The architect Ion Mincu has been what was called an exemplary spirit. He had the strength that, after graduating a faculty which got him the training as an engineer – the Road and Bridges Faculty from Bucharest – to desire something else – and that is, art, creation, conception. He had, since that time, rooted in his mind and in his heart the ideal to which he dedicated his entire life: the Romanian style, made at home, with the means of the place. Going to Paris – by foot, by train or maybe, closer to our days, by plane – has been for the great Romanians equivalent with going to Mecca. Paris had to quench our thirst for knowledge, to enlighten our minds, to bring us a universal vision. So that later – stronger, wiser, loaded with more experience, to return in order to build. This is how Mincu understood to fight for the nation in which he was born. He built monumental buildings such as the Administrative Palace in Galati, in whose expression the elements undertaken from the Romanian architecture weld with elements of oriental inspiration that breathes the air of the places where Mincu traveled; or the Commerce Bank from Craiova – serene composition of a rather Venetian account and beautiful burial vaults from the Bellu cemetery (for the Cantacuzino, Ghica, Gheorghieff families). He left us a remarkable project for the Communal Ospel (City Hall) from Bucharest, whose realization our Capital would have deserved… And above all, he left us the School of Architecture. Ever since 1890 he was present amidst the Romanian architects preoccupied with the future of the profession – I.N. Socolescu, D. Berindei, St. Ciocarlan and others. In 1891 comes into being, under the leadership of Alexandru Orascu, the Society of Romanian Architects.
TEXT: CODINA DUSOIU
FOTO: SERBAN BONCIOCAT

The proprietor started a house all by himself; the architects undertook it in the ‘red’ stage. Forced to mould themselves on something given that did not allow the cutting of forms and proportions that would flow by themselves in a harmonious composition and to be developed smoothly and unitarily, their steps have appealed, as Vlad Gaivoronschi says, to ‘radical proceedings, meant to confer the poetical atmosphere of habiting’. The proprietor’s wish to have a square atrium uncovered in the middle of the house has been exploited in order to build a living core, organic in the purest sense of the word: an interior garden, around which the entire house pivots. The second gesture, just as surprising through its simplicity was the strengthening of the peel which protects that living nucleus spreading saps and the life wrapped around it, clothing in Sanovita stone the ground floor of the house; the fence, the second protection limit, has been made of the same kind of stone.
PROIECT: VLAD GAIVORONSCHI
TEXT: SILVIA GUGU
FOTO: OCTAVIAN TOPAI, VLAD GAIVORONSCHI

The architects signing this project show an inclination towards rigour and neatness of the detail that is read with capitals even in the organization of their own work place, even in their outfit. I imagine that even to a lover of the poetry of chaos the data would have seemed discouraging, so, honestly, I admire the courage of the company to be stubborn to solve them and in the superlative degree, with all the moral and affective involvement (which, in this profession, can be risky and we all know it). The result has been elegantly outlined. The solving starts from the evidence: the necessity to integrate several exposure spaces, for each of the brands commercialized, in one, so that they would still continue to communicate visually as well as spatially, to be distinct and somewhat personalized, but in essence similar, so that a certain product would not be privileged. The solution resorts to the in-depth compartmenting of the spaces, at equal intervals, with semi-transparent panels. These mask, for a global perception, the product identity differences, letting it to be guessed only by the common nature which formulates a unitary message: clothes store.
PROIECT: BIROU DE ARHITECTURA AAS
TEXT: SILVIA GUGU
FOTO: ANDREI MIHAILESCU

In 1874, George Piaget was founding in Cote-aux-Fees the horologery workshops which were to produce the first mechanisms, so that, in 1940, to appear the first watches signed Piaget. Then, not only a style, but a myth is born. Yves Piaget, his grandson, is ‘the last guardian of time’. He dealt with the family business going through all the hierarchical stages: from selling to the presidency of the company. Though he worked as an engineer and technician, his great vocation is proven to be in the field of public relations and marketing. Ambassador of the Swiss luxury products, Yves Piaget has transformed the destiny of the Piaget brand, conferring it brightness and, most of all, soul. About all of these, Yves Piaget said in the interview granted to the Igloo magazine in the night of the meeting organized in Bucharest by Helvetansa – Night of Diamonds. ‘Personally, I like architecture very much, as a spectator of course. I can realize what the Japanese or the Chinese are doing, cities like Hong Kong, airports like that in Shanghai or that of Kuala Lumpur, represent truly extraordinary architecture. In the United States, there are remarkable models of architecture, wether in New York, or in Houston, in particular, where the architects have chosen forms that are truly extravagant, but absolutely exceptional. Then, a very fascinating thing in architecture seems to be the study of materials. Today are used materials that weren’t at our disposal fifteen, twenty years ago and thanks to these materials remarkable things can be done’.