In my opinion, contemporary architecture is defined by a refined mixture of materials and minimalist styling, featuring great space saving functions, extreme functionality hopefully and an unique public/private perspective to each modern mansion erected.

As a Romanian resident and a full time architecture student I have to be honest and admit something: the contemporary architecture in Romania is horrifying. I do not want to be rude or disrespectful to any professional in the architecture and design sphere, it`s not that our architects and/or designers are bad, not at all, but we are “ruled” by a wrong mentality and an inferiority complex that would determine us to want six bedrooms and one bathroom constructed with cheap materials rather then two bedrooms two bathrooms and breathtaking levels of detail and amazing finishes. And that is the problem, talking about individual homes with no context and a little about mentality, the problem sadly is far more complex but maybe we will elaborate more in another post.

Today we have actually started on this bad note in order to present you the antagonists of our beautiful little country. We have ahead of us more then forty pictures that will define a  good architecture studio in Romania. This particular project is presented by the Andreescu & Gaivoronschi Associated Architects, architects which have materialized their thoughts and projects in practice since 1990 with great success and refinement, presenting a great evolution trough time and keeping a great contact with contemporary architecture outside the country and the works of other wolrd architects.

13 years after completing their first home based on the concept “House in House” our dear architects have made another victim in the same town, in the north of Timisoara, Romania. The concept of the “House in House” has been very simple from the very begging, as the world evolves houses and flats are becoming more and more expensive and youngster all around the world, where possible, are choosing to coexist with their parents and invest in their current residence. This particular “behavior” has been called typical for Italy and Greece but it`s happening all around the world even if it`s isolated.In conclusion, in our case, the coexistence of two generations in one home created an architecture that would express this literally, as a symbol and as apparel as well. The authors of the mansion have used stone for the home dedicated to the older part of the family, summoning the roots of the stone, the capacity of passing trough time, to express a character that has been created and polished by elements trough time and will remain almost the same for years to come. The younger part of the mansion represents youth and freshness alike, materialized trough the nobility and warmth of the wood, a material which breaths and transforms trough it`s whole life, but more important, it`s waiting to be defined, carved, sculpted, beautifully shaped into a model, just as our character while we`re young.

To further emphasize this very important connection, the architects have awarded a good amount of their time in thinking and solving a brutal aspect in between the conflict of today`s generations : the dialect between private and public spaces. Therefore, solid stone walls are literally defending a closed little private area. The character of the fence is very sensible balanced by subtracting the dead space of public/private interaction at the entrance. In the back of the house an intermediary theme is assembled by the patio and the covered area. Inside the house another important aspect is hold, the horizontal direction is defined by the spaces meant for the parents, therefore minimizing their effort and not asking them to climb the stairs, where the vertical space that juxtaposes the two houses is dedicated to the younger residents, where a usual “raumplan” pattern is developed.

The living room has been thought and designed as a theater being observed from different levels but also keeping a private part, a backstage, on the first floor, a space in which, thanks to finishing of the facades, you can observe yet not be observed. This space has been created for a future library and smoking rather then spying but it will do any job well.

As a result from the reading above you would have to imagine that the apartment located above for the younger couple has been properly thought as well and you would be right of course, the relation between the exterior and interior is trying to be satisfied here as well without dismantling the unity of the cube which in architecture represents as you would expect a very important presence, a solid stance. The spaces behind the finishing are rather unique featuring an intermediary space to the south well hidden behind wooden louvres, a very thin balcony to the west meant for you to admire the dawn and the atrium and the discrete vertical incision to the east which is carefully placed there to mirror the rising of the sun.

Homesthetics Conclusion 

I have to be honest and declare that as a future architect in Romania I`m quite worried about my future and such projects are a relief, a breath of fresh air and a very good motivation. The level of detail in both designing the home and into the execution are astonishing and at least as thought process they`re amazing, having a huge impact on the quality of living inside the mansion and on the neighborhood outside as well. Another aspect that`s really important here are the residents. They have realized that they can live so much better together and enjoy their life near the family much more. This time spent by their side is very important and at the end of the day we will all regret that we haven`t payed too much attention to our parents, sons, daughters grandparents and so on.