Knowing and understanding place. 25 years of Transylvanian Summer University

In 1986, when I chose the theme for my diploma project as a fifth-year student at the "Ion Mincu" Institute of Architecture in Bucharest, I set myself apart from my colleagues who were following the path of new projects on greenfield or radically restructured sites. I had the chance to be accepted by Prof. Sanda Voiculescu for an urban-architectural rehabilitation exercise on an existing site in Cluj-Napoca. It was a marvel to find a 1:200 scale survey of all the buildings on an urban island in a historic area. Then I also had my first professional disappointment: I found that measurements are only made where there are ongoing demolition documentations.

After my degree, which was based on a utopian vision of preserving existing values, I had the chance to do an extended 21-year internship, working on projects mainly dedicated to the rehabilitation of Sibiu's historic center.

Between 1995-2000, I also had the opportunity to teach at the Faculty of Architecture in Cluj-Napoca, where, in addition to the weekly commute, I proposed that, during the summers, I would invite students to practical activities of surveying in the center of Sibiu. On these occasions we were able to get to know each other better, among ourselves, but also with other teachers and students from other university centers. We mapped protected urban islands, documented historical monuments and debated new principles of enhancement. The interdisciplinary approach was inevitable. Together with historians, archaeologists and restorers from museums, the information about these architectural testimonies became more and more consistent.