The Summer School is organized by Arhipera association, ,,Ion Mincu’’ University of Architecture and Urbanism, with the support of the Ministry of Education, Union of Romanian Architects and the Order of Romanian Architects. ArhiPera is a non-profit association of Romanian architects that aims to improve the living conditions of vulnerable groups within communities living in extreme poverty through an integrated approach. The annual summer school serves as a platform for fostering creativity, knowledge exchange, and collaborative learning among students, especially from the ,,Ion Mincu’’ University of Architecture and Urbanism (IMUAU), Bucharest, and professionals in the field of architecture, sustainability, community development, anthropology, activism and other related disciplines.
The target groups of the Summer School include students, the local community of Chiojdu, consisting of both pupils and adults, and invited international tutors. During this year’s Summer School, there is a diverse lineup of lecturers, including two international tutors from different universities, in addition to Romania-based tutors. This multicultural perspective will further enrich the discourse and offer new perspectives on the practices of sustainability around the world. Amongst these tutors there is for the second time Elina Alatalo, sharing on the work of Insurgent Spatial Practices -collective.
The theme of this year’s summer school is “Innovating Constructive Details in Wood Architecture.” During the days of the Summer School, besides the theoretical aspect of lectures, we will design & build innovative wood details that we will put together in a small ensemble. There are two traditional carpenters in order to help us to increase the innovation pace. Some of these details will be incorporated into the community center under construction in Chiojdu. They will also be included in a brochure, that will be posted open source on ArhiPera website, in order for everyone to have free & unlimited access to the discoveries.
Students will also work daily with local children to experiment modeling and building nest of different animals, in order to explore the themes of living together with other species. These collaborative nests will be exhibited later on in several settings in Bucharest, allowing the invitation of the pupils for a trip to the capital. These kinds of openings support a long time-frame target of ArhiPera, that is to enable young people from the Romanian countryside to the school of architecture, of which first examples already exist.
ArhiPera Summer School 2024 was just awarded at the Bucharest Architecture Annual. You can read more of it here. Recognition was received for promoting social architecture, sustainability, and participatory education.
Image: Summer School 2024 participants