Consumers Mecca - Sibiu, Romania Part 2 Project 2008 Benjamin Krampulz University of Stuttgart | Germany The Piata Teatrului is a very important component of the urban development of Sibiu. In the last years, the city has been actively looking for architectural solutions.The main focus of the project is working with the public space in its various facets. It is to combine and define the fragmented negative space of the historic city center with that of the new “modern” center.The city will be provided with a new and larger theater house in place of the existing theater, a contemporary department store, a cinema, office space and dense living space, all appropriate to the central site.The aim of the project was to build a counterpart to the urban Teatrului Piata, with a more sophisticated kind of public space: creating a new center, boost consumer culture for the Romanian economy, and to provide for day and night city attractions.The building reinterprets the traditional bazaar block with a fresh, new concept of an inner market that breaks away from typical spacial organization, yet reacting and connecting to its environment.The special organization of public areas is done by the subtraction of various “whispering galleries” from a block of 100x100x20m volume. The liberation of the vault from its static functions creates a continuum of mixed areas with shop arcades, restaurants and market halls of different dimensions, of which three levels are dedicated to commerce and one to dwelling. The building is covered by 50 x 50 cm bright shining brass elements. The reference of its ornamental perforations is taken from the base grid of the the whole building, consisting of circles with a multiple of a diameter of 5 (5/10/20/40). The outline of the ornaments varies depending on the need of natural light at the particular interior situation. Benjamin Krampulz has reinterpreted, in an excellent and virtuosic manner, the traditional block type of the bazaar culture in Sibiu, Romania.The initial point is a structural strategy: the 100x100m building volume, that derives from the urban fabric, is subdivided with subtracted interior vaulted spaces.The result is a vividly segmented but fluent spacial continuum, contrasting dimensions and proportions, that lightly determines the various uses of space. The excellent aspect of the design approach is the fact, that Benjamin Krampulz is able to overcome common stereotypes.Traditional cultural configurations become an integrated part of contemporary architecture in an unpretentious and delightful manner.