Stunning Interiors From Abandoned Thermal Baths In Herculane, Romania.
Articolul Bored Panda ce a dus la apariția platformei HerculaneProject.
Omul de afaceri care a donat 20.000 de euro pentru salvarea Băilor Imperiale din Herculane: „Fiul meu de 11 ani mi-a spus că trebuie să-i ajut pe aceşti tineri.”
‘I saw the initiative of those young architects, with respect to Herculane [Baths] and at one point I paid a visit to Herculane with my children and I visited both this imperial bath and other buildings there that have similar histories and that have an equally sad destiny. I decided it was something that needs to be supported, from several points of view. First of all, the building itself and the place itself, which are a physical proof of our history with all its nuances, with the Roman period, with the Habsburg period, with the Austro-Hungarian period, with the communist period, with all these layers and nuances of history. Secondly, I think it’s great that the younger generation is finally starting to get more and more involved in such cultural or social projects, and I think that this kind of initiative needs to be encouraged and supported. I believe that this building, if restored and if it becomes a cultural or social place, can help the Herculane Baths, which is a fantastic place, find its way back and become a famous resort in Europe. I think this project can be a great example of how a community can rediscover itself around such a heritage object.’
‘The Locus team is the tangible result of our accumulated frustrations during the post-communist transition period. They answer the classical equation: we have a place with a significant cultural footprint and exceptional economic potential, we are young people educated in the spirit of those contemporary values that tell us that it is better to revitalise than to build something new, we are altruistic but have minimal experience.
And there you have it. Overcoming prejudices and obstacles, the group around Herculane Project manages to be consistent and to put into practice what was needed from the authorities: change the image of the resort, from a dying dead end to that example that shows us that it is possible and invites us to get involved. The strength of the team is not measured by money, but by the pairs of hands that contribute, by the value of those involved in saving the [Herculane] Baths and by the proven resilience going through unfavourable decisions, contrary opinions and thin legislation.
I am glad that the school in Timișoara produces buds aimed at exploring and experimenting using the cultural heritage and I encourage as many [people] as possible to join or start their own journey. Without such initiatives we are morally poorer.’
‘Nothing can be done for Herculane anymore. Some of us will still go to the baths, some old people will remember with regret the good times of yesteryear, some young architects will design their dreams on the buildings there.” This is what I have been hearing for years, since I discovered and rediscovered the wonderful history, the rich heritage and the exceptional landscape of the place. It seemed cruel, and inconceivable to me. And when some young people, as if out of nowhere, made the firm decision to build for the future in Herculane, without giving up their dreams for a moment, I was very happy and I tried to support them from the beginning. With responsibility and determination, and with an inexhaustible workforce, they have chosen to put people at the centre of their actions for heritage, thus succeeding in creating a community that co-creates with them, learns with them, experiments with them, acts with them and supports by all means their efforts. Thanks to young people, Herculane has once again become an important topic for all of us and a reason to believe and have optimism. It’s not a small thing. For that, I thank them from the bottom of my heart and promise them that we will stay #United4Culture.’
‘Herculane Project is an extremely interesting and welcomed multidisciplinary initiative at a critical moment for the Romanian heritage, built on an extremely valuable background and knowingly led in a faulty political and financial experiment of the last decades. It is very interesting how a young team, often innocent but very persevering, managed to provoke the city’s community and to arouse a mimicked debate between the administration and specialists.
Community responsibility actions with multidisciplinary involvement such as this will be for many years in the forefront of new heritage policies, and the team managed to transfer from a theoretical dissertation of the Faculty of Architecture in Timisoara to a possible theoretical and methodological prototype of interventions on valuable historical buildings, through which they will have an important role in the reconstruction of a new attitude regarding the conservation and restoration in Romania.’
‘The members of the Locus Association stand out through their unparalleled perseverance, team spirit and involvement. I had the opportunity to follow closely how their project grew, starting first from the pertinent but initially naive questioning of today’s precarious stage of the Neptune Baths, from the students’ perspective, and then to turn into a very serious project of securing the historical monument, of understanding the complicated mechanisms that led to the decay of the old Herculane Baths resort, as well as the even more complicated steps that must be taken to revitalise the heritage area. Meanwhile, the founding members of the association successfully completed their architectural studies in Timișoara, expanded their team and defined more and more clearly their approaches and action plans. They even demonstrated that they have the ability to find funding, coordinate and implement a complex project, such as securing a large monumental building. I believe that the Romanian society, often depressed and passive, needs such models, especially for the places we come from or feel attached to and which are often in free fall. Their message is one that inspires altruism, action and responsibility towards the built environment.’
contact@herculaneproject.ro
Bd. Take Ionescu nr. 50 – 52, Complex ISHO, building A,
ground floor, Timișoara, Timiș, 300043
Cont RON: RO87BTRLRONCRT0421032702
Cont EUR: RO64BTRLEURCRT0421032701
contact@herculaneproject.ro/en
Bd. Take Ionescu nr. 50 – 52,
Complex ISHO, building A, ground floor,
Timișoara, Timiș, 300043
Bank account (RON): RO87BTRLRONCRT0421032702
Bank account (EUR): RO64BTRLEURCRT0421032701