Transylvania Architecture Biennale gets underway

07.11.2019

PRESS RELEASE

The Transylvania Architecture Biennale gets underway: more than 35 events in 17 days, with themes for the specialized public, but also for the whole family.

The opening of the best projects entered in the architecture competition on the pedestrian walkway in Unirii, gingerbread making workshops for children, debates and presentations on social involvement themes such as "Ambulance for Monuments", or Via Transilvanica. These are just some of the events of the first week of BATRA 2019. The fourth edition of the Biennale starts today, in Cluj-Napoca's Unirii Square, at 17.00, with the Opening of the Exhibition-Competition of the works entered for the BATRA Awards. They will be open to the public until the end of the Biennale on November 25.

The works entered are on the following themes:

Architecture of individual housing
Collective housing architecture
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 exhibited in the other cities where the Romanian Order of Architects' branches are partners in BATRA 2019: Oradea, Baia Mare, Satu Mare and Alba Iulia.

A second stopping point in the program of the Cluj Biennale is a premiere, namely the Biennale of Architecture Gala Exhibition, the opening of which will take place tomorrow, November 8, from 17:30, at Iulius Mall. The works of ten architecture annuals or biennales from Romania will be exhibited: the National Architecture Biennale 2018, BETA 2018 - Timișoara Architecture Biennale, BA_DA2018 - Dobrogea Architecture Biennale, Bucharest Architecture Biennale 2019, Oltenia Architecture Biennale 2017, Arhitectura.6 - 2018 edition, Annual of Architecture Muntenia Vest, Regionala de Arhitectură Moldova, Anuala Argeș-Prahova, Case type competition - Maramureș County Council.

On November 9, 10 and 11, as we are accustomed to every edition of BATRA, Guided City Tours will take place. This time, representative buildings have been chosen for the architects who were awarded the Opera Omnia at previous BATRA editions: Vasile Mirea - in 2013, Pakey Lajos - in 2015, George Cristinel - in 2017. The tour will be presented in Romanian and Hungarian by Mr. arch. Szabolcz Guttmann and will start at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania. Participation in the guided tours is by registering on this form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg7zc04qu180qcXToKDD1fZ3QI4bc8Aebv_v-m1ppSXUDD5g/viewform

On Saturday, November 9, we start our family weekend at the Transylvania Architecture Biennale Transylvania 2019. Sweet Cottages is a gingerbread making workshop for children (regardless of age), conceived by architects and put into practice by a chef, Chef Siserman Paul to be exact. The workshop is part of the children and family activities designed by the organizers to involve the whole community in the architectural process - which, after all, means creating a future for the whole family. The little ones will have the opportunity to connect with this field, by "designing" (preparing and kneading the dough), "building" (molding the dough into shapes), "finishing" (baking) and "handing over" (the products made will be able to be kept/taken home/eaten) houses... made of gingerbread. No offense, but knowing how to make gingerbread is a useful "hobby" as the winter holidays approach.

Next week is filled with special events. One of them is the presentation of Via Transilvanica, a story about courage and identity, to be told on November 11 at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania (21 Memorandum Street) by Bogdan Brânzaș, program director. Tășuleasa Social, the initiators of the project, were inspired by pilgrimage trails in Spain and endurance trails in the United States and India. And they have set up a project, Via Transilvanica, which aims to be a walking trail from Drobeta-Turnu-Severin, where King Carol first entered the country, to Putna, where Stephen the Great is laid to rest.

On November 12, also at the Ethnographic Museum of Transylvania, the Monuments Ambulance will be "parked". It is a pilot project which aims to act effectively in the field of safeguarding immovable heritage, by making safe important heritage objectives in an advanced state of decay 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.

Following the Ambulance for Monumentsevent, we can attend a presentation of the Map of Building Craftsmen project and a discussion on rural architecture guides. The Romanian Order of Architects, through the RURAL Working Group, has launched the Construction Craftsmen's Map, which is a companion to the Architectural Guides for the framing of the local specificity in 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.

On November 13, starting at 17:30 at Cinema Arta, a long-debated topic will be discussed during the panel discussion The impact of micro-hydropower on the environment and the community. Authorities 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 creating micro-hydropower plants on Romanian rivers, in a discussion with lecturer Dr. Mihai Vasilescu, from the Faculty of Physics at Babeș-Bolyai University.

And since we're at Cinema Arta, we'll tell you that during the Transylvania Architecture Biennale, the building is hosting Movie Series by UrbanEye. A mini-film festival is stopping by BATRA on November 13, 14 and 19 with three films about the various ways in which the urban environment shapes nature and how nature in turn influences the built environment:

November 13, 7pm - Anthropocene: The Human Epoch
November 14, 19:00 - The Human Shelter
November 19, 19:00 - Do More With Less

Admission to the UrbanEye Film Evenings is free.

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 in 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, Baia Mare City Hall, Satu Mare City Hall, North Theater Satu Mare and Cultural Center G.M. Zamfirescu Satu Mare.

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