A lot has been built in Romania in the more than 30
\nyears that have passed since the outbreak of the anti-communist Revolution. However,
\nand more often than not, construction works were carried chaotically, at once being
\nblatantly misplaced, as tall apartment blocks were built in private residence
\ndistricts, new constructions cropped up nearby listed, historical buildings, or
\nshapes and colours, randomly chosen, simply took hold of the architecture of an
\narea. The disorder caused by all that is simply exhausting. Whether we speak
\nabout the urban areas or the rural regions, the architectural chaos has mainly been
\ngenerated by the lack of a clear-cut system of standards in the construction
\nsector. Not to mentioned the fact that the authorities in right turned a blind
\neye on the serious abnormalities perpetrated on the ground. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That being said, we invite you to meet the initiators of
\nthe project themed Upstream Topolog river, Cristina and Paul Budan. For one
\nyear running, the project’s stated aim was to undertake a study period, prior
\nto preservation, of the vernacular architecture of the southern part of Arges
\nCounty’s Topolog river’s upstream segment.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Why? Because a highway is soon to cross the region. Notwithstanding,
\nthe Budan family would like that, at least for that particular segment, the good
\npoints of the technical progress should not have a negative impact on the
\nspecificity of the area. And, if that may not also be possible, at least the locals’
\ncenturies-old way of life should be registered for posterity. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cristina Budan is a teaching assistant with the
\nFaculty of Architecture as part of the Bucharest-based Ion Mincu University.
\nShe has been explaining what the Upstream Topolog River project actually meant:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u02baThe project sought to map the entire upper
\npart of the Topolog river valley, in a bid to see what could be preserved of
\nthat traditional architecture and attempt to carry a documentation of the valley,
\nto keep as much info as possible on that particular type of architecture, given
\nthat a highway segment will cross the area. The Cornetu-Tigveni segment will
\ncut through the valley, and everything will change, most likely, as soon as
\nthat happens. As we speak, the valley is rather quiet, as there is no major roadway
\nto cross it so it has been preserved in a very good condition, traditional architecture
\nwas easy to preserve in the area as well. Infrastructure changes will surely alter
\nthe structure of the villages, the development of the region, therefore it will
\nalso have its impact on the built heritage. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What experiences, what revelations did the volunteers
\nhave, who worked in large numbers for the mapping of the upper part of Topolog
\nRiver Valley?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cristina Budan once again. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u02baAs I’ve said before, there
\nis no major road to cross the valley, to cut it through, so it has its own
\npeace and quiet, it does have its autonomy. What’s most interesting is that it functions
\nas a whole, it is closely-knit and living in that valley is something beautiful,
\nit is intertwined, since the locals there are owners of the house, the pasture,
\nthe meadow land and through their daily activities, they somehow keep the place
\ntogether. That’s what we first liked very much about it! Then there are lots of
\nhypostases of the valley. The roads are spectacular, especially when you start losing
\nyourself in the lateral hills, the experience is very beautiful, that of
\ncrossing the valley and how you get to reach those houses. And we found very
\nbeautiful houses, they were hard to include into categories, we even had our difficulties
\ntrying to trace several clear-cut typologies, since they are so varied in terms
\nof expression, so that was really difficult. We ran into very beautiful, porch houses,
\nof that classic typology we all associate with traditional architecture, but we
\nalso ran into walled houses with very elaborate plastering, with very refined, complex
\nroofs…well, it’s all about a very rich expression we don’t seem to pay heed to,
\nunfortunately. It is very important for us to keep a database of all we have
\nnow and the way the valley functions, together with those houses, which are
\nexpressions of the place, after all. And we were also interested in creating a
\ndatabase with the various expressions of those houses, what shapes those houses
\ncan take, so that we can see howe much variety is, in fact, in the local
\narchitecture. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For Paul
\nBudan, The Upstream Topolog river project has, apart from its practical importance, a psychological importance as well. A Bucharest city-dweller as he may be,
\nPaul Budan has its family roots in that valley. He spends his summers there, actually, and it is not at all indifferent to
\nhim how the area will look like, after the highway will have been built. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u02baIt is hard to imagine such a
\ntransformation. In a couple of years’ time the valley will most likely be a huge
\nconstruction site, but, when the highway is completed, and if possible, with
\nthe help of the authorities, it will develop harmoniously, we hope, ideally
\nspeaking, also taking into account the specialists’ opinion…maybe the reconditioning
\nof the river banks, maybe the reconstruction of certain pathways, of certain little
\nbridges, maybe the proposal of several local constructions, that also including
\nbuildings which can be put to good use for the highway – parking areas, hotels,
\nguesthouses – which somehow can preserve the architectural specificity, at once
\npreserving a coherence of the valley. With the help pf the project, we believe
\nwe could open a dialogue or we can bring together the local authorities and the
\nhigh-level ones, so that a dialogue proper can be initiated to that end, and
\ntogether, they can build the valley harmoniously, naturally. We hope we could
\ninfluence that valley for the better or have a beneficial intervention in that
\nprocess of change.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That outcome would be an ideal one, by all means. But
\nif that may not be the case, unfortunately, the outcome of Cristina and Paul
\nBudan’s initiative will be an exceptional work, where joining the two were also
\nin the Architects’ Order in Romania, the Village Museum in Bucharest, the Vine
\nand Tree Growing Museum in Golesti, Arges County, but also specialists in
\nhistory, sociology, geography, landscaping or volunteer workers, mostly
\nstudent-architects, but also architects who are on the job already. The results
\nof their works can be visited at petopologinsus.ro, on the project’s Facebook
\npage, but mainly in a book of an exceptional quality, content and design-wise,
\na book which is always impressive in terms of size. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We’re well aware of the fact that
\nmodernization is something necessary, we all want that to happen and the infrastructure
\nprojects are necessary, we all know that. In a separate move, the way things are
\nbeing done matters a lot. First of all, the infrastructure project needs to be implemented
\nthere with utmost care so that it should not dent the future development of the
\nregion. What we do hope for, though, is for the project to come up with that promised
\nwell-being and not take more than it could offer, from that particular place..
\nThese were the final words of Cristina Brudan, a teaching assistant with the Faculty
\nof Architecture in Bucharest. We all want progress, but that should not happen
\nat all costs. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(EN)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Upstream Topolog river<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":144156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[35319,42949,43903,43784,39595,43341,39889],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-144155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-highway","tag-nature","tag-pasture","tag-preservation","tag-project","tag-tradition","tag-village"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n