Graduation Projects - architects on the rise

After the Iron Gates: Reclaiming and valorizing Shimian Island through the memory of Ada-Kaleh Island

Dragoș-George Pungă

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Supervisors: Melania Dulămea / Alexandru Călin

Faculty: "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism, Faculty of Architecture

This diploma project deals with the disappearance of Ada-Kaleh Island and the subsequent attempts to reconstruct its memory through a partial replica on the Șimian Island. The paper critically analyzes this process as one of loss, dislocation and reinterpretation - and proposes an architectural strategy that goes beyond replication towards spatial dialogue and cultural continuity.

The project began with a simple but essential question: If a fortress had been built for the island of Simian, rather than a copy of the one that disappeared, what would it have looked like?

In search of an answer, the analysis focused not only on the built structures of Ada-Kaleh, but also on the way of life that defined the island - the paths, thresholds, rituals, vegetation, and hybrid cultural identity tha

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Arhitectura 1-2/2026 (721-722)
Student Architects - 142+9 Graduation projects and projects
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