A new urban game addressing local communities
With the return of sunny days and the drop in the overall number of COVID infections, people have rediscovered their playful side. In an area in Bucharest, the local community has organized an architectural treasure hunt. There's no player limit, and anyone can enroll, either as a group or individually. Participation is free of charge, and once you've signed up, it doesn't matter where you start, merely how many clues you find. There's no predefined circuit. One you find a clue, you just have to take a photo of the site in order to tag it.
Elena Lucaci, a representative of "Părinţi de Cireşari" community, the organizer of the hunt, says the community she represents was born out of the need to protect and create more green areas a few years ago.
"We organize community events and pool our efforts, since we are all neighbors, in the true sense of the word. In November, 2020, we planted 23 saplings at a playground. We organize garbage-collecting events and all sorts of civic activities. Now we're organizing this architectural treasure hunt, which helps us know our neighborhood better. A lot of people who live here don't know that part of the district is actually a protected area".
The area Elena Lucaci refers to was indeed developed after the First World War, when part of northern Bucharest at the time played host to a new district called Domenii Park. Upon the request of local inhabitants, Caşin Church was built in 1935. The patron saints of the church are Archangels Michael and Gabriel, but also Saint Catherine, making it one of the biggest Orthodox Churches in Bucharest. From an architectural point of view, the Church is a blend of Brancovan and eclectic styles, also transparent in other buildings in the neighborhood.
The clues for the treasure hunt are wittily written, such as "find a bas-relief" or "find a stone goat", and participants score points for every site they identify. The largest number of points decides the winner. Elena Lucaci told us such community events are very popular.
"We have a large number of participants from the local community, we don't have to call on people from other neighborhoods, as we form a rather strong community. We all know each other, although we are quite numerous. We have some 650 members right now, including 50-60 very active families with children in all age brackets".
We've asked Elena Lucaci what other events she has been organizing and if there's an age limit for the treasure hunt.
"We've had an Egg-Hunt for children aged 2-6 earlier this year. This treasure hunt addressed for adults and children aged 11 and above. Clues aren't that complex, and children aged 11 and above can register freely".
And since the architectural treasure hunt is an urban game, whereby participants discover or rediscover the architectural heritage of the city and familiarize with architecture basics, Elena Lucaci told us about some of the clues participants had to find last weekend.
"There was a certain street where they had to follow a particular smell. Another clue was finding two sisters, standing back-to-back. There are all sorts of clues hidden in the architecture of the neighborhood. It's a little weird, because some people stop to ask us what exactly we are taking pictures of, and we feel obliged to explain it is a game, we live in this neighborhood and there's nothing wrong about it. I've also worked with a team of architects for this project, who do this sort of events across Bucharest. They've done similar projects with other protected districts".
The architectural treasure hunt is an ideal pastime for the weekend, in tune with the beautiful weather outside. (V.P.)
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