<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Books
\nplaced on a spectacular installation and advertised in the street, reading of
\ncontemporary poetry and guided tours of the neighborhood, food cooked by chef
\nLiviu Lambrino for a common, open-air diner, dancing in the middle of the
\nstreet with artist Paul Dunca and Jim Felix’s music as well as films screened
\non an open-air screen were some of the attractions of the first block party
\norganized in October on a street in downtown Bucharest. Edmund Niculusca, the
\npresident of the Romanian Association for Culture, Education and Normality,
\nARCEN, is the initiator of the event: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We are transforming the street into several layers of spaces. For almost
\n12 hours, the I.L. Caragiale Street in Bucharest will witness lots of events
\nsuch as part of the exhibition that represented Romania at the Venice
\nInternational Architecture Biennial, Mnemonix, and ‘Around the block’, a
\nproject that gathers all childhood games in one book. Games, dance and dialogue
\nare actually the key ingredients of a Block Party event.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Against
\nthe backdrop of carpets laid out in the street, of armchairs in which you could
\ncuddle up covered in a blanket, visitors could enjoy the experience of an extensive
\nliving room, among book shelves. A book installation invites people to read. The
\ninstallation is made up of metallic sticks at the end of which you can find a
\nplate on which a book is placed. When removing the book from the plate, you
\ndiscover 5 lines written on the plate which explain the reason why you should
\nread that book. Next Edmund Niculusca will tell us about the idea behind the
\nproject. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Bucharest needs a historical, cultural
\ncentre, and the area around Icoanei street could be this very historical,
\ncultural centre, because it is located in the center, it is a historical area
\nand has cultural potential, because, once it enters a network, it has the
\npotential to generate another type of life inside the city. It’s a different
\nkind of old city.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In this
\narea, history has cultural potential, says Edmond Niculusca: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At first, when we conceived the project,
\nwe wanted to name it ‘The downtown neighborhood’, which had to be a different city
\ncenter, but eventually we named it ‘District 40’, while preserving the
\nphilosophy of creating a center with a different urban rhythm. All the partners
\nof District 40 namely the French Institute, the Central School, Residence Scene
\n9, Point, Carturesti and Cinetics will be present on the I.L. Caragiale street
\nwith their events. For the European Night of Museums all these institutions
\nstaged their events in their own spaces, but now all these cultural spaces will
\ncome together on one street, proving that cooperation is possible and that what
\nseemed at first impossible eventually became possible.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Poet
\nNora Iuga joined the project and she read out from her poems. Among the
\nparticipants there were also people involved in town planning projects, such as
\nRomeo Cuc, the curator of the MNEMONICS project, architect Serban Sturdza and
\nSerban Radu, the founder of Carturesti book network. ‘Catalog 40’ was one of
\nthe projects debated in the street, which is a successful project meant to
\nfamiliarize those interested with Bucharest’s protected areas. Alberto
\nGrosescu, the vice-president of ARCEN, explained: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Of all the ARCEN projects we have had so
\nfar, this one has been the most dynamic and has changed a lot. In 2015 we
\ninventoried another 2 protected, constructed areas. It was a demo version. And
\nthis dynamics and permanent change of the urban landscape and of heritage
\nelements, put in connection with the information we had when analyzing the two
\nprotected constructed areas, made me aware of the speed at which the city is
\nchanging, of how little knowledge people have about protected areas. We have
\ntried to save all these areas at the level of image, inventory and information.
\nIn 2016 we planned to inventory the 98 protected constructed areas. We
\nestimated a number of 14,500 buildings. It took us 8 solid months to draw up
\nthe methodology, and with the help of teachers of architecture from the Ion
\nMincu University, of experts from the Heritage Institute, from the Order of
\nRomanian Architects in Bucharest, we managed to come up with a first version.
\nIn March 2017 we started the inventory. Among the first areas inventoried,
\nthere was the Icoanei area, and, at that time, we had no idea that a project
\nlike ‘District 40’ was to be born.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We
\nmingled with the visitors to find out their impression about the Block Party. We
\nasked 43 year-old Dana, who was accompanied by her son, why she came to Block
\nParty. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I found out about it on the Internet and we
\nwanted to see what it is all about. And we discovered people like us, we discovered
\nbooks and a lot of peace and quiet, which is quite rare in Bucharest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dana’s
\nson, Radu, is 13, and he also shared with us why he came to the Block Party:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I was curious to see what happens here,
\nI find it a nice place for relaxation on a Sunday afternoon, to loosen up in an
\narmchair and read. But I don’t think many of my colleagues would come to such
\nevents.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Both
\nBlock Party evenings ended with people dancing in the street, warmed up by artist
\nPaul Dunca. Some of the existential questions asked in the songs played at the
\nparty attracted our attention: ‘How long do you intend to live?’, ‘Age has
\nchanged in time, hasn’t it?’ In spite all of that, the time spent at the Block
\nParty actually suspended … time!<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(Translated by L. Simion)<\/p>\n
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The story of a very successful urban project<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":135429,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43139,43142,43140,41764,43141],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-135428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-arcen","tag-architecture-inventory","tag-block-party","tag-reading","tag-urban-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n