1. GENERAL DATA
Through this project I wished to design a representative building which would shelter the Museum of Transylvanian Civilization, one of the “ASTRA” National
Museum
Complex
museums
which
represents
the
vastest
ethnographical museum structure in Romania.
The Museum of Transylvanian Civilization came into existence in 1993 and although till now it counts almost 30 000 objects, it does not dispose of an appropriate expository space and a proper storage.
Transylvania is one of the three historical regions of Romania and is situated in the north-western part of the country. It distinguishes itself by the different nationalities that coexist here: Romanians, Hungarians, Szecklers, Saxons of Transylvania.
In this context it appears necessary to create a building which would regard the multiethnical character of the region (outlining the ethnical particularities and cultural values) and in the same time the desired pluridisciplinarity of the museum which would not have only a preservatory and patrimonial function but also an educative and educational one.
2. THE SITE
The site I chose for this project is situated in Sibiu, at the entrance into the historical centre of the city.
As a short history of the place, the first constructions date from the XIVth century – the third line of fortifications and the Cisnadie tower which marked one of the city gates. In 1647, the fourth line of fortifications and the Cisnadie bastion have already been constructed. In 1807 the bastion is partially demolished in
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order to build the Austro-Hungarian infantry barracks. In 1926 the bastion appears to be demolished entirely as well as parts of the fortification walls. Although the barracks have been taken down in 1987 because of insalubrity reasons, the place is still known by the inhabitants of the city as “The 90 Barracks”, which says a lot about its social relevance.
The main goals I tended to reach have been to design a building which would form through its architecture an integral part of the museum concept, expressing its key ideas, and the integration of the building with the environment and the history of the place through which the idea of Transylvanian civilization and its becoming would be so much more illustrated.
3. THE CONCEPTS
The historical and urbanistical analysis of the site highlights its importance within the city and its role of outlining the historical city core, currently destabilized by the 1960-1990 interventions.
Taking all these facts into account, the intervention concept has three parts which aim to solve the identified problems and to exploit the essential characteristics.
First of all I wished to correlate the importance of the site within the city with its importance for the “ASTRA” National Museum Complex by visually extending the public space of the square into the museum. Therefore the traditional symbolism of “the gate” is being overturned from restricting and controlling the access to inviting.
Secondly, I created a green continuity from the Astra Park to the Cetatii Park through the building, outlining the idea of the limit in a permissive manner.
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Last but most important, I wanted to exploit the border concept as it is one of primary importance in the traditional symbolism – on the border, the communication between different levels is possible as well as “the loss of time”. The building I designed is situated on the border, thus becoming a spatial limit which helps expressing and valorizing the different memory layers – the past, the present and the future.
In the Unirii Square this concept has been illustrated by marking the position of the Cisnadie tower and exposing its ruins and by marking the path of the Cisnadie bastion walls.
For the edifice I designed, I analyzed and interpreted the silhouette of the street fronts in the historical centre of the city and applied it to the exterior facades of the museum. I kept the silhouette and the footprint of the barracks, its still existing walls and also I reconstructed some of the vaults in the basement. For the inner facades I interpreted the traditional Romanian architecture, namely the contrast between whitewash and wood surfaces.
4. THE LINKING
As for the functions the designed building shelters, besides the exhibition and storage areas, there are a couple of related spaces through which the different buildings, functions and activities of the “ASTRA” National Museum Complex are being linked.
For example, there are the workshops where different educative activities periodically organized by the Museum Complex take place, a library where the Astra Museum publishing house issues and other specialty books are available and several projection rooms that successfully come along the exhibition, and where movies made by the Astra Film Studios are being played.
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