ARCHITECTURE PORTFOLIO
ALEXANDRA MEDANA OPREA
COMPETITIONS EUROPAN 13 - Preparing density MNIR - The National History Museum THE FLOATING THEATRE - Berlin LEAFING THE PAST - Clue competition
CULTURAL PROJECTS SEBES IN + DE-A ARHITECTURA BETA Timisoara Architecture Biennial CÂRȚIȘOARA
SCHOOL EUROPAN 13 - Preparing density SEBES IN + THE SHOOTING GARDEN - thesis
CRAFTING MODELS MAISTOR
Personal information Name and surname: Alexandra Medana Oprea Date and place of birth: 13.03.1993, Deva, RO Telephone: +40731978182 E-mail: alexandramedanaoprea@gmail.com Languages: Romanian(native), English(C2), German(B1)
Educational background 2016 - present: Faculty of Architecture, Politechnica University, Timisoara 2015 - 2016: exchange student - Technical University of Ostrava 2011 - 2015: Faculty of Architecture, Politechnica University, Timisoara 2007 - 2011: National College “Decebal” Deva 2003 - 2007: National College “Decebal” Deva Work experience 2016 - present -- volunteer teacher - ‘De-a Arhitectura’ Timisoara 2016 July - December -- exhibition coordinator (Energy Spots, Belgrade) - BETA, Timișoara architecture biennial betacity.eu 2016 May - July -- intern - D Proiect - MNIR (The National History Museum) Competition 2015 -- intern - D Proiect (Timisoara,Romania) - Europan 13 Competition 2014 - 2015 -- intern - Vitamin Architects (Timisoara,Romania) Architectural competitions MNIR (The National History Museum) - entry Runner-up - Europan 13 - ‘Preparing density’ - Os, Norway 2015 First prize - A_ta 2014, Project proposal - CDL Pavilion Second Prize - Baumit - Facade restauration, 2015 Nomination - International Competition ‘C.A.S.A.’ 2013 A_ta 2014 - ‘Sebes in +’ - entry 9th Oistat Theatre Architecture Competition 2015 - entry Clue Competition 2016 - Lightius loci - ‘Leafing the past’ - entry CPSP New York 2016 - ‘Transitional path’ - entry
School Prizes and exhibited work ‘Sebes 3.0’ exhibition and workshop - Sebes, 2016 ‘Sebes 2.0’ exhibition and workshop - Sebes, 2015 ‘Sebes in +’ exhibition and workshop - Sebes, 2014 C.A.S.A. exhibition - Cluj, 2013 Activity award - Design studio, 2011 Extracurricular activities Coordination - ‘CDL Pavilion’ - 2014-2015 Bluecrumb - accesories design MAISTOR - handcrafted bags - maistor.ro (work in progress) ‘De-a Arhitectura’ volunteer - 4th grade teacher - www.de-a-arhitectura.ro Workshops Cartisoara 2014 - learning traditional building techniques and designing CUCA Festival stage ‘Sebes in +’ - Revitalization of the fortified towers in Sebes and proposal for a touristic route - 2014 ‘Sebes 2.0’ - Urban planning and revitalization of the central area in Sebes, including the fortified walls in the turistic route - 2015 Portfolio Workshop - A0 festival - 2014 TamTam - manufacture of furniture from recycled materials, building a green roof Computer skills ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Rhino, V-ray, Grasshopper, Sketch-up Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Indesign Microsoft Office Suite Other skills Leadership, teamwork, analyzing data, communication Hobbies Handcrafting Volleyball Skiing
Europan 13 | Runner UP | Team: Bogdan Demetrescu, Oana Simionescu, Alexandra Oprea, Denis Poloca, Dragos Nistor, Bogdan Tudor, Alexandru Voica
PREPARING DENSITY
site and asking them to participate to the process. Most of the existing buildings are to be relocated. A complete overhaul of the square and it’s infrastructure will set the premises for further development, covering the area with a texture of pavement, green patches and wooden deck surface.
