Transylvania Architecture Biennale gets underway: 11 events in 16 days in Alba Iulia

PRESS RELEASE

The Transylvania Architecture Biennale is underway:

11 events in 16 days in Alba Iulia,

with themes for the specialized public and for the whole family.

The Alba Carolina Fortress opening, Ambulance for Monuments, Via Transilvanica and guided tours of the Citadel. These are just some of the BATRA 2019 Alba Iulia events.

The first local event of the Transylvania Architecture Biennale Transylvania 2019 in Alba Iulia takes place today with two special events. The Principia Museum is, from 17.00, host to the presentation of the Map of Building Craftsmen project and the discussion on rural architecture guides. The Romanian Order of Architects, through its RURAL Working Group, has launched the Map of Building Craftsmen, which is intended to complement the Architectural Guides for the local specificity of rural areas. If the latter answer the question "How do we build?", the map will answer the question "Who do we build with?". The primary educational aim of the project is to familiarize architects, the beneficiaries of architectural projects and the general public with the technique of producing traditional materials and those derived from them. In the long term, the project aims to protect traditional village architecture and the cultural landscape that has been damaged by "imported architecture" and to improve the relationship between the designer and the building contractor, which has suffered as a result of the abolition of trade schools. And all of this means more experience for both the builders and the architect. The project also sensitizes a local community to the value of its own heritage and the need to improve living comfort by (re)using local resources.

Also today, a ballet performance of The Hunchback of Notre Dame takes place at the Maison de la Culture des Syndicates at 7pm.

On November 8, from 15.00, there will be guided tours of the Alba Carolina Citadel. And from 5 p.m., a discussion on the Impact of micro-hydropower plants on the environment and the community will address a much-debated topic. Officials tell us that micro-hydropower plants are good because they create jobs and solve local electricity needs. But what is their environmental impact? We'll try to find out all the pros and cons of setting up micro-hydropower plants on Romanian rivers in a discussion with Prof. Mihai Vasilescu, PhD, from the Faculty of Physics at Babeș-Bolyai University.

From Monday, November 11, the BATRA 2019 Exhibition, Gate III and IV - Str. Mihai Viteazu, can be admired, with the works entered for the BATRA Awards, in the following sections

Architecture of individual housing
Architecture of collective housing
Community and production facilities architecture
Architecture of public spaces
Cultural Heritage Architecture
Rural
Interior architecture and scenography
Micro architecture / Temporary architecture
Object design
Cultural Projects / Initiatives / Experiments

The exhibition will be simultaneously on display in the other cities where the Romanian Order of Architects' branches are partners in BATRA 2019: Cluj Napoca, Oradea, Baia Mare and Satu Mare.

At the Principia Museum will be "parked", on November 19, from 17.00, the Ambulance for Monuments. It is a pilot project that aims to act effectively in the field of safeguarding immovable heritage, by making safe important heritage objectives in an advanced state of degradation or pre-collapse. Anyone can contribute financially or by volunteering to save a monument. To date, six interventions have been carried out on heritage sites in southern Transylvania: the Brîncovenească Gate in Sâmbăta de Sus, the fortified church in Velț, the Heroes' Monument in Seleuș, the Orthodox Church in Gherdeal, the ruined defense tower in Apața and the CFR railway station in Șaeș. The results of these six interventions will be presented in pictures in an exhibition to be unveiled on this occasion.

Info BATRA 2019

The fourth edition of the Biennale of Architecture Transylvania (BATRA) 2019, organized by the Romanian Order of Architects - Transylvania Branch, in partnership with the OAR branches of Bihor, Satu-Mare, Alba and North-West, takes place from 7 to 24 November. The aim of this edition is reflected by the chosen theme, "The Future/Acum", namely the desire to involve the whole community in the plans and decisions of architects, urban planners, landscape architects, authorities, starting from the premise that only in this way can the future reflect what we all want.

OFFICIAL PARTNERS: Cemacon, STADT, Iulius Mall, Hexagon

SPONSOR: Daisler Print House

EVENT SPONSORS: Lasselberger-Knauf, Geberit.

SPONSORS: Wienerberger, Fundermax, Hafele, Giorgio Graesan, Nowy Styl, EMS Floor, Recaș, Banca Transilvania

INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS: Cluj-Napoca City Hall, Casino - Center for Urban Culture, Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism Cluj-Napoca and Faculty of Construction, Cadastre and Architecture Oradea.

MEDIA PARTNERS: Arhitectura, Spațiul Construit, Igloo, Arhispec, Case și grădini, Hotel Invest, IBC Focus, ibuild, Instal News, Revista Atelierul, Modernism, Proidea, Zile și Nopți, EBS Radio, Radio Cluj, I like Cluj, Transilvania Reporter, ViaTV Cluj, Cluj Today, Făclia, Clujul de Buzunar, Cluj4Ever, Oradea în Direct, Muzica Instanțelor, Cluj Insider, UpNews, Transylvania Today, Add PR.