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Radu Tîrcă and Ștefania Hîrleață are students at University of Architecture and Urbanism 'Ion Mincu', Bucharest. At present, they lead their theoretical research on the subject of thermal towns and diploma projects in Govora Baths under the guidance of Stefan Simion, Irina Tulbure and Ilinca Paun Constantinescu. As students, they won second prize and best student project in a BeeBreeders international architecture competition - Mango Vynil Hub, third prize in a Zeppelin national competition - Prototip pentru comunitate, as well as other mentions in other competitions.
Reading exercise. Entrance and the Grisons Parliament
Cassandra Pop, Closeness study, 2022.
At first sight, the project appears to be an addition placed in front of an existing building, but its monumental presence could allow the observer to believe that this concrete entrance was built first. In this sense, despite its real age, the main building may be understood as the actual extension. However, when you first look at a place, you do not immediately build a narrative. You do not really see an addition on either side, or a specific timeline whatsoever. Just a closeness between two foreign entities.
There is a heavy roof over an upward base and a foremost column with an outer pillar. Two by two elements. A ramp measures or sets the width of the building while the shadow of a roof on a facade shows variations of closeness. A doorway is partially hidden and doubled by a tangential column which seems to posses the symmetry of the building, even though it is not precisely central. As a witness, a light pillar stands aside at one corner of a room. The white concrete structure gives a sense of newness and at the same time it might express a constant renewal of what is known to be older.
Is the building’s ground floor raised from street level in order to share a floor with the white base, or is it the other way around? The observer does not know. He is not aware of time. Instead, he perceives them simultaneously. By looking at drawings, he can learn about differences in the representation of objects. Whilst the entrance room is marked with technical information like dimensions, the building stays in the background.
Is it an addition or a reference? The observer does not know, nor does he look for an answer, yet when there is a desire for certainty, only closeness is revealed.
Cassandra Pop studied architecture at UAUIM Bucharest. In 2017, she founded NA architecture studio together with Cosmin Anghelache and Astrid Rottman. In 2022, she became a PhD student and a teaching assistant at UAUIM Bucharest. Her drawings on paper represent a personal theoretical study.