Timișoara 2023 European Capital of Culture 

Timisoara’s designation as the European Capital of Culture for 2023 can be a pretext for reinventing and growing the local art scene. In the context of important cultural events (Art Encounters, Simultan Festival, BETA, Eurothalia, Teszt, Ceau Cinema, PLAI festival, etc.) and the production of new programs for 2023, the city’s cultural scene is expanding and attracting national and even international professionals. Part of the objectives of this title is aimed at cultural excellence, which can be achieved not only through cultural policies, but also through the involvement and participation of individuals in collective empowerment actions, with the help of which significant long-term changes can be produced in Timisoara.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Timișoara experienced a strong urban, industrial and administrative development, but it is only since the middle of the last century that the city has become a vibrant cultural environment.

In the last decade, the local cultural dynamic has been growing steadily through art and architecture biennials, exhibition spaces, artists’ collectives, theatre, music and design festivals and, above all, thanks to the title of European Capital of Culture 2023, following the national competition organised in 2016. Winning this title was based on an artistic concept derived from the city’s recent cultural history mentioned above and from the “local spirit” (characterised by multiculturalism, tolerance, but also by technique and performance), reflected in a Cultural Programme that aims to revive the civic spirit of the inhabitants and to support independent artistic initiatives. 

The slogan “Shine your light, light up your city” speaks of individual involvement in actions of collective emancipation.   

The TM2023 Cultural Programme has a strong urban component by encouraging cultural activities to take place in public spaces, to disperse them from the centre to the suburbs and to use neglected urban spaces, from industrial heritage buildings to unused thermal points. These directions are based on a “strategy of places”, which values cultural activities not only as collective experiences but also as opportunities to activate unused places. The strategy also looks at investment in cultural infrastructure, linking cultural programmes with spaces under construction or rehabilitation to ensure a coherent cultural content. The Water Tower, which is in the process of conversion, is also in this category .

*for further information on Timisoara Capital of Culture 2023, please consult https://timisoara2023.eu/en/ ** photo credit: Petru Cojocaru (1), Asociația prin Banat (2), Johnan Crabb (3), Light Stories (4) 

In Timișoara European Capital of Culture, in the Iosefin district, near the Water Tower and the Bega Canal, the C|A|S|A 2023 edition proposes a plot of land in the historical fabric with a special potential, located at the intersection of Gheorghe Barițiu Street and Nicolae Titulescu Square, where there is a site free of buildings, with an area of 534 sqm. 

On the same street, opposite the plot, is the Water Tower, which together with the blue-green axis of the Bega canal are perceived as landmarks of the city, and the C|A|S|A 2023 plot has the privilege of direct visibility to both. At the same time, the site is adjacent to the Nicolae Titulescu Street which has the potential to become part of the cultural route directed towards the west of the city, in the context of the activities for the year 2023 and in the context of the rehabilitation of the tower. 

The water castle in the Iosefin district, known as the Water Tower, an object included in the list of Historic Monuments in Timis County, is undergoing a process of restoration and, subsequently, revitalization, which will provide spaces for artistic activities and a common cultural agenda with relevant local actors in the cultural-artistic field, who will be able to organize their own activities. 

Opening up the Water Tower’s spaces to the city will be a participatory process accessible to every inhabitant of Timisoara. The interior of the Tower will also host a large-scale interactive installation in the space of the tower drum, created by an internationally renowned artist. 

„The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” Kurt Koffka 

C|A|S|A 2023 theme proposes imagining a scenario in which 5 artists working in the field of visual arts on the Timisoara cultural scene propose to generate a space suitable for their current residential and professional needs. A space where they can live, create, and sometimes hold small-scale artistic events. A space that leaves room for both socializing and intimacy. 

After recent collaborative experiences in cultural projects, the 5 artists decide to seize the opportunity to strengthen their presence on the stage created by the emerging network of cultural spaces in the city. Their professional needs (imagined and documented by each student individually) are relevant to the extent that they are translated into spatial or social decisions.

The competition calls for an architectural insertion that captures and reinvigorates the atmosphere or character of the place and that stands in deference to everything that preceded the construction that will be imagined here: historic buildings of a more modest or larger scale, communal courtyards with gardens and communities coagulated around these courtyards or near the canal. Through the proposed ensemble, the initiating group will have the opportunity to express their own identity through the built language, which may betray their artistic spirit more discreetly or more obviously, without however visually damaging the already established identity of the area. The challenge of the theme is to efficiently manage the relatively small space of the site in relation to the spatial needs, while considering a financially balanced investment, with attention to materials, technologies, and spatial solutions proposed.

Beyond the boundaries of the private plot, students are invited to consider public space planning adjacent to the studied plot (in the area delineated in the site plan). Thus, in the area along the Bega Canal, the project will illustrate a space for interaction. The intervention should be natural and discreet, enhancing the natural elements of the site.

Along Gheorghe Barițiu street the proposal will identify and complement the specific historical character of the existing street, imagining a development scenario that can function as an example of good practice and use for the neighbours. At the same time, this area can function as a mediating area with the public space in the vicinity of the tower.

The solution must relate to the specifics of the adjacent built environment, and thus identify and speculate the typology of the neighbourhood in a solution that complements a coherent whole - rather than standing out as an object-insert. Last but not least, the proposed solution must demonstrate creativity, using appropriate expressive, economic and constructive resources.

1| Situation/layout plan 1:200

2| Floor plans 1:100

3| Cross-section 1:100

4| Longitudinal section 1:100

5| SE facade/street elevation of Splaiul N. Titulescu 1:200

6| NW facade/street elevation G. Baritiu Street 1:200

7| Photo perspective insertion (aerial photo attached)

8| Interior/exterior 3D concept visualisation

9| Explanatory text

13 February  online launch of the competition and theme 

18 February  on-site launch of the competition and theme 

20 February - 8 March Q&A 1 

13 March publication of Q&A 1 answers 

18 - 28 April Q&A 2 

8 May publication of answers Q&A 2 

26 May submission of projects on the competition website 

27 May - 7 June jury deliberation 

8 June announcement of finalists 

10 June Award ceremony 

Questions

1. Is a height regime imposed?
   Can we break away from the surrounding design?
   Should there be a rehearsal room and a stage? Or can there just be one that does both?
   Can there be a shared kitchen for everyone?

2. Is it possible that 2 of the 5 artists are partners, i.e. a couple in this context? Could we approach the topic in this direction or should we consider that each of the 5 has/could have a partner who is not part of the circle of those who will live on this site?

Answers

1. There is no set height regime but it must be appropriate to the site and theme chosen.
   The design is up to each student's proposal according to the decisions made during the project.
   The theme does not require a stage or rehearsal room, the residents are visual artists.
   The functions are proposed by each author according to the chosen housing scenario.

2. Relationships between tenants are of no interest to us in this project except to the extent that you have to propose 5 separate living units sized for two people each.