In order to create a complete living experience for the inhabitants, OS doesn’t need more built structures, but an increase in the number and diversity of functions and social interactions, making it a vibrant and active space of the community. Our proposal uses different mechanisms to soften the strong limits which bound the site. We aim to create events on their paths, so they are not perceived as obstacles but as opportunities for connecting with natural elements or people. In architectural terms, the site is a straight, man made platform. We devised a process to regenerate the space for public use which starts by introducing the people to the
To activate the stage, prefabricated wood pavilions are proposed in strategic positions, configurations and densities. The modules can be rented for small businesses or left open and transparent in order to house temporary functions. The development plan includes specific rules over how people choose to extend the constructions on the site in order to follow a desire character. The final layout and aspect of the square remains for the people to decide. PUBLICATIONS: E13 Results Catalogue https://issuu.com/europaneurope/docs/e13-results_ catalogue_79c422b9693b18 Arhitectura Magazine, no. 2/2016 http://arhitectura-1906.ro/2016/11/europan-13/
Functional status quo and proposed intervention limit
Proposed activities and the underlying infrastructure
Perceptual links (views, terraces)
Europan site limit
Vehicle function
Current road path
Built environment
Intervention limit
Cultural activities
Infrastructure grid New roads Imaginary point grid
Planted areas Pavilion structures Accommodation buildings Mixed use/office
Encouraging people to participate enquiry
Cleanup
Infrastructure preparation
Starting the process
remove vehicle related structures
building infrastructure
positioning pavilions
repaving the square surface
Building local events building the fixed objects (parking:accommodation)
All spots are full
Regression the pavilions can be dismantled and the process reversed if people loose interest
Interactive model Different ways to engage the citizens can include augmented reality devices and mobile apps to vote on diferent proposals for the development. Inside the historical building a scale model of the proposed planing will be reconstructed form blank pieces and frame blocks.
People can move them around to find layouts they consider more appropriate. Take pictures and change them again. All the proposals will be stored, exposed and analyzed for reference.
MNIR The National History Museum | entry | Team: D Proiect studio, Alexandra Oprea, Nistor Dragos, Alexandru Voica
Main design directions for the MNIR (The National History Museum) Project Functional & Spatial Criterion Our proposal for the new MNIR is born from two ambivalent relations. On the one hand there is a need to preserve and display the valuable fabric of the old Palace of the Post, and, at the same time to refurbish the building into a modern institution setting, a platform capable to bring together different entities in order to research, expose and debate upon Romanian History. On the other hand, there is a need to create a visible, active and well defined city node and at the same time a porous environment capable to attract urban fluxes. The core of the project lies in the interior covered courtyard, acting both as a public space and as a horizontal and vertical distribution space. The courtyard together with the foyer will be a no ticket space, encouraging an Est-West axis linking Calea Victoriei with the Old City Center area through a line containing the main entrance portico, the courtyard placed column replica and the secondary visitors accesses from the Postei street. Museographic Proposal The museographic display will try to concentrate on rather histories than on History with capital ‘H’, on a continuously changing domain compatible to micronaratives. The visiting path starts with the Treasure collection, kept on the same spot of the Victoriei basement, as an enclosed and protected chest, and continues with the medals collection. From here the path goes to the main exhibition, starting with the copy of the frieze, on the terrace from the first floor. The exhibitions develop in a chronological sequence on the two upper floors, taking advantage of the circular path possible only at the first floor. Along this path the old aula and the central areas of Postei and Franceza wing will be the main spatial attractions, containing three key exhibitions: Spirituality and Funerary Practices, The Antiquity exhibition and the Medieval exhibition. As an
iconic figure for the collection, the Thinker of Hamagia and his Wife, will take the main role of this layout, being placed in an elaborated scenographic setting of the restored double high aula. The existing side stairway in the Stavropoleos wing will finish the visiting loop by arriving back to the foyer through the gift shop. In the ground floor’s foyer, the city of Bucharest and MNIR history exhibitions are placed as first impression exhibitions. In addition, in the Franceza street lay the three temporary exhibitions, capitalizing on the well preserved decorated rooms. In the center of this wing a street level display window will be visible from the as an interaction point for both visitors and passer-bies. Restorative Proposal During its history, by several transformations and successive partitions, the old Post started to lose its initial clarity. Our approach begins with a process of selection of valuable and nonvaluable building elements, trying to regain atmospheric qualities by revealing the main spaces and volumes, displaying at the same time elements from the main construction periods. We focused ourselves on the clearing of the entrance foyer and the two ground floor lateral aisles, the first floor aula, the main volume of Postei street, and the second floor central volume of the Franceza street. A special care we kept to restore and reveal the historic skylights in order to enrich and embellish the exhibitions. As a general principle we didn’t touch any of the existing roof metal structures conserving them as historical artefacts. We tried to have the same respect for the old fabric by detaching as much as possible the new courtyard structures from the existing building. Regarding the facades we propose only conservation measures for both stone and plaster, and changing all plastic frames into wood ones similar to the initial geometry.
