FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE

Synthesis of Architectural Design Department

Semester 8, Study Year IV

SYNTHESIS PROJECT
Long project, 10 weeks, 9 credits

FIELD OF STUDY: CONVERSION

EXTENSION, REHABILITATION, SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

KEYWORDS
 NEW - OLD
 CONVERSION – RECONVERSION
 RECYCLING - REVITALIZATION
 ADAPTABILITY - FLEXIBILITY
 INTEGRATION
 SUSTAINABILITY

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ROMANIAN ART

(Leonida Garages)

GENERAL DATA:
Currently there is no modern art museum in Bucharest. In Romanian culture, modern art had a major
impact in painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature. The notion of modern in this context
can have an interpretation in various visions. Modernity was a complex phenomenon of societal
transformation, started in the Renaissance and significantly expanded in the Age of Enlightenment and
then in the industrial revolution. Modernism is a manifestation of modernity, characterized by a specific
cultural revolution at the end of the 19th century and the entire 20th century. There are many
interpretations in which modernism itself is defined primarily by the rejection of traditional and classical
models, following the First World War. In this project, the notion of Modern Art actually refers to the
autochthonous modernist phenomenon of the last century with an emphasis on the interwar period.
In a wider cultural context, in the more than 100 years that have passed since the appearance of
modernism in the world of architecture, major changes have occurred, on a scale never before seen in
history: "100 years ago you could still tell the story of German architecture , Chinese architecture, Swiss
architecture, Italian architecture, Nigerian architecture. 100 years later you can't do that - we've all
become more or less identical and more or less interchangeable."1 Thus, on the one hand, the
architecture of the project must talk about the past, about the 100 years of Romanian Modernism, and
on the other hand, it must talk about the present and (especially) the future.

LOCATION:
The plot on which the project will be unfold is located on Aviatorilor Boulevard at numbers 14-16, in the
vicinity of the Victoria Palace (the seat of the Government) and three of the most popular museums of
the city of Bucharest. The plot is located at the intersection of several architectural areas with an
extremely different character, Piata Victoriei, Aviatorilor Boulevard, Filipescu Plots, Blank Plots, and the
new museum will form, together with the three existing museums in the area and the gallery housed by
Villa Oromolu, the major museum platform of the city to which other buildings with a cultural function
could be added in the future (...Victoria Palace, in case the seat of the Government would move to a
more suitable building...). On the plot there are now a series of buildings built between 1912 and 1990.
The first buildings appeared in the years 1911-1912, under the name of Leonida Garages, in an Art
Nouveau architecture. The project, located in a protected area of historical monuments, will incorporate
the valuable existing buildings, adapted to the new function, with the preservation and rehabilitation of
the historical facades. On the rest of the land, the new museum buildings and a garden will be
developed, which will address the context defined by the residential areas that limit the site to the east
and north, the neighborhoods of the new office building to the south and the presence of the Victoria
Palace. A brief study of the location and the Leonida garages' surveys can be found at the address
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16COUZHw77wTxIU2pfbcH49Tt7vBdWof2?usp=share_link

1
1914-2014 Absorbing Modernity - Rem Koolhaas, 14th International Architecture Exhibition Venice, 2014
OBJECTIVES OF THE SEMESTER:
The main objective of the project is the development of students' design skills based on the theoretical
knowledge accumulated so far. In addition to the practical aspects of design, we propose to debate
notions such as:

o new - old
o conversion - reconversion
o recycling - revitalization
o adaptability – flexibility
o integration
o memory
o symbiotic
o contrast
o copresence
o porosity
o kintsugi
o wabi-sabi
o layers
o time
o weaving

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAM:
Representative entrance hall, with orientation images and exibition content --------- 250 sqm

Reception, ticket sales--------- 30 sqm

Museum shop, bookstore--------- 60 sqm

Cafeteria--------- 150 sqm

Restaurant--------- 200 sqm

Kitchen --------- 70 sqm

Wardrobe, Toilets--------- 40 sqm

Hall Auditorium 200 people

Auditorium 200 people--------- 300 sqm

Auditorium 50 people

Temporary gallery (exhibition) --------- 750 sqm

The permanent gallery (exhibition) --------- 3000 sqm

o Painting gallery
o Sculpture gallery
o Architecture gallery
o Music gallery
Immersive video gallery --------- 225 sqm

Underground garage, 70 cars --------- 250 sqm

Technical spaces --------- 120 sqm

Administration --------- 100 sqm

Workshops --------- 60 sqm

Research offices, experts --------- 60 sqm

Storage --------- 200 sqm

Unloading ramp --------- 25 sqm

Total usable area (without garage and traffic) --------- 5615 sqm

Total surface area --------- approx. 7350 sqm

The galleries will have specially dedicated spaces (eg: Constantin Brancusi, Marcel Iancu, George Enescu,
Victor Brauner, Tristan Tzara, etc.).

In accordance with the direction established by each workshop and within the reasonable limits of the
scheme presented above, students have the possibility, after the study, to modify the program. It is also
recommended to consult the urban regulations of the area for the configuration of the building, but the
students have the possibility to propose, with arguments, new urban regulations as a way to study more
architectural possibilities within the limits of a CUT of 4 and a POT of 70%. Finally, the workshops will
make their own recommendations regarding examples useful for the project.

MINIMUM HANDOVER CONTENT:

PHASE 1: urban planning and general concept stage (4 weeks - work in teams of 2 students)

Multi-criteria site analysis / notable examples analysis

Concept diagrams / sketches / schematics

Zoning plan in the area, sc. 1/2000

Urban regulation plan (PUD / PUZ type), sc. 1/500

Plans and sections’ diagrams

Models or 3d images of the concept

Project notebook

PHASE 2: architecture stage (6 weeks - individual work)

Situation plan, sc. 1/500

Ground floor plan with the layout of the entire plot, sc. 1/200
Plans of all floors, sc. 1/200

Sections (minimum two, transverse and longitudinal), sc. 1/200

Facades, sc. 1/200

Exterior views of the building

Interior views of the building

Details, sc. 1/20, 1/5

Project notebook

Models

o Site model
o Object model, sc. 1/200

EVALUATION:
Minimum conditions for entering the project into the final evaluation:
o Fulfilling the condition of over 50% attendance and activity at the workshop and Project Theory;
o Handing over the project and the project notebook related to each phase, both in physical and
digital format;
o Compliance with the format specified in the theme;
The general criteria in the assessment itself are divided into three categories:
o Course/process,
o Project,
o Project presentation and defense.
The specific criteria for each semester can be found in the tables in the Didactic Objectives chapter of
the framework theme.

AUTHORS:
Guest Prof. Arch. vladimirARSENE
Arch. alinaRUSU

Conf. Dr. Arch. danDINOIU

Assist. Dr. Arch. ioanaARDELEAN
Dr. Arch. bogdanISPAS
Arch. dimitrieGRIGORESCU

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. The Function of Style - Farshid Moussavi et al, Harvard Graduate School of Design/Actar, 2014
2. The Function of Form - Farshid Moussavi et al, Harvard Graduate School of Design/Actar, 2009
3. The Function of Ornament – Farshid Moussavi et al, Harvard Graduate School of Design/Actar, 2006
4. 1914-2014 Absorbing Modernity - Rem Koolhaas, 14th International Architecture Exhibition Venice,
2014
5. Parcul Filipescu, 100 de ani de arhitectura romaneasca – Oana Marinache et al, Editura Istoria Artei,
2018