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This real estate development had to deal with a simple design request: cheap inline houses, nicely ordered above the large plain in the periphery of Bucharest. Initially, the developer had alreary finished two similar projects, with identical houses placed in a row vis-à-vis the parking spots. The hope and the real stake of this engagement was the construction of similar houses regarding both the costs and the construction techniques already tested by the client, dressing it in a new “design” layer which could customize this development among the many recenly built gated ensembles and simultaneosly could emphase the need for differentiation of the future dwellers.
In spite of this, the enlarged geometry of the site, which allowed the configuration of two rows of houses back to back, inspired us a certain collective conviviality and, if not too much to say, the potential of an inceptive urbanity. This was the reason for designing a small central square, which could benefit from this potential and offer a minimum communal space for the remote periphery. So, every house had to have a small acces to this central space which could coagulate the 23 dwellings, but also reestablish the urban model as a valid cultural asset amidst the kaleidoscope of recently built gated communities.

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Situated on the streets that open at East from Calea Floreasca whilst descending into crossing the lakes, the building dwells six apartments, on four levels. Located on a corner – at the junction between Stroe Postelnicu and Rachmaninov street – the building’s blind walls are on the verge of the site. Six out of seven apartments share the same level, while the remaining one occupies the entire ground floor.
Despite it being finalised in 2014, the project succeded an initial solution based on future expectations of spatial standards for buildings that would develop in the North area of the city. The former idea was reconsidered starting with 2010 and developed into the final resolution of having two apartments per level, soon before the structure had been completed. Therefore, the main issue was to find the boundary between the two apartments while preserving and bringing as few alterations as possible to the structure. Furthermore, the facades were designed according to the adjusted interior.
The facades open up towards East and South, providing light even for the most remote corners of the apartment. The ventilated facade not only emulates the ethos behind the interior arrangement, but is also a response to the site’s constraints by turning on the narrow elevation, thus highlighting the corner. The same corner, together with the main entrance, shelter on the ground level gardens that act as a buffer between the public and private area.

Nominee for "Housing Architecture" at The National Architecture Biennale 2013-2014.

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The design of the project is a response to a speculative brief requiring a block of flats on an elongated site. The monolith emerges from the blind wall and opens to the courtyard through generous loggias. Emphasised through contrasting finishes, they represent the cut-outs in the façade and act as connectors for some spaces. Furthermore, by using the same materials to clad the façade as well as the attic, the volume started to gain a unitary shape, becoming a so called monolith.
One of the set requirements for the project was to offer flexibility. Considering the financial unpredictability, a residential unit that would dwell only 6, 5 or only 4 apartments was imagined. The different configurations are possible due to the building’s likelihood of developing as a semi-detached unit.

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In an intensive real estate development from the outskirts of Bucharest we had to deal with an est-west lakeside oriented site. Two quantitative ideas structured our proposal: the necessity of lakeside view for every apartment and the avoidance of completely north orientation of each. The cross section of Unité d'habitation seemed ideal, combined with the rhomboidal planimetry which permitted large terraces lakeside oriented.
It seemed to us that the client heard about the Pruitt-Igoe disaster by definitely refusing such management risk.

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Site and programme both led to the decision to explode the whole into five separate but identical units. Each unit houses living and dining areas, kitchen, three bedrooms and a large terrace – a small holliday house.
This solution allows for the independent use of each unit/house, for renting several adjacent houses for a larger group, or even for the use of the separate bedroom units that share the living areas on the top level of each house.
More than a decision based on the creative interpretation of the programme and planning for versatility, this is also a technical and strategic position regarding the implantation on an irregular, but steep slope. This also generates nuanced, ambiguous areas between the five houses, thus creating a unique setting for each unit in relation with the surrounding landscape.

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A residential project situated out in the fields and far from the city, in an area adjacent to the A2 Highway and the traffic ring of the Bucharest metropolis. Disregarding these, the main issue was considered to be a company situated in close proximity which is responsible for the bad scents in the area. Considering all the issues negative that the site was posing, the resolution was situated at a microlevel, and decided that the apartments will not be orientated exclusively towards the field. Instead, they could be orientated towards a green interior space, an olfactory oasis. This space, secluded from the external, would be used by the residents as a background to different sports activities, short walks of games for different age groups. The sides which comprise apartments, especially the two and three bedroom ones, have the horizontal circulation system from 3 to 3 levels, as well as interior courtyards in order to naturally ventilate the kitchen. An access route encompasses the blocks, delimiting it from the field.
After all, it seems that the client has heard of the Pruitt-Igoe disaster and declined any risks that this configuration might impose.

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With a street opening of only 10 meters the site occupies most of the interior of the block. Hence, it is sur¬rounded by blind walls on six sides. The resulted build¬ing simultaneously stands for the will to realise the site's economic potential and for the lack of fixed regulation in the case of a irregular plot surrounded by con¬structions which do not comply with it. The building does not aim at negotiat¬ing with the neighbours either its general size or the scale of its details: the total built mass highlights the expectations of the city officials for the urban development of the area. Given the context, the additional stakes of the project were to add complementary exterior spaces to the vari¬ous flats, thus making use of the view over the neighbourhood. Privatly owned, these yards, balconies or terraces turn into exposed areas to outside looks, in the same way that the neighbourhood opens up to the view from above. This reciprocity softens the differenc¬es in scale and links everyday living practices in the neighbourhood with those of the new owners.

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The project consists of four houses located in a new urbanization of Glina commune. The main requirement of the client was that these houses to be effective in terms of construction, but at the same time to have a sufficient degree of differentiation.
In this respect, they chose two directions of work. The first – the attenuation of street front line repetition by the rotated disposal towards buildings’ alignment, and the second - the intervention over the façade, without affecting the inside.
Houses are based on a masonry-made prototype of which the oversized gaps will have wood panels and joinery. The facades’ variety will be in proportion between the carpentry and wood panels, chosen depending on the sunlight, the need for privacy and the importance of interior space.
The house plan is influenced by the relationship with nature (the court). The main access and exit to the pool area is through two interior courtyards, which provide transition, controlling and ordering the natural frame.

The principles of this project can be applied easily at much larger scale assemblies.

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Lack of urban planning parameters’ correlation set by the planning certificate, may be an opportunity for architect. Thus, with a surplus of built space, we could cancel the CUT block, the one whose volumes reveal through a simple extrusion.
To each level a certain amount of excess surface was distributed, in such a way as to avoid the monotony that would result from repeating the current floor. In this respect, the client’s requirement to maximize built surface was transformed into a tool for architecture.
Real estate pressure does not always create happy situations. Thus, the shape in plan, resulted from the withdrawals, has serious geometric disadvantages for both space organization and structural concept.

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For the Viilor project, the office realized the "theme's illustration". In current practice, in the process urban plans approval, "illustrating the theme" tries to demonstrate the viability of some situations occasionally "unlikely" due to pressure of real estate market.

Located on a former factory field, a residential is desired, that would occupy 5 times the field surface. The high density of the built volume has imposed two major work themes: the possibility of sunlight and the ratio between the existing scale and that of the new buildings. Extending the main directions of circulation, four islands were defined volumetric, with variable height, so that the street profile’s modification from specific residential to commercial-like to be done gradually.
The study has a high degree of abstraction and is limited to the graphical representation of surfaces associated to functions such as housing, office and commerce, which, in turn, conditions the number of parking spaces. It is a mathematical game that lays behind any future real estate realities.