Good gathering place

AUTHORS: arh. Alexandra Mihailciuc, arh. Andrei Tache, Bianca-Maria Balșan

CONTRIBUTORS: Andrei Mihail, Oana Perju, Oana Constantin, Corina Moșescu

LOCATION: Romania, jud. Mehedinți, Balta

Ogoiul is the home of the Balta village community interested in valorizing its local heritage, of the MAIE Association team and of the students who spend their summers in the Mehedinți Plateau Geopark during the architecture and anthropology summer schools organized by the association team. This summer school proposes to the participants to get actively involved in a process of identification and valorization of development opportunities in the region, starting from the three main pillars of the local background: nature, community and built space.

Quiet, calm, care, peace and joy

Since 2019, the summer school has been dedicated to revitalizing the former town hall and developing a new functionality of the space: a center for the community, tourists and summer school participants.

The restored house bears the name of "OGOI", an archaism still used in Mehedinți, defined by terms such as: tranquility, calm, care, peace and joy. The interior design process has sought to reflect the title given to the building by creating a balance between the spirit of the place, the local heritage elements discovered during anthropological research on the one hand, and the needs and tastes of contemporary man on the other.

OGOI is a house that grows alive in the Mehedinți Plateau Geopark through the energy, hard work and creativity of the community and summer school participants, while at the same time having the mission of an exhibit of past building practices.

The essence and spirit of communities

The concept intersects elements of traditional household design in the Geopark, uncovered during research and interviews with locals, with the visions of the architectural and design experts involved in the project and with the ideas of the young summer school participants, who had the opportunity to visualize and go through an integral and coherent process - from concept, sketches and measurements, to the execution of the furniture and interior design of the space. All actions in the previous editions of the summer school (2016-2020) were based on anthropological research carried out in the village and the region. These were the basis for each decision on the restoration and spatial planning. The aim is to capture the essence, the spirit of the communities that have lived here over the centuries in perfect communion with nature and the environment. At the end of the restoration project, the rooms of the Ogoiului will, through interior design and furnishing, re-create interactive stories based on the themes of anthropological research into the culture and history of the place, carried out with the involvement of young summer school participants.

Once it will be fully equipped and functional, the building will play the role of a cultural space for the community and tourists and a "headquarters" of the MAIE Association in the approach of valorizing the local landscape of the Mehedinți Plateau Geopark.