At the Palace "înFlorești"

Organizers: Cantacuzino Florești Foundation and ARCHÉ Association

In partnership with: National Heritage Institute, Association of Romanian Landscape Architects - Bucharest branch (AsoP Bucharest), Graphein Topo SRL and SG Studio SRL - publisher of Zeppelin Magazine

The organizing team:

peis. Alexandru MEXI (project manager),

ec. Alina CHICIUDEAN,

arhg. Sergiu IOSIPESCU,

arhg. Raluca IOSIPESCU,

arhg. Mihaela CIORNEI

peis. Diana CULESCU,

peis. Mariana NȚU,

arb. Alexandru PURCARU,

adm. Carmen CROITORU,

photo. Ștefan STOICA,

Collaborators:

arh. Raluca ZAHARIA,

arh. Alexandru BONDREA,

arh. Dan-Alexandru ROȘU,

arh. Maria AUBÖCK,

arh. Matei BOGOESCU,

arh. Camelia-Raluca BĂRBULESCU,

arh. Irina IAMANDESCU,

restorer Mihai IANCOVESCU-RUDEANU,

geogr. Elyze STORMS-SMEETS,

Petru TUDORACHE,

Andrei MINCOF,

Andrei BĂDILĂ,

stud. arh. Ana PÂRVULESCU,

stud. peis. Adelina SCOROBETE,

stud. peis. Miruna PETRICĂ,

stud. peis. Cornelia BOGDAN,

visual artist Roberta CURCĂ,

Irina BOSSY-GHICA, co-owner of the Cantacuzino Florești Estate,

Rareș TUDORACHE, co-owner of the Cantacuzino Florești Estate.

Location. Prahova, Florești

The three consecutive editions of the Summer School have contributed to a better knowledge of a vast extra-urban noble domain, to attracting funding for the restoration and refunctionalization of the "Little Trianon" Palace and the Water Tower, to landscape restorations of old walking trails in the historical park, to the elaboration and finalization of the classification dossier for the "Electric Star" Factory and to the conservation and restoration of artistic stone components. The Summer School was nominated in the European Rendez-vous aux Jardins and INNOcastle programmes as an example of best practice in organizing and running research and enhancement programmes for historic monuments in times of pandemics.

In 2019, as part of the first edition of the Summer School at the Palace "inFloresști", several thematic workshops (landscape archaeology, site-specific artistic installations and arboriculture) were organized dedicated to the research and enhancement of the Little Trianon Park, a historical monument of national importance whose history and evolution over time have remained far too little researched. During the landscape archaeology workshops, several historical alleys hidden under layers of soil, fragments of pottery vessels, coffles, garden pots, carriage decorations, bullets, etc. were identified. During the arboriculture workshop, a green register was drawn up containing quantitative and qualitative data on all the trees in the park-historical monument, and during the plastic arts workshop, pieces of garden furniture inspired by the architecture of the Cantabrian domain were created. The architect Maria Auböck, restorer of several historic parks and gardens, including the gardens of the Belvedere Palace in Vienna, a UNESCO World Heritage monument, participated as a special guest of the Summer School and proposed a strategy for research and restoration of the old park.

In 2020, during the 2nd edition, archaeological excavations continued and ancient walking trails in the park were brought to light and several constructions and foundations were discovered whose history is to be researched, professional pruning was carried out in the tree crowns to allow them to regenerate and, on the basis of a specialized project approved by the Ministry of Culture, landscape restoration work was carried out to enhance the discovered and uncovered trails. Elyze Storms-Smeets, a Dutch geographer specializing in historical areas and European policies for their enhancement, participated in the 2020 edition of the Summer School.

The star of the 2020 edition of the Summer School, however, was the Red Star Power Plant, which was visited by several students and young professional architects who closely studied the building and worked together to identify models for its restoration and enhancement. The studies and projects carried out during this industrial architecture workshop are to be integrated into a dossier for the classification of this masterpiece, built between 1922-1923 by the Belgian-French company Hydrodina in collaboration with the renowned architect Duiliu Marcu and the Romanian entrepreneur Emil Prager, in the List of Historical Monuments.

In 2021, at the third edition of the Summer School, archaeological excavations in the historical park were continued and new research was started at the Water Tower, tomographies of the centuries-old trees were made, artistic stone components of the monument-park were restored, and the industrial architecture workshop continued the studies necessary for finalizing the documentation for the classification of the "Electric Star" Factory.

In 2022, the Summer School at the Palace "inFlorești" aims to continue the activities of the previous editions, focusing in particular on the "Electric Star" power plant, the park and the rockery with a basin - a construction discovered during the archaeology workshops in 2021 and unknown until then. Practical workshops (stonemasonry workshop, landscape archaeology workshop, arboriculture workshop), presentations (including presentations dedicated to geophysical detection means and their importance in landscape and archaeological heritage research - e.g. the discovery of the system of water supply and circulation installations), study and analysis visits, workshops on the interpretation and valorization of industrial heritage will be organized. During all these workshops, presentations and study visits, participants will have the opportunity to understand the complexity of the process of preservation and valorization of historical monuments and will be able to learn the following from professionals in the field: how to investigate basin rockwork and how to intervene through primary conservation on a recently discovered and uncovered site; why it is important, what is the purpose and how to carry out an archaeological excavation in a park; how vegetation (especially trees) in a historic garden should be cared for and managed; why digital media are important in monument research; how to approach, research, restore and valorize an industrial heritage site such as the "Electric Star" plant, etc.a.

The Summer School at the Palace "inFloresști" is a multi-annual cultural and educational program dedicated to students and young professionals working in fields related to cultural and natural heritage (architects, engineers, landscape architects, archaeologists, artists, economists, etc.). It takes place on the Cantacuzino Estate in Florești, jud. Prahova and is organized by the Cantacuzino Florești Foundation and Arché Association in partnership with the National Heritage Institute, the Romanian Order of Architects - Prahova branch, the Romanian Landscape Architects Association, SC Graphein Topo SRL and SG Studio - publisher of Zeppelin magazine. The program was co-financed by the Romanian Order of Architects and the Administration of the National Cultural Fund and was supported by SC Brenntag SRL and Aqua Carpatica.