Architect Ion Popa (1944-1990) and the pioneering period of Romanian design

The contributions of architect Ion Popa to the development of design in Romania

The son of farmers from the village of Crețești, Ilfov County, Ion (Nelu) Popa graduated from the "Mihai Viteazul" High School in Bucharest, with a thirst for knowledge and a desire to do something for those around him, not to live for nothing.

Between 1965-1972, he was a student at the Institute of Architecture "Ion Mincu" in Bucharest. Due to unfavorable circumstances, he entered the faculty in his third year of attempts without ever being rejected.

In 1967, he made the Tour of Europe by bicycle, 5,000 kilometers in three months, leaving from Bucharest with stops in Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Paris, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Venice, Belgrade, Timisoara. Ion Popa considered it vital for an architect to encounter European architecture, its past and its present, and had already toured Romania with a friend some time before by the same means of transportation.

While still a student, together with other colleagues from the Students' Association, he worked on the opening of Club A and became a founding member.

After graduating, he worked at the Academy of Economic Studies, "Consulting Center for Industrial Design, Packaging and Product Promotion" (1972-1976), entering a field that would shape and develop his entire career, which came to an abrupt end in 1990, when he passed away at the age of just 45.

A decisive moment in his career as a designer was the organization of the National Design Seminar at ASE, with the support of AROMAR (Romanian Marketing Association), the largest event of its kind to date in Romania (1974), together with the group of colleagues and friends with whom he had formed Studio DA (1973-1979): Vlad Calboreanu, Francisc Echeriu, Romeo Simiraș, Marica Solomon, Alba Delia Popa.