Paths Main Visitor Circulation Secondary Visitor Circulation Main Staff circulation Secondary visit circulation Car Circulation Car Circulation Main Link Secondary Link
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The shooting garden | thesis - in progress | Team(first part of the project): Oprea Alexandra Medana , Nistor Mircea Dragoș, Coste Cristina, Tamaș Emanuel Coordinator: Demetrescu Bogdan
The shooting garden is situated in Oravița Montană, the old city of Oravița, an industrial city immersed between the hills. The ensamble is part of the historical protected area, which includes a large number of heritage buildings (51 monuments). Oravița is one of the many shrinking cities in Romania, but comparing to other cities, it has a huge architectural and natural value. Most of the heritage buildings are owned by the administration and are at an advanced stage of degradation. The project is composed of two parts: a common part
of general analysis and strategy proposal for the whole heritage area and an individual proposal connected to the main strategy. In order to help the municipality solve the problem of the abandoned buildings, we wrote a management plan who’se purpose is to ensure the quality of the conservation process of the historical ensemble in parallel with the social and economic development of the city. The management plan includes a series of objectives and actions, from basic ones to more complex and long term objectives.
The objectives include: • establishing the city identity by understanding and defining the authenticity of the place • completion and approval of the new general urban plan • creating a database of historical buildings • projects for financial assistante to families who live in the protected heritage area • conservation and restoration of the heritage buildings • strategies for adapting the buildings to new functions • connecting the new part of the city with the old one • creating a green buffer zone in order to maintaining the character of the city • developing a series of touristic routes • creating an online application with those routes and the most important objectives in the city • bicycle transport system
Due to its historical value, the city has the potential to become itself a human scale museum, by generating a series of touristic routes and bringing to light the valuable objectives in the city. Following the proposed routes, the tourists can see the city from different points and different heights, in order to understandin its value, architecture, history and atmosphere. In order to maintaining the spirit of the old city, we set a series of zonifications and urban planning regulations which restricts the extension of buildings in the forest area and encourages the development and revaluation of historic buildings. h t t p s : // i s s u u . c o m / m e d a n a . o p re a / d o c s / p l a n _ d e _ management_oravita
The shooting garden is located in the central area of the old city, near the City Hall and the High School. It was set up as a recreation area, offering support for a wide range of activities such as shooting, shows, celebrations, chorus and fanfare shows etc. The architect who designed the ensemble is Ioan Bibel, who actually donated the garden to the Shooting Association on 4th August 1872. The ensemble is very important for the city, but unfortunately it is very degradated. The project aims at rehabilitating the buildings and the amphitheater area, in relation to their harmonious integration into the landscape, through mutual valorisation. The function of the buildings will be changed, aiming at the return to the original purpose of the area, that of recreation and unfolding of events. An important point in the strategy of the project is the connection with the proposal of the general strategy and that of MP, the Garden of Tire being the point that has the potential to generate a direct connection between the two green banks of the city, due to the connection with the park in front of the town hall. Thus, at strategy level, the goal is to create a green cordon between the two proposed green buffer zones.
