FLORA becomes The Light House

ECOU Studio is a blend of architecture, nature, and sustainability, best served together. Although we are a relatively young office, we are a team with a rich cumulative prior experience in urban planning, architecture, interior architecture, micro-architecture, temporary architecture, event scenography, art installations, exhibition design, furniture, and object design. We have not specialized in just one functional area or a specific scale of projects. Through our shared capacity for conceptualization, we can easily and innovatively tackle any type of project. We aim to bring sustainability, in all its forms, into our projects. From passivity to thermal and energy efficiency, through rather low-tech solutions that are not only simpler to implement but also more financially accessible. We aim to use as many local and organic materials as possible, to reuse and repurpose everything that is structurally viable, and to build less, only as much as needed.

In 1967, the spirit of the flower-power movement spread across the world, from the West Coast of America to the heart of Romania. In Timișoara, a city always in tune with the times, "Expo Flora Timișoara" was born—a grand event that required an equally grand setting. The solution came in the form of the Exhibition Pavilion, later known by the code name FLORA. Designed by the talented architect Ștefan Iojică and part of an ambitious spatial project conceived by Silvia Grumeza, FLORA was situated in Parcul Alpinet, an idyllic space on the banks of the Bega River, near the Traian Bridge. With its concrete terrace "floating" mystically on metal pillars, FLORA was not only a symbol of modernity and innovation but also a landmark for the culture and spirit of Timișoara's youth in the 1960s and 1970s. Timișoara, often dubbed the most liberated city in Romania, even during communism, could not remain indifferent to the spread of the flower-power movement. Thus, the FLORA terrace became a sanctuary for rebellious youth, a place where their ideas and dreams could come to life. Pop-rock artists, visual artists, and young literati all contributed to creating a unique state of mind, called by some the "Timișoara state of mind." Subsequently, FLORA became the place where half the city fell in love, got married, divorced, or baptized their children. It is literally part of the collective memory, and through the Lights On project by the Daisler Association, we were commissioned to temporarily reactivate it, once again offering the public of Timișoara a space for expression, innovation, and creativity. The building was in a state of total abandonment, undergoing an accelerated process of decay. To somewhat shield the public from this unsightly state, we chose to wrap it in scaffolding with delicate fabrics, which also served to induce a sense of renovation we aspired to. Inside, we prepared the spaces for various types of activities (exhibitions, activities, café). During the day, the building reappeared with the white of the fabrics, and at night through their illumination, becoming a beacon along the Bega River. The adjacent tower marked the symbolic position of the building in relation to the city and the street grid. FLORA shone brighter than ever.