try to steal what I find valuable from the people I collaborate with. If I were to have a role model it would be the architects of the Radical Movement in the 60s and 70s: Superstudio, Archizoom, Archigram and OMA - in the early days. Although the first ones didn't build anything, they influenced the practice of those times and some nostalgic people today.

Octavian NECULAI: What promises the landscape of our field in Romania?
T.U.: I believe that a critical (and constructive!) architecture is needed in the current Romanian context. Based very much on a market-driven development, it seems that in this context it has been forgotten that people inhabit the city and not the numbers. The problem is how we manage to grow with those we are building for, without sabotaging each other. I know that in the end it is about survival, about being able to provide an income for a comfortable life, but should concern for good design, good architecture or good urbanism be left to idealistic fools?

Teodora UNGUREANU (b. 1992)

2016 - Erasmus Scholar Studio Romoli Architetti, Rome, Italy
2017 - Graduate of the University of Architecture and Urbanism "Ion Mincu" with diploma: Casa Pionierului 2.0 Research School at the Baia Sprie Preparation Plant
2018 - PhD Student at the Doctoral School of Urbanism, UAUIM

AWARDS
2016 - Honorable mention BUTELIER conversion of an abandoned tanks deposit in Govora, Romania, into a house, restaurant Teodora Ungureanu and Raul Timis
2018 - BNA - prize ex-aequo Diplomas Section - Casa Pionierului 2.0
2018 - BETA - Pioneer House 2.0

Octavian NECULAI: Is there in your projects so far some of the fulfillment we all need?
T.U.: Fulfillment is about fulfillment or filling a void. I think my projects so far have been very much about constant searching and learning. Maybe what would be fulfillment for me on the creative side is working at Studio Super. Seriously alongside the super-collaborators with whom I'm basically exploring how we can play through design and design through play.