A possible formulation of the theme proposed by this work would be architecture as sculpture whose raw material is the space, a space we continuously inhabit. The exemplification lies in a spatial fluid, interior-exterior, where necessary and possible routes dislocate time itself from our metaphor " this unseen dimension that the architect tries to promote, to convince and, perhaps, to include.
PROIECT: ARH. MARCEL BORTUN
COLABORATORI: ING. LUMINITA AGAPI (STRUCTURA BETON ARMAT), ING. MIRCEA PETROVAN (INSTALATII ELECTRICE), ING. COSTI
TEXT: OANA TANASE
FOTO: GEORGE VASILACHE

"If this house turned out well, the main merit is of the customer. I think you cannot do quality architecture without an educated partner open for dialogue "" this is probably the first statements of this kind (an original combination of selflessness and gratefulness) in the history of statements made by an architect about his beneficiaries. I wanted for a long time to have the pleasure of discussing about the house designed by Razvan and Ioana Luscov, namely long time before the baptism carried out by the Annual of Architecture. In comparison with the personal style exercises that flex the architects' muscles from downtown all the way to the suburbs, it was completely new. It's not that in the respective style exercises one couldn't detect paraphrases to the architecture X or Y from abroad, at best paraphrases, when they are not literal quotes or ctrl+c/ctrl+v that forgets to use the quotation marks, but the big difference lies in the burning desire, assumed and declared, of presenting the finished product as an "original processing of influences", where the processing consists in a more or less inspired collage. What I find extremely original in the story of this house is the completely atypical selflessness of the authors, consenting to mediate the above mention triangle, in order to solve the problem without changing its factors and without giving up. The copy (w) right solution was instinctively avoided, by incorporating the equation in a system, whose main variable became the creation of a house intensely reminiscent of the chosen model, but which, basically, was re-designed from top to bottom in the respective spirit as a discipline exercise of the style, given the fact that the authors have, thank God, enough personal statements to make in the design world. The house quotes its own model in the emphasized game of horizontals traced in white that have as counterpoint a single pregnant vertical volume and in the texture rendered by stone board resembling the Baschioi one.
PROIECT: ARH. RAZVAN LUSCOV, ARH. IOANA LUSCOV
STRUCTURA: ING. EUGEN GEORGESCU
INSTALA}II: ING. PAUL CUCU, ING. NINEL STANOIU, ING. VALI ISPAS
FOTO: ARH. RAZVAN LUSCOV
TEXT: SILVIA GUGU

Also called "the ecologists of the Middle Ages", as they were building their churches exclusively in unwelcoming valleys that required intense works of clearance and drainage, the Cistercian monks reintroduced physical work in their monasteries, thus reacting to the aristocratic life style of the Benedictine brethren in Cluny, who worked their agrarian possessions with the help of farmers and servants. Constituted as a dissidence to the Benedictine order, the Cistercian monachal order was established in 1098 in Burgundy, when the abbot Robert de Molesme proclaimed, in the Cîteaux monastery (Cistercium in Latin), the return to Saint Benedict's rule. Beginning not only with a religious life programme but also with a programme regarding the constructions, they criticized the "useless grandeur" of the buildings owned by the Benedictine order and they proposed an austere and plain architecture and the reduction of architectonic shapes down to pure functionality (Reduktionsgotik " gothic "reductive"). Thus, in a short period of time, the La Ferté (1113), Pontigny (1114), Clairvaux (1115) and Morimond (1115) abbacies were established. Situated at 43km from Sibiu, on the road to Brasov, the Cârta monastery plays an important role in the history of Transylvanian medieval architecture. Build in 1202, it was devastated and torched during the Tatar invasion (1241-1242), but it was subsequently rebuilt. The vast ensemble" with a church, annex constructions and enclosure walls" was affected by the Ottoman invasions in the 15th century and is only partially preserved. The monastery was closed down by Matei Corvin in 1474; presently it is the evangelical parochial church in Cârta. The influence of the construction sites in Cârta was visible in the architecture of some churches built with Cistercian contribution, in the second half of the 13th century, at Prejmer, Feldioara, Harman, Sanpetru (fortified churches of some rural German communities) or St. Bartholomew (Brasov). Specific Cistercian elements are found on the portals of the fortified churches in Cristian and Halchiu, also on the lateral chapels of the Ghimbav church.
TEXT: OANA SI DRAGOS MARCU
FOTO: SERBAN BONCIOCAT

Could it be possible to have a PERMANENT reinvention of the original shapes and functions for the noblest construction material" the ROCK? It seems so, if we consider the"show" of colors and shapes that MARMOMAC C exhibition in Verona (7-10 October 2004) offered this year. Once again, it was confirmed, by the attendance of over 1400 de exhibiters from 50 countries, that every year, thanks to this exhibition, Verona becomes, for a few days, not only the world capital of natural rock, but also the main source of information and even esthetic education for the tens of thousands visitors from around the world. One of this years' trends at the International Exhibition of Ceramics and Technologies CERSAIE 2004 in Bologna (28 September - 3 October 2004) was the preoccupation (very costly, too, from the technologic point of view) of all major ceramic plates manufacturers to imitate, as accurately as possible, all sorts of "fashionable" natural stones (especially sandstone and limestone with fossil incrustations). Isn't this an extra confirmation of the fact that natural rock, after surviving quietly all the technological innovations that created alternatives for it, increasingly draws our attention in order to substantially reintegrate it in urban or private spaces?! If it is true that rock interests architects more and more as an integrant part of the construction and not just as a simple finishing (relatively easy to replace with various other materials: ceramics, glass, wood etc.), it is equally true that we have to reconsider rock not only by technical rules, but by art rules as well. A real collaboration between the natural rock suppliers and architects is needed for this, where the former must take seriously also the role of suppliers of exact and comprehensive technical data (including the information regarding the technical limits for the exploitation of each material), and the latter to accept the idea that they have to learn a lot of details (boring - perhaps, but certainly useful) if they want to get close properly (and productively from the artistic point of view) to the great old Lady which is the NATURAL ROCK!
TEXT: PANCOLOR
FOTO: PANCOLOR