The strategy of returning to the original function of the ensemble is based on the lack of a large space of this type, the lack of recreational spaces who can carry out a wide range of activities. During the interwar period, this area was used to its full potential, the amphitheater and the terrace being completely occupied by spectators. Although the area is not at all well maintained, during the summer there is the International Music Days Festival in Oraviţa, with guests from USA, France, Austria and Romania. Also, in relation to the MP developed, building A will be the headquarters of the cultural organization proposed in the MP, which aims to take over some of the city hall’s responsibilities in implementing MP projects and developing cultural projects and activities to facilitate the increase in the number of tourists. Creating an adequate space for a wide range of events can generate benefits for both the development of the city and the tourist system as well as for the inhabitants by providing a high quality recreational space. And from an economic point of view, it can be a contribution to the local economy, by developing cultural activities taking place in the city, attracting tourists and offering the opportunity to run study and creative camps for students and teambuildings for companies.
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SEBES IN + Coordinator: Drăgan Dragomir
Sebes in + is a volunteering program structured as an annual summer workshop for architecture students, who aims to protect, preserve and protect the citadel of Sebes and its surroundings by applying current urban, social and economic rules. We are trying to involve the community in establishing and decidin on the development direction of the city, offering theoretical and/or practical alternatives to the latent or unknown/unpromoted values of the city. The first edition dealt with the problem of the inaccessibility of the fortress walls and towers by giving a solution to that, the second edition dealt with one of the most important pedestrian streets in Sebes and the third one had a social
character, in each neighborhood of the city there was organized a workshop (as a round table) where people were invited to participate and express their opinion about their neighborhood. Each year, in october, the results of the workshop are presented to the municipality and to the community in the form of an exhibition. The project was also submitted to the Architecture Annual (2014) and Biennial(2016) held in Timisoara. https://www.facebook.com/upsebes/ http://competition.betacity.eu/ro/preselectie/social/
9th Oistat Theatre Architecture Competition | entry | Team: Alexandra Oprea, Tudor Avramescu, Bogdan Ocolisan, Ovidiu Plesea Coordinator: Drăgan Dragomir
THE FLOATING THEATRE
The module can be moved forward, backward, left, right, up and down
The sitting module More varied are the limits between the performers and the audience, higher is the intensity of the play on the viewer. The proposed site has aquired a special feature over time, it has become a location you can identify with. The way society relates to this scene and site along the river Spree offers us the possibility to create an object that generates a strong bond between the audience, the actors and the natural scenery where the plays take place. “Genius loci” does not suggest only the necessity of a manifest-like object, but its ability to generate a clear direction that is capable of sustaining this movement and its connection to the social environment. The attitude of the comunity towards this space and the way they use the resources, impose a better use of the environment, in this case also the power of the river.
Module’s components The water offers us not only easy mobility but the possibility of rotating the stage and the posibility to implement movable, interconected modules for the audience. The mobility and the variable positions of the stage and sitting modules transforms the designed object into an instalation that speculates different relations between audience and actors. This capacity doesn’t just produce a dynamic and interesting environment but also the possibility of setting some artistical acts that experiment and develop new paths in the theatre arts. The solution has imput and output, it s interactivity or permanent change ( location, direction height, light ) making it a different experience every time. Online catalogue (pg 67) http://www.oistat.org/Item/list.asp?id=1508
Stage movement through the city.
places, around the city on the Spree river.
Clue Competition - entry Team: Alexandra Oprea, Tudor Avramescu, Bogdan Ocolisan, Ovidiu Plesea
LEAFING THE PAST
movement sensor What if we could use the public lighting to send messages? What if we could turn lost spaces in glowing responsive installations? What if we could see how the place reacts to our presence, and how important we are to make it vivid?Located in the west side of Romania, Timisoara is one of the economic and cultural engines of the country. It is well known as the first European city electrically illuminated, but it is also the place where the events in 1989 started, a series of protests and manifestations which ended up with the change of the communist system and a good chance for the development and progress of the country. Our proposal is an attempt to make people realize the importance of those events over Romanian society and also to pay a tribute to everyone who had to suffer back then and remained anonymous as an individual, but reanimated the society with their common effort. The main purpose is to reactivate the biggest green area of the city, creating at the same time a symbolic correlation between that and all the actors that took part in the events and now are ignored. The park will become the mirror of our society a society which will react to action and common interest to development exactly like the trees will glow at every movement detected around them. The glowing leaf is a sticker made from optical fiber and charged with solar power. Having a movement sensor, the sticker will glow every time it detects movement. Using this simple device we intend to connect the main square of the city with the botanical garden, the main green area of the city which is not used at its full potential. The park will turn into a big responsive installation which will react to external stimuli such as wind, birds flight, or human movement, it will create glowing paths coming to life during the night, and pulsating at every sign of life inside it.
