About Beta
Beta - Timișoara Architecture Biennial is a cultural project of the Timiș Territorial Branch of the Romanian Order of Architects, organised by a dedicated team. Beta 2024 is the fifth edition, marking ten years of activity.
Beta is the main architecture event in western Romania, with a Euro-regional influence, with a collaborative component in neighbouring countries - Serbia and Hungary. An important part of the international connections is provided by Beta's membership in the LINA community, a network that connects relevant institutions with emerging practitioners and thinkers working at the intersection of architecture and other fields related to spatial culture: it aims to promote emerging talents.
Beta articulates a series of actions, projects, events and exhibitions around 3 pillars: Education, Profession and City. What we propose is an architecture of action, defined by the desire to be proactive, to collaborate, to enter into dialogue and to relate. To understand, after all, the complete and complex map of the built environment. We want to promote interaction between different entities, before talking about concrete interventions. We propose dialogue instead of declarations, collaboration instead of isolation, processes instead of one-off events.
Structure of the biennial
Beta Awards
The Beta Awards is the main event of the Profession category, which supports and promotes quality architecture and professionals who contribute to the improvement of the built environment and is conceived as an interface of relationship both within the profession and between the profession and the socio-cultural environment in which it operates.
The 2024 Beta Awards will have, as the previous competition-exhibitions, a Euro-regional character, by opening the competition to the 3 neighbouring countries: Romania, Hungary and Serbia. The organisation of the competition in this format is based on the similarities of context in the 3 countries, encouraging participation on a wider scale and thus contributing to the development of a multilateral dialogue about the future of the profession.
In addition to the 10 years of activity by the Beta team, in 2024, we aim to celebrate the high-quality architecture of the past decade. The Beta Awards will provide an overview of the outstanding projects from the last decade.
Main Exhibition
The theme of each biennial is most strongly reflected in the Main Exhibition, which is the result of in-depth research and showcases a theme relevant to the relationship between architecture, city and society.
The curatorial effort of each edition aims to set a discourse connected to internationally relevant themes, interpreting them through and for the uniqueness of the local and hyperlocal context.
Oana
Stănescu
Beta 2024 Curator
Oana Stănescu, architect, designer and educator, known for her projects that push the boundaries of the profession, will curate the exhibition at Beta 2024.
As curator, Oana Stănescu brings her multi-disciplinary expertise and deep understanding of the contemporary architectural landscape to deliver an original edition of Beta. Her diverse experience, from the refurbishment of the Reșița funicular to large-scale installations around the world, reflects her commitment to reimagining urban spaces for livability and sustainability.
Under her guidance, the Timișoara Architecture Biennial promises to push the boundaries of architectural practice through an interdisciplinary and intersectional approach.
