With the return
\nof sunny days and the drop in the overall number of COVID infections, people
\nhave rediscovered their playful side. In an area in Bucharest, the local
\ncommunity has organized an architectural treasure hunt. There’s no player limit,
\nand anyone can enroll, either as a group or individually. Participation is free
\nof charge, and once you’ve signed up, it doesn’t matter where you start, merely
\nhow many clues you find. There’s no predefined circuit. One you find a clue,
\nyou just have to take a photo of the site in order to tag it.<\/p>\n
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\n
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Elena Lucaci, a
\nrepresentative of P\u0103rin\u0163i de Cire\u015fari community, the organizer of the hunt, says
\nthe community she represents was born out of the need to protect and create
\nmore green areas a few years ago. <\/p>\n
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\n
<\/p>\n
We organize community
\nevents and pool our efforts, since we are all neighbors, in the true sense of the
\nword. In November, 2020, we planted 23 saplings at a playground. We organize garbage-collecting
\nevents and all sorts of civic activities. Now we’re organizing this
\narchitectural treasure hunt, which helps us know our neighborhood better. A lot
\nof people who live here don’t know that part of the district is actually a
\nprotected area. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The area Elena
\nLucaci refers to was indeed developed after the First World War, when part of northern
\nBucharest at the time played host to a new district called Domenii Park. Upon
\nthe request of local inhabitants, Ca\u015fin Church was built in 1935. The patron saints
\nof the church are Archangels Michael and Gabriel, but also Saint Catherine,
\nmaking it one of the biggest Orthodox Churches in Bucharest. From an architectural
\npoint of view, the Church is a blend of Brancovan and eclectic styles, also
\ntransparent in other buildings in the neighborhood. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The clues for
\nthe treasure hunt are wittily written, such as find a bas-relief or find a
\nstone goat, and participants score points for every site they identify. The largest
\nnumber of points decides the winner. Elena Lucaci told us such community events
\nare very popular. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We have a large
\nnumber of participants from the local community, we don’t have to call on
\npeople from other neighborhoods, as we form a rather strong community. We all know
\neach other, although we are quite numerous. We have some 650 members right now,
\nincluding 50-60 very active families with children in all age brackets. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We’ve asked
\nElena Lucaci what other events she has been organizing and if there’s an age
\nlimit for the treasure hunt. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We’ve had an
\nEgg-Hunt for children aged 2-6 earlier this year. This treasure hunt addressed
\nfor adults and children aged 11 and above. Clues aren’t that complex, and
\nchildren aged 11 and above can register freely. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And since the
\narchitectural treasure hunt is an urban game, whereby participants discover or rediscover
\nthe architectural heritage of the city and familiarize with architecture basics,
\nElena Lucaci told us about some of the clues participants had to find last
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There was a
\ncertain street where they had to follow a particular smell. Another clue was
\nfinding two sisters, standing back-to-back. There are all sorts of clues hidden
\nin the architecture of the neighborhood. It’s a little weird, because some
\npeople stop to ask us what exactly we are taking pictures of, and we feel
\nobliged to explain it is a game, we live in this neighborhood and there’s
\nnothing wrong about it. I’ve also worked with a team of architects for this
\nproject, who do this sort of events across Bucharest. They’ve done similar
\nprojects with other protected districts. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\narchitectural treasure hunt is an ideal pastime for the weekend, in tune with
\nthe beautiful weather outside. (V.P.)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A new urban game addressing local communities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":136701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42520],"tags":[43302,43301,43300],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-136700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inside-romania","tag-architectural-treasure-hunt","tag-elena-lucaci","tag-parinti-de-ciresari"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n