optical fiber
DE-A ARHITECTURA | volunteering program |
De-a Arhitectura is a volunteering program which has the aim to promote architectural and environmental education for children in schools, teachers and architects and also promoting in the school environment the ideea of high quality built environment as civic responsability, in order to increasing the involvement of future citizens in the planning and design process that will affect their living environment. As a volunteer at De-a Arhitectura, I have to use simple words to make that complex phenomenea easy to understand for children. Due to this, it is the most challenging project that I ever had the occasion to take part in. The program started as an optional class for the third and fourth grade, but due to the succes it had, the program extended to other grades as well.
The teaching process is associated to a continuous game for children and includes expeditions of observing the built and natural environment, communicating by drawing and feeling textures or even free talks. Teachin becomes a reversible process because the creativity of the children is a source of learning for us. It is also a continuous training for architects and urban design professionals for greater availability of communication to the general public. http://www.de-a-arhitectura.ro/ https://www.facebook.com/DeAArhitectura/
BETA Timișoara architecture biennial | exhibitions coordinator | Team: Simina Cuc, Alexandra Oprea, Dragos Nistor Coordinator: Oana Simionescu
The Timişoara architecture biennial (BETA) is an euro regional platform for dialogue and collaboration, whose main purpose is to improve the processes through which we build our cities. BETA 2016 aims to generate a responsible dialogue regarding architectural education, continuing education and the architectural practice, as well as to stimulate the engagement of and the professional use of dialogue and collaboration methods by the representatives of the administration, the professional body and the civic society. The biennial is structured in three categories: education, profession and city. As part of the organizing team, I was responsible of one of the three exhibitions, Energy Spots. The exhibition is part of The City category, who approaches urban-specific subjects, from the administration, professionals and citizens’ varying points of view. The purpose of the events in this category is to motivate the participation and to enhance the dialogue and collaboration methods between all three parties. The authors of the exposition Energy Spots are BINA and Future Architecture.
Energy Spots is focused on trying to find small scale, speciffic spaces considered energyzing urban spots in a city in full development swing. According to chosen authors and creative teams, these spots have the potential to point to possible solutions of recognized urban problems which are present in other urban environments as well. The main topics of the exposition: Bartleby in Belgrade, In-Between spaces, Model of temporary housing, Between projection and execution, Urban Yoga Beograd. Curators: Jelena Ivanović Vojvodić, Danica Jovović Prodanović, Ružica Sarić Authors: Anja Humljan (Slovenia), Miloš Kosec (Slovenia), Petokraka, S.O.B.A., Dušan Stojanović & amp, Pavle Stamenović, TEAM8 (Ana Dušmanović, Jelena Stanković, Maja Kopta, Mihajlo ladoje, Nikola Arsić, Stefan Milićević, Tijana Savić) http://betacity.eu/en/evenimente/expozitie-puncteenergizante/ https://www.facebook.com/ bienalatimisoreanadearhitectura/
CÂRȚIȘOARA Coordinator: Demetrescu Bogdan
The workshop takes place in Cârțișoara, at the base of Făgăraș mountains and invites students from Europe to learn about traditional building techniques and to experience two weeks of living in an outstanding place in Romania. The purpose is to create a human scale museum with houses from all over the country. Abandoned old houses are dismantled and brought to Cârțișoara where the participants to the workshop rebuild them using the thraidional building techniques.
Cârțișoara is the last village before entering the Transfăgărășan road, one of the most spectacular roads in Europe. In 2014, another purpose of the workshop was building a stage and some pavilions for the first edition of an art festival - CUCA. https://www.facebook.com/spreCUCA/
HANDCRAFTING
THANK YOU! alexandramedanaoprea@gmail.com