Built Space

Non-residential / Interventions on existent

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Vlad Sebastian Rusu, Octav Silviu Olănescu, Anamaria Olănescu

Author(s) / Team representatives

Vlad Sebastian Rusu, Octav Silviu Olănescu, Anamaria Olănescu

Profession

architect

Collective/office

Vlad Sebastian Rusu B.I.A., Octav Silviu Olănescu B.I.A.

Co-authors/team members

arh. Andra Vlădoiu, arh. Petrică Maier-Drăgan, arh. Anda Gheorghe

External collaborators

ing. Ludovic Kopenetz, ing. Ovidiu Rusu, ing. Paul Biriș

Project location

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Budget in euros

1.8 M euros

Usable area

134 sqm

Project start date

January 2019

Construction completion date

February 2023

Client

Municipality of Cluj-Napoca

Builder

Consortzio Stabile - București, Decorint SRL - Cluj-Napoca

Website

See Website

Photo credits

Cosmin Dragomir, Vlad Sebastian Rusu

Text presentation of the author/office in English

Vlad Sebastian Rusu B.I.A. is a group with a professional interest that is divided between the research and design of architecture and urban planning. Their projects cover a wide range of themes and concerns, from architecture and restoration to urban planning and urban design, with their professional work recognized and awarded nationally and internationally. The activity of Octav Silviu Olănescu B.I.A. is divided between teaching/research and practice of architecture and urbanism materialized through publications and specific studies, participation in conferences and national and international exhibitions. The work of the group has been recognized by winning various national and international awards.

Project description in English

The tower, built in successive layers (15th Century, and 1870s), used for defense and then for watching the city, remains an urban observatory through the new age, a place of contemplation and reading of urban development. The new age is materialized through a discrete, integrated and unitary intervention, which aims, by simple and reversible means, to obtain a consistent activation of the tower, while also providing a reading on the past and future city. Most likely built in the last decades of the 15th Century, the Firefighters Tower, formerly the Weavers' Tower, was part of the second medieval precinct of the city, guarding the neighborhood for centuries. After the demolition of the gate towers of the city, in the early 1870s, the possibility of demolishing this tower of the fortified enclosure was also formulated, but the city council voted for it to be transformed into a firefighters tower. In 1960 a project was developed to restore the building, which meanwhile became a historical monument. The restoration was done in the paradigm of those times, introducing reinforced concrete floors and ramps inside, in strong contradiction with the heritage structure of the tower. In 1985 the tower was transformed into an astronomical museum, receiving a glass pyramid at its top, which replaced the old picket of the firehouse. At the time of the initiation of the restoration and revitalization project in 2017, the tower was suffering from semi-abandonment and disinterest from the public. After the removal of all reinforced concrete elements, the new translucent core becomes the backbone of the tower, which facilitates accessibility to the upper level, allows visiting the interior space and gives structural rigidity. Proposed as a semi-transparent veil, the core thus becomes part of the tower's third age, which reveals the other phases and stages of its evolution. Imagined as a descending route, the journey of the tower starts from the highest panoramic level, where the visitor plays the double role: of actor and spectator of the present reality. From here the visiting route descends, going through different spaces and layers, offering a series of sensory experiences, along with a narrative exhibition thread, which reveals previous realities. The visitor experiences and investigates moments from the history of the city and the tower through the spatial scenes of dioramas and augmented reality, present along the sightseeing route.